Yawning, she sat up.She gave the dog a scratch behind the ears, then her gaze rose to him.“I am so tired of being alone.”
“You don’t have to be alone.”Rhys took her hands and lifted her to her feet.He led her to the chair, sat, and pulled her onto his lap, where she rested her head on his shoulder.
“The funeral was yesterday.Not that I was allowed to attend in my delicate condition.But today I was home all day in that big house, alone with my thoughts and my regrets.”
“What do you have to regret?”He tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, its silky texture as tempting as any drug.
“I realized that I let Stuart pull me away from all my friends.Even my family complained that they never saw me.I don’t know how to bridge the gap with Lucy and Addy.Will they forgive me for disappearing?For not keeping in touch?”
“Your friends were worried about you.Lucy told me specifically, and she asked me to watch out for you.She will be happy to see you again.I promise.”
Violet twisted in his lap so they faced each other better, setting every nerve ending in his body on fire.She studied him.Was she assessing his sincerity?Then she surprised him by lightly tracing one finger down the length of his scar.“How did you get this?”she asked.
“Knife fight.”
“How old were you?”
“Thirteen.My mother was so angry with me, yelling about my stupid choices, even as she carefully sewed me up.”He lifted the damaged side of his lip.“She was not talented with a needle; it never quite healed properly.”
Violet’s finger then continued across his lip.Her touch was soft, her eyes softer as they examined his face.Her other hand rose to cup the opposite cheek.“Doesn’t take away from your handsome face.”
Lost in the rich, mahogany depths of her gaze, he let her hold him captive.
She brushed her thumb across his bottom lip this time.“Can I…?”She bent and pressed her lips against his in a featherlight kiss that stole his breath.“I have wondered what that would feel like.Was that out of bounds?”
Rhys slid a hand to grip the nape of her neck and bring her lips back to his.He kissed her the way he’d wanted to from the first moment they had locked eyes as he pulled that gold band from behind her ear.Her lovely smile, stretching wide and laughing with delight, had captivated him then, just as her soft lips did now.Languidly, he took his time, sipping at her plump bottom lip, increasing the pressure of his kiss until she melted against him, gripping the lapels of his jacket.God, she was so sweet.
He cupped the side of her head and tipped it so he could place kisses along her delicate jaw, moving slowly across and up to her cheek.Her eyes closed with a sigh of pleasure that raced across his cheek.He moved to the other side of her face, placing kisses up to her temple, breathing in her scent.Her skin was so soft.He trailed his mouth down the column of her neck and couldn’t resist flicking his tongue out to steal a taste.
Violet let out a small sigh.“I didn’t know it could be like this.So soft, and still my heart is racing.”
He moved back to capture her lips, running his tongue across the seam, asking for permission to plunder.She parted for him, and he swept inside to tease her tongue.Changing the angle of their kiss, he sank into the heat of her mouth.She moved her hands up to weave her fingers into his hair and pressed him against the back of the chair.Suddenly, he was the one losing his breath as she took control, tangling her tongue with his, holding his head still for her sweet assault.
He banded his arms around her, tugging her tighter against him.Lost to the heat and softness of her, he reveled in each soft noise she made against his lips.Every breathy exhale.She was magnificent.His carefully constructed rules crumbled as he ran his hands up her sides and cupped one luscious breast.She was going to utterly ruin him.
Violet moaned against his mouth.“Touch me.”
He brushed a thumb across and found the tight bud of her nipple.“You aren’t wearing a corset?”he groaned.
“They don’t fit anymore,” she murmured against his mouth.“New clothes being made…”
“What are you wearing under this dress?”This ugly black mourning dress.
She leaned back.“Um, nothing.”
Rhys banged his head against the back of the chair and stared up at the ceiling.Nothing.Holy shit.He sucked in a deep breath.Then he slowly slid his hands from her breasts, down her waist to grip her hips as he tried to regain some control over his lust-addled brain.
She had no idea how she affected him.
She was barely widowed.
Dammit, he was celibate for reasons, even though those reasons eluded him in this moment.
Violet squirmed in his arms.When he looked back at her face, her eyes were downcast and her cheeks aflame with color.“I should get off of you.I know I am becoming so fat.Stuart made sure to point it out.”
“Oh, sugar, that’s not—You are perfect.Every curve of your luscious body has me hard as a rock.I’m just trying to get myself under control.”
Her mouth opened and then closed like a fish out of water.“I didn’t know men could control it.I thought…well, I assumed…it was a base instinct to rut.”
