Page 44 of In Want of a Wife
He ate up the short distance between them and reached his hand out to the bruise on her collarbone. “They did that to you,” he hissed, his hand hovering above hers.
“I am well. I promise.”
He tossed his head back to the ceiling and closed his eyes. “Damn.”
She tugged at his hand. “Rafe.”
He rolled his head down to look at her. No, not look at her. He hadn’t looked at her for days now. He had studied her, paid attention. And he loved her big brown eyes, and the way they held promise for him when the rest of the world hadn’t for some time now.
“Lily, I…” He reached out and cupped her cheek. A perfect fit, just as he had thought. “I can’t stay in this room with you. I only want to kiss you and…”
“Then kiss me.”
She placed her hand over his and stepped forward, resting her body against his. “But kiss me because you wish to, not because you pity me, not because of this morning… I swear I am?—”
He tilted her mouth up to his and lightly kissed her lips, afraid to press further but wishing so much to do exactly that. She didn’t withdraw at his touch. Instead, she pressed against his mouth and matched the movement of his lips, kissing him back softly, tentatively, as if their future did not depend upon this kiss.
As if she hadn’t agreed to marry his brother.
But Henry didn’t know the truth. And this didn’t have to be more than a kiss. Only a kiss.
“Rafe?” she whispered against his lips, drawing back his attention.
“Hmm?” He rested his forehead against hers, keeping his eyes shut tight, too afraid to look at her. Lily slid her fingers up over his collarbone to rest at the back of his neck, his skin burning at her touch.
“I want to try again.” Rafe cleared his throat. “I can do so much better. Can I show?—”
Lily’s lips crashed down on his, robbing him of his words. And it was just as well because the earth must have tilted, and suddenly, everything spun into view, and he felt his feet firmly on the ground as his lips explored hers. And it was the realest, truest kiss he had ever shared with another.
Lily wouldn’t lethim slip away, not now, not when she was finally seeing a sliver of who Rafe truly was. Even as her heart raced in her chest, she pressed her lips against his.
There was so much to Rafe, and she had been a fool to believe she didn’t wish to discover it all. She didn’t care about the rest of the journey or what lay ahead, only that his mouth was on hers, searching. And Lily wanted nothing more than to let him continue his exploration.
His touch set her skin on fire, and her body buzzed. It was as if she had swallowed a beehive right along with the honey because it was just as sweet.
Her feet slipped, and she slid to rest her backside on the tabletop. She swept her hands back into his hair and pulled, refusing to let go, refusing to let this madness stop.
He licked the seam of her mouth, then gently nipped her bottom lip. She swallowed a sigh, unsure if it was the summer heat in that small attic room or if she was melting against him. All she knew was that she was burning for him, need pooling between her legs, and she wanted more.
“Just a kiss,” he pulledback. “It can only be tonight, here in this room.”
She locked eyes with his, her fingers playing at her tingling lips. His hazel eyes were hooded, his shoulders rising up and down.
“A kiss?”
He stepped away and scratched the back of his neck, thinking. She always knew when he was thinking by the two lines furrowed between his dark brows.
It meant trouble.
She reached out and placed her hand on his chest. “It can be more than a kiss. I have never been kissed before, not until now, though I’ve dreamt of it often enough.”
“What else have you dreamt of, Lily?”
She walked her fingers up his chest, then ran her hand back against his strong jawline. Those men had beaten him, and she had been too much of a coward to stop them. And Rafe was hurting, and yet she needed him desperately, too. She needed to know that he was well, that something in this world made sense because for weeks now, nothing had, and she was losing herself in the chaos of it all.
“Two engagements and not one kiss?”
She shook her head.
