Page 78 of The Moonstone Marquess
She looked at him with a smile in her sparkling eyes. “Show me how I ought to kiss you.”
“Like this, you irritating girl.” He brought his mouth down on hers with crushing force, needing to swallow all of her up, needing to conquer her, for he wanted her so badly and was so afraid he would never have her.
He was angry that she was holding back her heart.
Of course, he did not blame her.
He’d spent a lifetime being an arse.
But he would never hurt her, not even in his anger.
Why could she not trust him? Why could she not believe she was the most precious thing to him?
He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips to force those soft pink petals open. She did not resist and was obviously trying to gentle him by following his lead with a surprising willingness.
He thrust his tongue in her mouth, touching it to hers. Teasing hers. Probing and swirling it around hers. Mimicking the act of love, the very act he ached to complete with their bodies.
A rogue wave washed over them, causing Phoebe to wrench her mouth away and leap to her feet with a laughing yelp. She darted further back to avoid being knocked over by its force. Cormac merely let the wave surround him and soak into his skin.
As Phoebe had soaked into his soul.
“Now we’ll both have to change,” she remarked, staring down at her wet gown. “Come back to Moonstone Cottage after you do. Your nieces are expecting you. They’ll be disappointed if you do not show up.”
“And you?”
“I’ll be happy to see you. How can you doubt it after that kiss? Will you be angry if I go into town later to talk to Thaddius Angel? You suggested it. I think I must.”
“Yes…no…do whatever you please.”
She sighed. “I don’t think you would like me nearly as much as you do if I were a peahen who blindly believed everything she was told. I think the gossip is nonsense, Cormac. But I am not out of line for wanting to know all the facts before I dismiss those ugly rumors.”
“After all I’ve told you about Seline, how can you think I would ever have anything to do with her? I give you my word of honor, Phoebe. I have not been anywhere near her or touched any other woman since meeting you. Why is it so hard for you to believe me?”
“Because men do stupid things all the time, do they not? Especially when their brains are controlled by that, um…organ between their legs. You cannot deny this was you a mere two weeks ago.”
He shook his head and sighed. How could he deny it?
Only, he was no longer that man.
And yet she was not wrong to be wary.
“Having you give me your word on something as important and sensitive as this is not enough yet,” she said, her words etched with pain. “But it will be in time. It is not fair of you to resent me for being cautious when you have not given me enough time.”
He lay back on the sand and allowed the sun to soak into his bones. “I am not hungry this morning. Give the girls my apologies. I will come by later. I cannot do it now.”
“Have I hurt you that badly?”
He shrugged. “Is this not what happens when one opens one’s heart and has it stepped on?”
“Are you going to pout now?”
He laughed. “Yes, I suppose I am.”
“Tell me this—had the rumors been about me and Lord Crawford, that he’d been seen coming out of my bedchamber, how would you have responded?”
“Do you mean before or after I killed him?”
She cast him a wry smile. “Spoken like a dolt. The point is, if you trusted me, then you would know those rumors could not possibly be true and poor Lord Crawford would be quite safe. So why are you angry with me for having a moment’s doubt about you when you would doubt me, too? And I have a spotless reputation, unlike yours, which is completely besmirched.”
