Insulted, she tried to pull away from him.
“Let me go.”
“This,” he said softly, coming closer still, his mouth once more finding her ear, which caused her eyelids to flutter shut. “They’d take you, against your will, ignoring all your pleas.”
“James, please.”
He brushed his face against the side of her cheeks, his beard sending all sorts of sparks against her skin. She let out a pathetic sigh as her wrists twisted, but not out of his grasp. Instead, her fingers found the fabric of his overcoat, and she moved her hands to his sides, gripping the wet wool as tightly as she could.
Everything stilled in that moment as they held one another in a half urgent, half desperate embrace. Even the thunderous storm outside seemed to quiet as all the world seemed to become immobile, save their shared erratic breathing. Her eyes searched his and in an instant, she knew what was going to happen and silently, she urged him on.
For what felt like ages, James seemed to weigh his next move, but Grace knew what would happen if he thought too much, and so she leaned forward, just enough so that her mouth pressed against his chin and kissed him in the most chaste way possible.
Days might have passed before he spoke, and fearing his rejection, Grace tried to steel her emotions when he did.
“Do you,” he began, tone rough and raw. He cleared his throat. “Do you know the consequence of this, Grace? What would happen if—”
“I understand.”
“But—”
“Please, James. Please,” she whispered. “Kiss me.”
The good doctor’s resolve finally broke and with one last moment of hesitation, he did just that.
Chapter Thirteen
She tasted likewater mint and the Highlands and a dozen other things that James had forgotten, yet a dozen things he had never known. What was this feeling? Every time her touched her, kissed her, dreamed about her, his mind was wiped clean of everything he had ever learned, yet if he asked himself in that moment what was the meaning to all of it, he would only be able to breathe her name as the answer to all life’s mysteries. For at that moment, he knew in his bones that his only reason for being on this earth was to be near her. To hold her, feel her. Kiss her until the end of days.
His one hand went into the mass of her hair, just like he had imagined before, and the other went to her ribcage, feeling the warmth of her, yet still hesitant. To his surprise and immense satisfaction, Grace’s hand found his and pulled it to her breast. She moaned into his kiss when she did so and James was close to spending then and there.
Her hands went to the silk buttons at the front of her dress. It was a split gown, as James soon found out, one where the top was able to be removed apart from the skirt. The camisole beneath was somewhat bunched up, over a restrictive corset that disappeared beneath her skirt. He spotted a silver chain around her neck that he hadn’t seen before. She had been wearing it beneath her dress.
“What’s this?” he asked, reaching for it.
“Oh, it’s a pen from my aunt and a locket from, well, yours.”
He shot her a look.
“My aunt? She gave you a locket?” Grace nodded. “What’s in it?”
“Herbs.” She shrugged. “She said it was for protection.”
James lifted it and breathed it in. Water mint. That’s why she reminded him of home. He gently dropped it, bemused by it.
“They really know how to insert themselves into situations, don’t they?”
Grace removed the necklace and tossed it onto the chaise in the parlor, a few feet away before reaching for his collar and she pulled him close, kissing him hard, and he was breathless. Then, like a page ripping from a book, she tore away from him and turned.
“Untie me.”
Not needing any further instructions, his hands went to the fine strings of her corset as he undid the double bow. Once pulled apart, she breathed deeply and a wild desire to banish all fabrics from her body consumed him. She twisted at the waist, untying her skirt and stepping out of it, along with her petticoat before she turned and melted into him once more.
This was madness. They were half in the foyer, half in the parlor and yet James couldn’t stop himself. Grace was insistent, desperate to be with him and while a miniscule warning tried to sound in his mind, he couldn’t bring himself to deny her anything.
His only purpose in life was to please her. But for the briefest of moments his eyes opened and he saw a painting in the foyer of Grace and her sisters and that tiny warning grew. He tried to pull back, but kissed her again, closing his eyes. This is what she wanted, but did she know what she wanted? Did she know what this would mean?
He pulled back.
