Her breath touched his face, soft, like the flutter of a butterfly’s wings. “I want to kiss you, Shannon.”
“You do?”
“Mm.” He made no effort to come nearer. “Would you let me?”
“Yes.”
Brandon’s hand slipped from her cheek to the fragile curve of her neck. The tip of one finger brushed her earlobe. His eyes darkened, searching her face. “Why?” He continued to maintain the taut distance that separated them.
“Why?” she repeated.
“Yes. Why would you let me?”
“Because you are the master here and I could not stop you,” she said simply.
Brandon sighed and withdrew his hand. He leaned back, bracing himself on his hands, and crossed his feet at the ankles. “I thought that might be the way of it.”
Shannon gaped slightly at Brandon’s easy acceptance of the situation. His responses were outside the realm of her experience. “I don’t think I understand. You didn’t want to kiss me at all, did you? It was only a flirtation.”
“Do you remember the day we first met?” he asked lightly. “You ran like a frightened doe and promptly lost all your berries and a measure of your pride in the brook.” His eyes brightened at the memory. “I helped you from the water, teased a smile out of you, and carried you home on my mount.Thatwas a flirtation.”
“I see.”
“I wonder if you do. I wanted to kiss you then, you know. But it wouldn’t have been right to take something not freely given, so I didn’t. And I won’t now.”
“But the night I ran away from the folly—”
“I know. That was unfair of me. I should not have touched you then. It won’t happen again. It’s why I left you on the verandah the other evening. I did not want to shame myself.”
Shannon gave Brandon a considering look. “Then it would truly be my choice? The kiss, I mean. I can say yea or nay and you would accept it?”
“Yea or nay,” he repeated softly.
There was one more thing she wanted to know, but she was afraid and, if the truth be known, too selfish to ask. If he wanted to kiss her because she reminded him of Aurora, then she would accept it. She could not bear to bring his wife’s name into the conversation. She was not brazen enough to announce that she remembered he was married and that she was a sinner because more than anything she wanted the brush of his mouth against hers. For once she wanted to put her needs first and damn the consequences.
“Then I say yea.”
For a long moment Brandon did not move. He held her gaze, clear and guileless, and saw that she spoke from her heart. It was more than he had asked for; much more than he deserved. One hand reached for her slowly. His fingers whispered across her temple, her cheek. When she would have looked away, he raised her face and sifted through her thick hair, binding her to his hand. He edged closer, lowering his mouth to hers.
Shannon was not sure what she had expected, but it certainly wasn’t what Brandon gave her. The kiss was an airy thing, a tickling pressure that traced the shape of her mouth, then was done.
Brandon grinned. “Your eyes were open.”
“I was watching you.”
He nodded. “And I was watching you,” he said gravely. “We could try it again, this time with eyes closed.”
“Does it make a difference?”
“Sometimes.” He shrugged, tilting his head to one side. “Though I liked that kiss well enough.”
“All right.” Shannon closed her eyes and waited.
Sweet innocence, Brandon thought, and the smile that was tugging at his lips was pressed against the corner of Shannon’s mouth. He touched her lightly, paused, then his mouth slid across her lips. He increased the pressure. When he felt her tremble, he withdrew.
Shannon lifted her eyes to Brandon slowly. She touched the tips of her fingers to her mouth. “That was not so bad,” she said.
He feigned an injured expression. “Damned with faint praise.”
