Even with their differences, Cassian felt some guilt for Cecilia; she hated him, but he did not want Whitmore to take advantage of her by trapping her in a loveless marriage.
No one should let such youth, beauty, and rapier wit fade into obscurity and hollowness. And, hell’s teeth, Cecilia was beautiful, he thought in bemused wonder.
He pondered how she might look if he pulled her hair from those pins and let her tresses cascade around her neck. How would those thick ringlets feel pouring through his fingers?
Her mouth, those lovely bow lips, and the divot in the bottom, were always pressed tight in an arresting thin line. Her pale blue gown had exposed the length of her neck, the slim clavicle, and the rounded swell of her breasts.
“Has she ever accepted your apology for that night?” Ben asked.
“No,” Cassian shook his head absently. “And it might take divine intervention for it to take hold.”
Finally, he checked his watch again, fully intending to go to this room and meet this mysterious paramour. “Ten minutes now.”
Even with the door closed, Cecilia heard the deep chime of the grandfather clock. She lifted her head from her arm and grimaced at how light her head felt.
“I should have let off on the sherry…” she murmured.
Training her eyes on the door, she brushed her skirts down while waiting for Gabriel to enter. Surely, he had gotten the note, and no doubt she had appealed to his sense of curiosity.
“If he starts arguing… I’ll—I’ll do what I need to do to convince him,” she muttered as the door began to creak open.
Straightening, she hoped there was enough light in the room—she had lit a sole lamp to stave off the darkness. The door inched in a little, and soon, a shadowy figure stepped inside.
She rose, and her head spun something fierce. When Gabriel looked around, she made to speak—but decided actions were louder than words. He was not listening to them anyway.
Dash it all!
She flung herself to him, grabbed Gabriel’s shoulders, and pulled him down for a kiss—herfirst.
Her technique was sloppy, but it managed to get Gabriel to respond. This was madness! Utter madness... She’d never thought her first kiss would be this way, in desperation. Yet here she was.
The touch of his lips; it was like a lit match to oil.
Gabriel took command, and when he licked the seam of her lips, she gave a start of surprise, clutching onto his lapels for balance. A sound tore from his chest, and the kiss grew even more torrid. He penetrated her mouth with a stabbing force that made heat ricochet through every limb and nerve.
She clung desperately to him, and his kiss grew even more potent—he kissed her as if heownedher. The unrepentant, masculine possession of her sent a strange, singing sweetness through her blood.
How was it that Gabriel kissed like this? It was unlike anything she could have ever imagined... Hot promise rushed through her flesh.
In her drunken flurry, she hadn’t realized the force she’d thrown herself towards him had forced him to stagger out of the open door. Gabriel managed to steady them, but in the middle of the corridor.
It was fine, wasn’t it? Gabriel was her husband-to-be, after all.
It was a bit scandalous,yes, but surely anyone would understand. She sought his lips again. Who would have thought such a standoffish man like him could kiss this seductively? What other talents had he been hiding from her?
“Lady Cecilia? W-what are you doing?” The Dowager’s tone was aghast—but why was she horrified?
It was only when firm hands pushed her off and her eyes peeled apart did she realize three things in heartbreaking, blood-curdling succession.
The man she was kissing was not Gabriel…
It was Cassian Fitzroy.
They had an audience.
Four people in the corridor with them—one of whom was in fact Gabriel—were staring at her in abject horror. The frank truth of the moment slammed into her like a phaeton out of control.
I am ruined.
