Her head shot up, and their eyes connected. He saw the fear in hers.
“Liberty? What the hell are you doing here alone?” The rage was fast and flooded his body. He stormed closer. “Are you mad?”
Was she meeting someone? A lover?The ugly thought slid into his head, and he had no right to feel the bite of jealousy over it. What she did was her business.
“I am not mad, and you’ll unhand me at once,” she said, her voice high-pitched.
“What has happened? What scared you?” He hadn’t even realized he’d wrapped his fingers around her wrist.
“Let me go at once, and I will return to my parents.” She squinted up at him.
“You should not have left them,” he snarled. “Why are you not wearing your glasses?”
She made a small shrieking sound, which suggested her rage now matched his.
“Tell me,” he demanded.
“My mother has no wish for her daughter to be seen wearing eyeglasses in public.” She looked up at him defiantly. Eyes squinting as she tried to bring him into focus.
“My surprise is that you listen to her. Now, tell me, why were you in those trees?”
“I don’t have to tell you anything.”
“And yet you will. It is dangerous to be alone in such a place. Anyone could have attacked you—”
“I am no concern of yours,” she snapped.
Toby didn’t know what possessed him to do what he did in that moment. But looking down at her lovely eyes and soft lips in a defiant line, he was soon lowering his head.
“What—”
He kissed her. Liberty, his old childhood friend. The woman he’d turned from, and Toby knew that with the first touch, it had been a mistake.
Her lips were soft, and her body felt full and lush as he pulled her closer. One kiss and he was gone. He’d know now, every time he looked at her, what she tasted like.
One hand went to her head, where Toby angled it to meet his lips, and he took the kiss deeper. Desperate to get as close to this woman as he could. He lost all reason. His only focus was her and this. Placing a hand on her spine, he pressed her flush to his body. Felt every inch of her lush form, from her thighs to her breasts against his.
Her hands fisted on his lapels as he caressed her back. Toby fought with himself to not ravage her lips. Not consume her with the need that was charging through his body. In that moment, he wanted to lay her down and possess her, and it was that thought which had him lifting his head.
“Toby,” she whispered, and it was the first time he’d heard his name on her lips since that day. “Wh-what are you doing?”
Christ.He released her and took a step back, so their bodies no longer touched.
“Why did you kiss me?” He heard the uncertainty in her voice.
“I am a rake, remember?” But he wasn’t anymore, and never would be again.
Her eyes widened, and she closed the gap between them. He took the slap without moving, because he’d deserved it. And then she was walking away from him. He grabbed her wrist, stopping her. But she didn’t look at him.
“I want to know why you were here alone, my lady?”
“Go to hell.”
“Again? I believe you sent me there several times already. Now tell me, what has you here on this path without company?”
“I wanted to be alone,” she said, chin raised, tone defiant.
“Don’t lie to me, Liberty, this is serious.”
