Emily lifted her tear-soaked face at that moment. He found himself looking into the depths of hazel eyes that might have belonged to a woodland sprite, a fairy of the deep forest, seductive and innocent in equal measures. Her lips were swollen and inviting. Never in his life had he wanted to kiss a womanmore. The need for it ached within him, screaming to be satisfied.
“Can I be cursed twice?” Emily whispered, searching his face. “You claim I am condemned already. What more harm can be done?”
Julian’s descent toward her was a tantalizingly slow torment, his lips hovering just a whisper away. Her eyes filled his consciousness, excluding all else. There were only those wide, twin pools of verdant hazel and the sensation of touch.
Her body pressed flush against his, the soft curves of her breasts melding into the hard lines of his chest. Her arms wrapped around him and her fingers dug into his back. Julian’s hands fell to her fragile, shapely hips. His body responded to the moment, growing hard and insistent. He lowered his head further, feeling her warm breath against his lips.
They touched.
Their lips brushed together for one tantalizing moment.
Then apart.
Shaking her head, Emily lifted herself onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips firmly against Julian’s. Reason fled. The world receded to a distant point of light, the farthest star in the cosmos. There was only the tower top and her.
The kiss waxed and waned as they pressed together and pulled apart. She was soft and wet, her mouth warm and the skin of her face icy cold from the wind atop the tower. It made the warmth of her lips and tongue even more delicious.
Even more erotic.
The kiss deepened, and Julian did not know if it was himself or her who initiated that. Only that her fingers were suddenly raking through his hair while his arms crushed her body against his.
She gasped and whispered his name in a way that threatened to drive him to the very peak of ecstasy. His lips trailed down to her throat, exposed by the servant’s dress that she wore in a way that a ladies’ dress never would. She moaned as his mouth closed on her there. The skin of her neck was so soft, it sent pangs of pleasure racing through him at the touch. He kissed gently, then bit firmly, feeling her body respond by pressing herself against him.
They turned on the narrow walkway, high above the castle and the forest. First, she moved, pressing him back until his back hit the tower wall. He tripped and lost his footing, sliding down the wall until he sat on the walkway, feet braced against the parapet.
Emily had sunk down with him and now straddled his lap, smiling even as she was kissing him. Julian traced grasping fingers gently down the sides of her face to her neck. Then to the soft swell of her breasts. He was breathless as he cupped one of her breasts, feeling the shape and squeezing. Throughthe material of the dress, her nipple stood out, a proud point pushing between his fingers.
It was then that he felt Emily’s body stiffen. Immediately, her hands fell to her side and she jerked back.
“I’m sorry, did I…?” Julian breathed heavily.
Emily’s hand rested atop his, upon her breast. She was frowning and her eyes were distant. Then she was climbing to her feet.
“No—no, I am sorry. But I cannot. I—I have gone too far. This should not have happened. I’m sorry!” she blurted.
She took a handful of hasty steps backward and her heel caught on an uneven stone. Losing her balance, she reached out for the parapet, but the stone she touched crumbled away. Under her hand, it tilted outward and then fell back.
Her balance gone, Emily’s upper body tilted towards the gap that now existed in the parapet. She screamed as she found herself looking directly down to the woodland floor.The curse!Julian scrambled to his feet and ran to her, seizing her about the waist and swinging her towards the safety of the tower. He fell as he did, ending up on his back with Emily atop him.
“Get off me!” she shrieked, kicking, and lashing out with her fists. With shock, Julian released his hold. Emily was hysterical now, she crawled away from him, finding the tower door by her left hand and clawing it open.
Getting her feet under her clumsily, she lurched into the stairwell and disappeared from view. Julian staggered to his feet a moment later and pursued her. In the narrow confines of the tower’s spiral stair, he could hear her weeping, punctuated by her fleeing footsteps.
“Emily?” he cried after her, taking the stairs two or three at a time.
When he reached the bottom though, she was nowhere to be seen. Even her crying had faded from his hearing.
“Emily! Where are you? I am sorry!” he cried out, starting along a hallway, opening doors, and peering into the dark rooms beyond.
Ester crouched behind a chaise longue with a white dust sheet cast over it. She had lifted the back of the sheet and let it fall over her, hidden by the chaise and the sheet both. She had one hand clamped over her mouth and was breathing like a bellows through her tight fingers. Tears streamed and she felt her heart hammering in her chest.
At this moment, she would have welcomed the curse. Perhaps it was the curse that had almost tossed her from the tower top.
The urge to cough came over her again, threatening to give her away as she heard the door of the room creak open. She hadthought that Julian had moved away from this room, had heard his heavy footsteps going in the opposite direction. Perhaps he had sneaked back.
“Miss Granger?” Molly’s voice whispered.
A sob of relief escaped her, followed by a wracking cough. Ester tore away the dust sheet and collapsed against the back of the chaise, wheezing and sobbing. The maid appeared seconds later, crouching beside her and taking her hands.
