Page 43 of Never a Bride
“What do they want?”
“They already stole most of my money, yet still they come. It makes entertaining myself rather difficult.”
“But…surely you have more money. Your family is wealthy, is it not?”
She watched his profile as he stared unseeingly into the fire.
“I won’t borrow from my brother,” he said in a low voice. Then he turned and grinned at her. “And it’s such a long journey to my own estates. Unless you’d like to keep me company?”
He was teasing her, and she hated how flustered he could make her feel. “How long do you mean to hide here? What if someone sees you?”
He poured himself more wine. Then, holding her gaze, he sank down in a large chair beside the fire, his knees spread, his body loose and languorous as he smiled at her. She caught her breath, unable to stop staring as heat seemed to blossom inside her body in embarrassing places. She remembered his lips on hers, his tongue thrusting inside with a boldness that had nearly made her swoon. Would he try to kiss her again—goodness, did she want him to? Never had she thought the element of danger about a man would intrigue her.
She closed her eyes and braced her hands on the mantel.
Alex’s mouth went dry when Emmeline leaned before the fire. Her dressing gown was so thin and fine that he could see the luscious curves of her body, even her nipples where they strained against the fabric. He was overwhelmed with the urge to take her clothes from her, to lay her down on a carpet before the fire, and show her what she did to a man.
“Emmeline.” He had to clear his throat to continue.
She turned her head and he tried not to watch the fall of her heavy hair where it slid against her body.
“Don’t ask me to leave,” he whispered. “And please, don’t stand like that.”
“Like what?”
She turned toward him and words failed him as he remembered the arousing passion of her kiss. How could she not know how alluring she was? “You’re wearing little, love. I’m only a man, you know.”
She seemed puzzled, then her face flamed as she once again pulled her dressing gown tight. Did she truly have no idea how she pushed up her generous breasts when she did that?
“Don’t be cruel, Alex,” she said in a low voice. “I wouldn’t have believed it of you.”
“Cruel?” He leaned forward to take her hands in his. “I am only saying the truth. If your poet would have seen you like this, he would not have allowed you to turn him away.”
He felt the tension in her hands, and saw a sudden sheen of tears sparkle in her eyes. “I didn’twantto turn him away. I didn’t care that he was only a tutor. But my father did. He forbade me to marry him.”
For a moment, it was as if every truth Alex had ever known shook itself into a new place. She hadn’t rejected her suitor because he was unworthy of her? Her father had denied her her happiness?
Unable to deal with his own sudden confusion, he resorted to what he did best. Standing up, he reached out to cup her cheek. She didn’t move, only stared at him, her lips parted, her eyes shining.
“So you had a suitor,” he murmured, letting his fingers brush over her soft skin. “Did he ever touch you like this?”
Emmeline couldn’t even remember her poet’s name. She could form no rational thought at all as he stroked her cheek, and down her neck.
She swallowed and tried to sound affronted, but only managed breathlessness. “No, he was a gentleman.”
With his hand behind her neck, he pulled her slowly forward. “But if this man truly loved you, he would have needed to caress your skin, to smell your hair.”
Her breasts touched his body first, then her hips, and she wore so little it was as if her skin was alive with new sensations. Her nipples hardened to sensitive nubs against his chest; her belly tightened when he pressed the hard evidence of his desire against her. He brushed her hair back over her shoulder, then bent and pressed his mouth beneath her ear.
It was all too much.
Emmeline fought tears as she whispered, “If he never loved me, then I don’t have a single precious memory to carry into spinsterhood. Don’t take that away from me.”
His tongue licked a path to her collarbone as his hands pulled her even closer against him. “I can give you such memories.”
His deep voice rumbled against her chest. His hands were sliding from her waist and up her stomach. Though it was one of the most difficult things she’d ever done, she caught and held them just below her breasts.
“You do not love me. You’re pursuing my sister.”
