He frowned, his concern dark. “To have received it, you must have friends in high places.”
“Friends of friends.” She would tell him nothing more. She did not have to. He could see evidence of that tonight with this invitation from the Ashleys and Ramseys. From that, he might wonder if she also knew Scarlett Hawthorne and her chief clerk, Todd Carlton. But she would not tell him.
He gave her a searing sidelong glance…and changed the subject. “Bella asks for you. Won’t you meet us tomorrow morning for a walk and a kite fly?”
Oh, how she wanted to do that. Fly and laugh. Find freedom again. “You test me and tempt me.”
“I won’t stop.”
“You should.”
“You should accept my invitation. Bella would be so happy.” Hewas once more a man, enraptured, whispering, “And so would I.”
“I find it difficult to…to…” she said, gulping past her desires and her griefs. “Oh, Clive, I look at Bella and I see my daughter.”
“And?”
“She is gone. Dead these past three years. But I see Bella and my heart lifts. It’s a new and startling feeling for me.”
“A way to heal, I think.” He drew near and enveloped her with a tenderness that made her heart yearn and her knees weak.
She faced the dark night and the rolling sea. By the light of the moon, she could see the rounding arch of white surf as it rushed to the shore. “I have carried my grief over her loss with me for so long that I am surprised to find it waning when I laugh with Bella.”
His arms went around her, and as if she had not proof enough before now of how much taller and sturdier he was, she leaned into him and found safe harbor.
He kissed the crown of her hair. “To have lost her must have been a trial.”
“She was my laughter and my sunshine. After she was gone, I could find none for ever so long.”
He stroked the hair at her nape. “And now?”
“The other day, I saw a moment’s hell when Bella ran into the sea. It was like losing my girl all over again. I could not—” She burrowed against him, tears burning her eyes. “I could not let her go.”
“Thank God you did not.” He lifted her chin. “Cry. It helps. I am here to catch your tears.” He touched her cheek, his fingertips an angel’s touch as he caught a teardrop.
How could she want this man so dearly? He was a stranger, a beautiful fortress of a man, but she had needed him—hadn’t she?—for all her life.
*
He brushed herbottom lip with the pad of his thumb. She was soft and yielding, her eyes closing, her long lashes sweeping the arch of her cheeks. He had never wanted to comfort and keep a woman so desperately. So completely.
“I want to kiss you,” he whispered, tormented by the knowledge that he should wait. He should think. He should treat her with all the patience a worthy lover would grant her.
Her answer had her opening her eyes, caressing him with them—and making him yearn for her.
He gathered her up. She was so delicate, fragile as china, yet firm and resilient, all eager woman. He pressed her torso to his. Her breasts were lush and hard.
He took her mouth, a gentle claim at first that quickly turned to triumph and the wild desire for more.
She mewled, lifted her arms around his neck, and ran her fingernails up through his hair. She wanted him.
He swelled with pride and broke away, breathless.
“Again,” she murmured, and rose on her toes to frame his face with cool, soft hands.
He’d not deny her nor himself. He groaned and lifted her off her feet and whirled her to the wall, to the alcove where, in his maddening need for her, he hoped they had some seclusion.
Yet when her lips were on his once again, he confirmed only that this luscious woman wanted him. He took her mouth, a brazen claim. He could not stop.
