Page 6 of Spellbound
It appeared he was as reluctant as she to give up that pleasure. Instead of releasing her hand, he moved it so that it rested on his arm and he kept his hand over hers as they strolled through the woods. “This could be a dreadful mistake.”
“It could,” he agreed. “I’ve never felt this way. I’ve never instantly looked at someone and thought that there was something predestined between us. But I do feel that way when I look at you. I feel as though this is where I was already meant to be… at your side.”
Bella didn’t say anything to that. She couldn’t. Because she agreed with him but also because it terrified her to admit something so momentous out loud after such short acquaintance. Everything her aunt had told her about the family curse came rushing back to her mind. But one thing stood out, one phrase that reverberated in her mind.Cursed to love instantly and fully, but never to wed. And thus far, everygeneration had proven that true. And she had grown smug, she realized. Smug in her certainty that she would be the one to escape that curse because she would never let herself fall. Such certainty had been easy when she had never faced temptation, when she had never met a man who stirred her so.
“Do you never feel moved to caution?” She asked him. “To feel that perhaps some things should not be revealed immediately or approached with at least some degree of timidity?”
“No. But then this is a situation I have never faced before.”
Bella turned to face him then, halting their steps. “I had intended to make you work. To have you picking the very smelliest of mushrooms—stinkhorn— and herbs that would stain your hands and your clothes and, if you are like most people, make you itch. In short, I intended to sabotage whatever it is you are about so that you would lose all interest in me. I find I no longer have the heart to do so.”
He grinned at her honest if somewhat sheepish admission. “Well, it wouldn’t have worked regardless. It would take far more than that to turn me from you. Let’s walk into the village.”
Instantly she was on guard. “Oh, no! No, that is a terrible idea. If people see us together?—”
“They will rightly assume that I am courting you. And make no mistake, Miss Goodwynne—Belladonna—that is precisely what I am doing.”
She wouldn’t let him subject himself to that sort of ridicule. He did not deserve it, but it was not entirely motivated by altruism. She wanted to be courted by him. Despite her initial reticence, all it had taken was one simple touch for her opinion to alter entirely. Temptation was an undeniable force, it seemed. Still, if he received the same sort of cold welcome from people in the village that she did, he would likely change his mind about her and she couldn’t bear that. Not just yet.
“Let’s walk here. We can follow this path. It leads us near the village but not into it. I have no wish to face prying eyes or heartless gossip,” she implored. “Besides, the purpose of this was for us to get to know one another, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” he agreed cautiously.
“How are we supposed to do so when everyone will be hovering around us either to call me a witch or to call you a fool for daring to tangle with a woman like me?”
He turned to face her directly. “It will help me to resist the temptation of you. If we are alone, I will likely take liberties.”
Thinking of the myriad sensations that had coursed through her from no more than him taking her hand, Bella shivered slightly. “You cannot take what is freely given… What sort of liberties would you take?”
His eyes darkened as he looked at her. “Only those that you would give me."
Taking a deep and steadying breath, Bella uttered a request that she knew would change the entirety of her life. “I think, Desmond Crane, that I would very much like for you to kiss me.”
SIX
It was like being offered the keys to the gates of Heaven. And it would take a far stronger and more moral man than he would ever be to refuse them.
Stepping closer to her, Desmond placed his hand on her cheek, cupping it as he traced the curve of her lower lip with this thumb. He marveled at the silken texture of her skin. Moving his thumb from the softness her lip, he placed it under chin, angling her face upward ever so slightly. Just enough that when he leaned down, his lips could brush lightly against hers.
He had no intention of rushing. While he didn’t know with certainty that it was her first kiss, but he strongly suspected it. To that end, it ought not be only memorable. The goal he was aiming for was extraordinary. Whatever happened between them, he wanted that first kiss to live forever in her memory, and should she ever have cause in her life to kiss another, he wanted it to be nothing more than a pale imitation of what would pass between them.
When she sighed against his lips, only then did he settle his more firmly on hers. He wanted it to build slowly—layer by layer, caress by caress. And every time he moved the bar it was because of her response. When her lips softened beneath his, partingand offering him entrance, he closed his arms around her and pulled her close even as he teased the softness of her lips with his tongue. All the while, he tried to rein in his own desires, to focus only on what she needed. He’d always taken a certain measure of pride in insuring that his partner’s pleasure came first, but this… this was something different. Because it wasn’t for a moment. It wasn’t a fleeting tryst or even an ongoing arrangement. What he wanted with Belladonna Goodwynne was something that would last forever— for both of them.
The kiss deepened further. Not because he willed it to. Not because he made a conscious choice to do so. It deepened of its own accord because neither of them were any longer in charge of the situation. That kiss was like a living thing, growing, changing, shifting, becoming something entirely its own and without any master.
His breathing grew ragged, his blood heating in his veins as need warred with reason. This was neither the place nor the time. And yet, as she clung to him, the softness of her curves pressed so firmly against him that not even air existed between, the ability to hold firm to such ideals was wavering.
And then the spell, for surely it could be nothing less than a spell that consumed them both, was simply broken. The snap of twigs in the woods pierced the shroud of desire and infatuation that had surrounded them. It wasn’t merely the noise. It was the immediate sense of danger that accompanied it. Like a deer scenting a hunter, he looked up. His eyes scanned the line of trees around them, but he could see nothing. That didn’t mean there wasn’t a very real threat, however. If someone was concealing themselves in the trees, then their motives had to be suspect.
“We cannot be here this way,” he told her, as he stepped back. Putting enough distance between them to allow himself toonce more at least think, he explained, “I cannot trust myself alone with you. You must go. Now. Immediately.”
She blinked in confusion. “What?”
“You asked only for a kiss. And I will not take more than that.”
“I don’t understand,” she whispered. “Did I do something wrong?”
He didn’t take time to answer her question. Not because he didn’t wish to, but because he was focusing all his attentions on the tree line, watching for any threat as he began maneuvering her along the path to where his horse was tethered.“Can you ride astride?”
