His gaze washed over her, her skin prickling in its path.
“You deserve better than him. You deserve to be worshiped. Wooed and appreciated for your sweetness, intelligence, humor, and eyes. How starved you’ve been.”
Exactly.Starved, that was how she felt. Until Alston had fed her with laughter and talk of books, plays, and cards. Longing looks, the barest of touches, and now that kiss.
“Daisy, before we were interrupted, I asked you if you wanted me.” He lowered himself down until he kneeled before her.
Daisy sucked in a breath. Her heart was racing now, her breaths clipped and quick. “I remember.”
“We both are bound to others.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“We must both decide if this is something we want to risk. Because it will be a very big risk.”
“What do you mean?”
“I will take you from him. I have no qualms about that. When he returns, he will find there is no bride waiting for him.”
Daisy blinked in surprise. Elation filled her but she tamped it down. Life was never that easy. Cliffton might not care at all, but the countess would not let her go. Her parents would not support her casting Cliffton aside and breaking a long-standing friendship.
“And I will break my contract,” he said with determination.
“How?” Daisy asked. “How can you do that?”
“I don’t know. But I’ll find a way. It’s the reason I wanted to improve my strength in secret and pretend to be weak. The more I heal, the sooner I wed.”
“Alston, I don’t want you to get hurt after all you’ve been through.” They way he talked about Mrs. Dove-Lyon, and now that she’d met the woman, Daisy knew she was too powerful.
He slid his hands down her thighs, over her knees and under the hem of her skirts. Daisy held her breath as his hands wrapped around her ankles. Her thoughts scattered but she tried to hold on to them. Wanting did not mean having, that’s what Mr. Chase had said. Alston might feel confident about altering his fate, but Daisy was not. She didn’t know how to begin to fight for him.
“Daisy, since the moment I woke in my bed, weak, angry, I didn’t know how to justify to myself, or anyone else, why Ifelt such a loss. Everyone assured me it would all be all right. I’d lived—what more could I want? Well, it turns out, so much more. Living wasn’t enough. I want to love. The moment you walked into my room, all I wanted was you. I looked at you, and at the time, I didn’t understand the surge of heat and greed that consumed me. I just knew I wanted you. I couldn’t have you, but that would never stop me from wanting you. But now I understand why.”
Daisy drew in a small breath to utter one word. “Why?”
“Because I knew you were mine, and I was yours.”
His hands slid up her calves to the backs of her knees. He pulled her to the edge of the chair and wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Daisy, I have a very important question to ask you.”
Yes. Yes. Yes, whatever it was, her answer would be yes, but the words lodged in her throat as her brain tried to process that her legs were wrapped around him, her skirts up to her thighs, and his hands were on her—touching her—holding her hips. His eyes locked her in.
“Do you want to be mine?”
Her mind exploded with euphoria. “Yes. Always. I’ve never wanted anything more.”
“Then you’re mine.”
He leaned in to kiss her, but Daisy tucked her head back.
“Wait.”
He raised a brow in silent question. The action did not alleviate any of the burning intensity in his eyes. “Aren’t you done waiting? Waiting to live is worse than dying.”
“What about the things Mr. Chase said? What about our families? I want to be yours, but what does that mean?”
“It means that I’m in love with you and we will marry as soon as possible.”
