Piper met his gaze once more, that melting mysterious green like a dark forest, marveling at the heat in his eyes as she had the heat against her hands. He smelled earthy and manly with not a hint of noxious cologne. Eyelids heavy, she leaned into him.
With a low curse, he closed his eyes and raised his face to the sky. His bared throat worked with an audible swallow. The growth of new whiskers darkened the underside of his chin, stubble roughening the taut expanse. A pang of something she couldn’t quite identify spiraled in her belly, and the impulse to kiss him there seized her. To lick him. To explore the texture and taste of him on her tongue.
Shock at the directions of her thoughts enfolded her, dumbfounding her to the point where she didn’t act upon the urge. Thank goodness. How mortifying that would have been!
As his chin descended, her eyes darted up to meet his before being irresistibly drawn back to his full lips.
“Dinnae look at me like that, lass,” he growled.
“Like what?”
“Like ye want to kiss me.”
She did want to kiss him. She’d been taken by surprise the first time and it had been over far too fast. This time, she wanted to savor it. Memorize every aspect. Her fingers crept up his neck to trace the line of his jaw. His long, shaky inhale sent a quiver of something through her chest and her own breath caught short.
With a low moan, he gathered her close. His breath a warm caress against the fine hairs at her temple before his lips grazed the spot. As it had when she’d seen Connor with his shirt off, the day seemed suddenly steamy, sultry. Her head buzzed as if she’d over imbibed.
Another harsh breath mixed with a groan and he lifted his head with a muttered curse. He caught her trembling hands in his and pressed his lips to each palm before setting her away from him.
“On second thought,” she heard him mumble before he grasped her around the waist and tossed her onto Dandy’s back as if she weighed no more than a child. “I think we’re better off wi’ ye up there and out of reach.”
Piper failed to agree with that sentiment but held her tongue. Her head swam to the point she feared she might fall from her horse. She managed to settle herself in the saddle while Connor remounted. With a click of his tongue, he kicked the horse into motion and she brought Dandy alongside him, watching Connor’s face all the while.
A muscle jumped in his cheek. His lips compressed into a thin line. She might have thought him angry if she weren’t experiencing a fair amount of frustration herself. She’d wanted that kiss.
He’d refrained not only because he was a gentleman but because he was determined to prove himself worthy of her trust. She’d heard enough stories from Jane to know even presumably honorable men would press their advantage to steal a kiss. Some would have taken it regardless. She had some familiarity with men who were insistent regarding their wants.
Biting her lip, Piper shifted her attention to the path ahead with the reminder. And to what she’d wanted to talk to Connor about because she did hold a measure of regard for him.
Because he was a good man.
“If you’d given me a moment longer, I would have clarified that in saying I’d taken your measure, I’d concluded you’re not entirely like most men.”
“Entirely? I’m no’ certain I’m satisfied wi’ even that.”
“You do convey a fair amount of caprice.”
He considered his dirt-stained and worn linen shirt pointedly. “Fresh out of polish, I’m afraid.”
Piper shook her head in exasperation, biting back a smile. “You’re rather impossible, do you know that?”
“Aye, but charming and remarkably trustworthy at the same time.” He punctuated the claim with a roguish wink.
He did have a talent for dispersing her anxiety. Each time her nerves began to jangle, he found some way to ease them, whether it be with a jest or a gesture to demonstrate his steadfast character.
She prayed her instincts about him weren’t wrong.
“My father and my stepfather were both good men.” The lightness he roused in her faded. Her emotions were changing like the ebb and rise of an evening tide. Aware that he was solemnly attuned to her words now, she ran her hand down Dandy’s neck and gave the horse a light pat. A bit of encouragement for herself.“They deserved better than my mother. She’d married them both to elevate her position, before either was able to grasp the depths of her avarice. Luckily, both were smart enough to tie their wealth in enough legal knots to keep it from her when they died. After my stepfather died, she was left with a bit of a conundrum.”
Connor reached across the space between them and clasped her hand. Another of those gestures of confidence. “When was this?”
“More than two years ago. December of ’92, I wasn’t quite eighteen,” she told him. “Mother was on the hunt for another husband within days of my stepfather’s funeral. You have to understand, she didn’t give a fig for the proper etiquette of mourning. She would defy any moral standard if it were to her advantage. This time, though, in order to elevate herself, she had to include me in the bargain. She arranged a marriage for me.”
Piper paused at the words.Arranged a marriage. So mundane. They said nothing of the betrayal of the moment. The misery of what was to come.
“Archaic practice,” he commented.
Yes, a ridiculous one, as she could attest. As could many of her friends and any combination of Queen Victoria’s children, no doubt. Unfortunately, that ‘archaic practice’ remained common enough among the highest echelons of society, where the conjoining of fortunes and advancement of titles held sway over preferences of the heart. Providing any of those qualifications to Connor would mean explaining her position among them. Therefore, she merely shrugged her response.
