He dismounted first, and carefully lifted her into his arms. He held her there, suspended and hovering, and she didn’t protest. Her unwavering, jewel-like gaze met his and he didn’t feel the cold slowly seeping through his open coat. When he lowered her, she was still intoxicatingly close, her chin tipped toward him and her hands clasping his upper arms.
“I’ll bid you farewell.”
She nodded uncertainly, and her grasp on him remained firm. “I apologize for my uncharitable behavior. I appreciate you seeing me home.”
“I could do no less. I don’t know what possessed you to set off on your own, but I wasn’t going to let you repeat your daft behavior.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Just when I think I can tolerate you, you insult me.”
He lifted her chin and dropped his head. “‘Twasn’t an insult, dragonfly. Merely an observation,” he said against her lips. His kiss was gentle at first, so gentle she barely felt it. He deepened it, his teeth nipping at her bottom lip, coaxing her to allow him entry.
Chapter Nineteen
Jesswantedtostompon his foot or bite his lip, but when she opened her mouth beneath his, the kiss filled her stomach with a thousand wings and made her want to twirl around in a circle until she was dizzy from it. His hands slid under her cloak and fell to her hips, lifting her against him. She lifted one of her mittened hands and held it up. She didn’t even need to tell him what she wanted. He removed it with his teeth and tossed it to the ground.
Jess slid her now bare hand to the back of his neck and cupped the curve of muscle notched just above his spine. He groaned and pressed her even closer, so she could feel how hard he was. The fabric that had been damp from his earlier release had dried, but was still dark.
He tilted his head away from her and growled. “If you aren’t in that door in five seconds, I’ll take you right here beneath the cold moonlight. Consequences be damned.”
Jess took two steps back and stood there, unable to look away. She could see the puff of their breaths in the open air, feel theweight of the desire in his tortured gaze. “Flee, dragonfly. This is the last warning you’ll get before I pounce.”
Jess took her skirts in her hands and scurried to the door. She gave him one last look over her shoulder. He looked like some fae prince in the pale light, and she almost ran back. She pushed open the door, and quickly shut it behind her. Before she changed her mind.
When Jess descended the stairs the next morning, she was still rubbing sleep from her eyes. Her excursion and its aftermath had made her toss and turn all night, uncertain of her path and dreading its outcome.
Vin and Cece were seated at the kitchen table.
Jess skidded to a halt. “I thought you were wed now? What are you doing here?”
“She’s left her husband to fend for himself,” Vin clarified.
“I came on the train yesterday. It was delayed and I knew everyone would be abed, so I stayed in the room above the tavern.”
Cece looked careworn and exhausted. And heartbroken. “We’re glad you’re here because we’ve missed you, but I’m heartily sorry trouble has brought you home.”
Jess wanted to besiege her for advice, but sensed she carried burdens of her own.
“Your new husband has already broken faith?” Jess asked.
Cece twisted the claddagh ring over her knuckle. “I’ve never felt so betrayed or manipulated,” she quietly confessed.
“It seems to be quite the whirlwind romance.”
Jess erred on the side of tact and didn’t mention any of the heated discussions Cece’s sudden choice had caused. Emily hadbeen on the verge of retrieving her from what she’d deemed an irrational lapse in judgment.
“It felt as if I knew him from the moment we met. The reason for my familiarity became quite clear.”
Her sister sounded bitter, and more wracked by despair than she’d ever seen her.
“What caused the rift between you?”
Cece’s bark of laughter was harsh. “His deception feels unforgivable. It was him, not Henry, who wrote the letters. His deceit made me question whether I ever held my husband’s heart.”
Jess and Vin both gasped in outrage.
“You told me those letters were how you came to truly know your husband,” said Jess.
“And you weren’t the only one swooning over his words. We all did when you read one of them aloud,” added Vin.
