“Good Lord, Harry!What else is there t—”
His mouth, the shape and feel of his kiss were exactly how she remembered them.Full of frustration, yes, and perhaps a bit of anger.But passion as well.A moan built up inside of her as his lips parted hers, and his tongue lashed out to ravish hers, teasing and tempting, before he jerked his head away with a low curse.
“Damn, but this isn’t what I wanted!”
Fiona pressed her lips tightly together, willing the tingle to disappear as his words lashed at her contrary heart, whipping the irritation away.“No, of course, it’s not.”
He swore again, grasping her hand before she could slip out of reach once more.“Blast it, Fiona, that is not what I meant.In fact, it is far more simple than that.”
“You are making no sense.”
“Then, for once, let me explain.I always imagined that if I were going to kiss you again—yes, I did imagine it—it would not be like before, rash and impulsive.And yet, you provoked me into doing just that.”
Staring resolutely away from Aylesbury’s handsome face, Fiona willed her heart into an arctic chill, but as always, it warmed like a tropical summer under his melting gaze.She didn’t want this.She didn’t want to be charmed by him again, to like him...to love him once more.
She clenched her jaw, working up the resolve to turn away from him yet again.But her feet did not move, nor could she bite back the trembling question that came unbidden to her lips.For she just had to know.
“Wh–what did you imagine?”
Aylesbury stroked her chin, tilting her chin up until her eyes met his.He was so beautiful; it tore at her soul to meet his gaze.
“I thought it might be more like this.”His knuckles traced a slow path down her cheeks before his fingers unfurled along her jaw.
Fiona quivered helplessly at the tender caress, her heart already racing just as it had the first day they met.She fortified herself against it, refusing to lean into him, to find pleasure in his touch.
With deliberate restraint that tempted far more than his more forceful execution, he bent his head to hers.Aylesbury’s lips brushed like a whisper across hers once, twice, fanning the flames gently rather than feeding the molten fury as if he were trying to coax a reluctant animal out of a corner when all the beast within her wanted to do was leap into his arms.
His lips played over hers, teasing, toying.His tongue lightly traced her lower lip before plunging in for a swift parry with hers.Feint.Retreat.Urging Fiona to take the offensive, to advance and claim for her own.
Strong arms banded around her waist, crushing her against his broad chest as he lifted her from the step and turned with her in his embrace.Her arms lifted of their own accord and wrapped around his neck as he pinned her against the wall.His lips settled more firmly over hers, attacking, plundering, demanding surrender.
With a low moan, she was ready to give it to him.Her always uncontrollable but now unwelcome desire for him was unchanged even after all this time.The knowledge left her feeling vulnerable.Then angry...with herself more than him.
Fiona brutally quashed the impulse to lose herself in his arms and in his kiss until the rest of the world and even the past were forgotten.But she couldn’t do this again.Couldn’t allow herself to love him again.
She was stupid!So stupid to invite heartache once more.She struggled out of his tight embrace with a desperate twist.Her feet hardly hit the ground before her hand snapped out, her palm connecting across his cheek with a crack of denial...though to him or her own longings, Fiona wasn’t sure.
She looked up at him in shock over her violent reaction, seeing the inviting warmth that had lit his eyes fade away, but not to anger, simply disbelief.Still, there was the tenderness that scored her heart.Lifting a hand to her trembling lips, she took a step back and then another, fortifying herself against his undeniable appeal.
Knowing even as she turned away from him that it might already be too late.
“Damn you, Harry.You’re ruining everything.Please, just leave me alone.”
