All his good intentions dissolved.
Sensing her inexperience, he dipped his head and hesitantly sampled her cool wet lips with his own. Ah, such sweetness.
She tasted of the wine from earlier, and warmth, and sunshine and all that was woman. He turned his head, to savor her more fully, and at the same time, her legs lifted and wrapped around his waist.
Innocent temptation flared and a more sensual craving seized their embrace. He’d intended to refrain from kissing her.
He’d failed miserably.
Now, his conscience berated him for clasping at her buttocks, sliding her chemise up so he could knead the flesh of her thighs, pressing himself into her welcoming center.
Toppling any further control on his part, she clasped her legs tighter and lifted herself higher, almost climbing him. Now it was her mouth that delved deeper as she explored behind his teeth with her tongue, humming a soft hungry sound.
Which made him grow harder if possible, despite the cool water.
But he could not. Dear God, he could not.
Reluctantly, he slid his hands up her back and turned his head to the side. She kissed his jaw, then, and the side of his throat, threatening to undo his renewed resolve. It took a moment for her to comprehend his withdrawal.
Gabriel stroked the back of her head and closed his eyes while she caught her breath.
“You did want to kiss me earlier.” Her faint words humbled him.
He exhaled. “Of course, I did.” And then a cloud drifted across the sky, immediately sending a chill through the air.
She shivered and moved to pull away. He wasn’t ready, though, and caught at her. She relaxed for a moment, and he rubbed his hands up and down her arms for warmth.
He needed to leave her alone in the future. Perhaps there was a reason gentlemen and women never aspired to platonic friendship, why protective parents required chaperones follow them around.
He released her arms and she leaned away, threw her head back and somersaulted backward in one smooth motion into the water.
Of course, she could swim.
Had he thought she required him to hold her above the water in order to keep her from drowning? Despite her assertions to the contrary, some part of him had believed just that.
He shook his head in hopes of shaking off the uncomfortable revelation.
Was he deluding himself that he had any right to assert himself into other aspects of her life as well?
Like a water nymph, she dove beneath the water and then emerged, hair flowing out behind her and then she would do it again. Occasionally, he got a glimpse of her feet and more of her legs than was entirely appropriate.
Which pretty much summed her up. He chuckled and then grew serious. The very parts of her that attracted him were the characteristics for which Society would push her away. Her naivety. Her spirit.
And hell, her own father considered her magnificent eyes to be the result of a curse.
He hated that the viscount and viscountess had shunned her. Their ridiculous disapproval and rejection would shape a part of her for as long as she lived.
Across the water, she’d swam to the edge and now waded in the shallow section, her chemise hiding far less than it revealed. The woman needed to be protected from herself, and without conscious thought, he surged forward to join her before she fully emerged. He would make certain no other individuals interrupted their privacy and be afforded the sight he’d likely imagine sometime later, while alone and… imaginative…
Likely she had no idea the view she provided… So utterly innocent of the ways of the world…
Perhaps that was why he’d felt the need to intrude upon her personal affairs, her choices.
Her only champion, her sister, had married and thusly left her feeling even more alone than she had before.
He’d promised Stanton he’d look after the mine. While in Misty Brooke, he added one more undertaking to his duties. If he could prevent Olivia from marrying Smith, at least until her sister’s return, he’d feel he’d done his duty. According to Stanton, the new marchioness loved her sister and intended to bring her into Society. She would disapprove of Luke Smith’s suit.
All Gabriel needed to do was convince Olivia to delay giving Smith an answer for the next few months.
