“You have no idea how much,” she said with a disbelieving headshake. “You are prepared to be punished in a court of law and go to prison, maybe worse, just to see me safe?”
“Yes,” he said, without hesitation.
“But…you would be exchanging your life for mine, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, and?” he said, still not seeing a problem with the situation. She lifted her hands up to her face, covering her mouth though she held his gaze. “Which part about this surprises you? The fact that I am willing to be violent towards the Viscount, or the fact that I am willing to make that sacrifice?”
“The sacrifice!” she said with surprising animation, flinging her hands down by her side. Her manner was abruptly so alight that Francis moved to the edge of his seat, inching a little closer toward her. “No one has ever said such a thing to me before. That you would be willing to do that…” She broke off and covered her mouth yet again with both hands.
Francis moved out of his seat, glancing toward the door out of fear that his family would return, or the butler would walk in, but the door remained firmly closed. With that freedom, he knelt down in front of her, softly taking her wrists and trying to pull them away from her face.
“Please, listen to me, Lady R…” He stopped. He was tired of calling her by her husband’s name. It suggested she still belonged to the Viscount, something that Francis couldn’t stand. “Phoebe.” He used her first name. The surprise made her hands a little limper, allowing him to pull away her hands so he could see her face fully. “Can I call you that?”
“Yes, of course,” she said, eagerly with a nod.
“Quite frankly, I never expected to hear myself willing to make such a sacrifice either.” His words brought a small smile to her face. From the grasp he had on her wrists, he altered it, until their palms slid together, and he entwined her fingers with his own. “Now, there is not a doubt in my mind. I will not let him hurt you again, come what may.”
“I do not know what I did to earn your kindness,” she said with her eyes glistening, on the verge of tears.
“You should never have to earn kindness, Phoebe. That is not the way the world works,” he said, his tone so strong it surprised himself, despite the quietness of it. “What a world you have been in to think that kindness is a rare thing?”
He loosened one of his hands in hers and lifted it slowly up to her, knowing that she might push him away at any moment, knowing as well that what he wanted to do was forbidden, yet unable to stop himself anyway. He pulled one of the locks of hair that was dangling down by her cheek back, and tucked it behind her ear, using the action to allow him to caress her cheek with the back of his hand. She leaned into the touch a little, her eyes fluttering closed as she indulged in it.
“We shouldn’t be so close,” she whispered after a minute, though she still stayed there, holding his touch.
“Would you like me to retreat?” he asked, knowing he would do anything that she asked of him.
“No,” she said, opening her eyes. “Don’t go.”
It was the only encouragement he needed. He used his soft hold on her cheek to pull her forward, just an inch, testing the waters. When she still didn’t ask him to stop but instead allowed her eyes to close another time, he was bold and leaned toward her. As he kissed her, he felt as though things had slid into place.
The tingle that traveled through him as well as the heat made it plain that this was where he should be, with Phoebe’s hand clutching to his, palm to palm, as they kissed. It was a simple kiss, with just their lips pressing together, but it was what he had been imagining for so long that it felt like the most tantalizing of things to share with her.
When they parted from one another, he watched her bite her lip, tempting him to kiss her again, but he had taken enough liberties for one night with another man’s wife. He rested his forehead against hers, maintaining the intimacy a little longer.
“I know what you said at dinner last night,” he said quietly, so low that he struggled to hear his own voice above the crackle of the fire nearby, “but it is not so easy just to stop what I feel. I cannot stay away from you.”
Her lips flickered into the smallest of smiles as she made no further objection. He longed to kiss her, but restrained himself, lifting his forehead off hers a little and resting back on his knees. He looked down at their joint hands for a minute, seeing he could maintain the intimacy between them for a short while longer. He lifted her clasped hand and turned it over, until he could place another one of those kisses to the inside of her wrist. She gasped at his touch, prompting him to look at her, seeing the swell of her chest as she took a sharp breath and the coloring of her cheeks.
“You respond as though you have never been kissed before,” he said with a whisper and a smile.
“I haven’t,” she said quietly. There was something of relief to him to hear those words. The Viscount had never kissed her. It made him clasp to her hand with both of his, holding tightly to her. For all the cruelty the Viscount had shown her, at least there was something he had not taken from her, a kiss.
“Do something for me, Phoebe,” he said, keeping his eyes on her. Now he had broken the boundary in using her Christian name, he had no intention of referring to her by her husband’s name, only her own. “No more talk of going back to him. Please? You have said it twice now.”
“Only to protect you all.”
“I know, but I still do not wish to hear it again. Please?”
“I promise,” she said softly as he lifted his hand and kissed it another time, unable to stop kissing her now that he had crossed the boundary. “I should go to bed.” She gestured toward the door.
Francis stood to his feet and stepped back, allowing her to go. She hesitated a step from him before turning back and raising herself on her toes. He held his own breath, wondering what she was doing when he saw her turn her lips to his cheek and kiss him there, briefly.
“It seems you and I are going to struggle to stop doing that now,” he said in a tease, prompting her to laugh as she lowered herself back down to her toes.
“I think you could be right. Good night, Your Grace,” she said with a smile.
“Good night, Phoebe.”
