Before she could pull her hand away, he turned his wrist and closed his fingers around hers. The warmth of his hand, the intimacy of the contact slid a tingle all the way up her arm.
His gaze searched hers, drawing her in, tugging her toward him with a heady feeling that she didn’t want to fight. He moved in to meet her, and his other hand brushed her cheek. Fingers strong and callused, a strength she wanted to lean into.
And then his breath warmed her face and her heart ceased beating. She’d never realized how perfect his mouth was, not until his lips brushed hers.
Another shiver slipped through her, and when his lips swept over hers again, they moved with certainty. The strength he wore in every action now wrapped around her, stealing every thought and drawing her deeper into the kiss.
Deeper and deeper, until nothing inside her wanted to stop.
Levi had to stop. But even as the thought flickered through him, he drew Audrey closer. Her back arched under his palm, and the fingers of his other hand tunneled through her hair, weaving through its softness.
This woman. As much as he’d come to regard her, he’d never imagined her kiss would be so ... intoxicating. She stirred every part of him, yet she was so fragile. So ... He didn’t know the word, but he did know everything inside him wanted to protect her. Even from himself.
Especiallyfrom himself.
He eased the kiss, dwelling on the last tender caress of her mouth. Then once more. At last, he drew back, only enough to give them both air. She seemed to be struggling to catch her breath as much as he was, though her heart couldn’t be racing nearly as fast.
She stayed where he left her, her lips swollen and apple red. But her gaze didn’t meet his, her lashes lowered to conceal her thoughts.
Pain speared his chest. The last thing he wanted was for her to be embarrassed or sorry about what had just passed between them. Nor did he want her to regret what had happened. But they could never go back to before, and he was pretty sure he would never wish to.
Reaching for her hand, he took it and pressed a kiss to her fingers. Her gaze finally lifted to meet his, tentative and searching.
This was the time that he should say something charming and witty, a comment to defuse her embarrassment and break down the wall she was building between them. Nothing sprang to mind, so he searched for what he’d committed to speaking—the truth.
“Audrey, I didn’t plan that, but I can’t say I haven’t wanted to kiss you.” He swallowed. That hardly made him sound like a gentleman, and it didn’t pay her the respect she deserved, either. “I ... realize such a thing isn’t done without an agreement. And I don’t want you to think that just because we’re alone and hidden like this, propriety no longer matters. In truth, it matters even more.”
He was making a mess of this. He needed to get to the point. “You’re a remarkable woman, Audrey Moreau. Your heart, your kindness, the way you use your talents to help those around you . . . they all enhance your beauty in ways that captured me from the first time I met you.” And now the hard part of this honesty business. “I don’t know what will happen with you, and with me.”
A flicker of common sense pressed. He’d been trying tosend her back to Laurent. How could he now confess his growing feelings for her? It wasn’t as if they lived on neighboring farms outside of Kettlewell.
Yet he had to finish what he’d begun. And he owed her untainted candor.
He squeezed her hand. “I want what’s best for you, Audrey. If you lived in England with me, I would ask to court you properly. But I realize that may not happen in our situation. Either way, I want you to know that I won’t do anything untoward. I won’t take advantage of our ... remoteness.”
He raised her hand to his lips for a final kiss, then lowered it and released her.
She let out a long, shuddering breath, as though she’d been holding in the air the entire time he spoke. A sadness touched her gaze, even as her mouth curved in a smile. “Thank you.”
As her voice lingered in the air between them, something about her expression made him think she meant her words to mean more than his promise to be a gentleman.
20
Audrey stared out into the white world the next morning, as snow still fell in a heavy blanket. Wind howled through the peaks around them and whipped the flakes in gusts. If she was home in the warmth of their apartment, she would hate the thought of going out in such weather.
But after tossing on her pallet all night and staying cooped up in the small cave most of the days before, even the icy haze outside looked appealing. When the snow finally stopped, it would be unwise to venture out where she would leave footprints, in case anyone from Laurent happened this way. But the falling snow would cover every track she left now.
Besides, with Levi still sleeping, this might be her best chance to stretch her legs before she needed to prepare food for him. The thought of being so near him, of meeting his gaze and carrying on a casual conversation, stirred the same tingle of emotions that had churned inside her all night. Not just because of that kiss, but also because of his words after.
If he were free ... if their situations were different ... his intentions toward her would be serious.
But their situationshadn’tchanged. So, did that meanthese feelings for him she couldn’t seem to squelch had to be ignored? When he recovered, would she be willing to leave everything she knew and loved to go with him? Leave Papa? Brielle? Her home?
Tucking her coat and hood tighter around her neck, she stepped out, abandoning the turmoil of thoughts behind her. Snow rose up above her knees, and the moment she left the protection of the juniper tree guarding the front of the cave, the wind gusted around her. Icy crystals stung her face, and she pulled her coat up higher over her mouth and nose.
Finding the trail she usually took down the mountain proved harder with it covered in snow, but if she veered off the path, the thick white padding softened her landing. She aimed toward the cluster of trees, if for no other reason than for a moment of protection against the wind.
She should gather a load of firewood while she was out, but she’d have to go farther for that, as she’d exhausted everything easily obtained from this copse. A few more groupings of trees could be found past this area, along the base of the mountain, where they’d heard Levi’s horse that first night in the cave.
