When he was finished, she gave him a dry towel, then took another to wipe away the dampness from his face.
She was too close and smelled heavenly, of roses and sage. Further they were quite alone.
Without fully thinking through his actions, James slipped his hands about her waist and settled Diana upon his knee.
She gasped. “What are you doing?”
“Something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time.” Then he kissed her.
Diana pressed her palms against his chest and pulled back, but she didn’t attempt to rise from her position, which brought him the slightest amount of hope.
“What are you about?”
“I thought that was rather obvious.”
“Your need for kisses and caresses is well known to me, Lord Somerton. But why me and why now?”
“Because I’ve been told over and over that I’m being a fool and I finally decided to listen to that voice.”
She arched a brow. “I’m assuming that voice is Lady Isolda?”
“Yes, well,…and she’s correct.”
“You are rather foolish.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “And, you have not been?”
“We aren’t discussing me,” Diana reminded him.
But he’d like to. Instead, he decided that he’d need to be the first to concede. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?
“For any pain I caused you in London. It was never my intention to hurt you.” In fact, it hadn’t been him, but friends or acquaintances discussing him, and he still didn’t know what all she’d heard and was almost afraid to ask.
Diana stared down at James, her emerald eyes growing dark and not for the first time he wished he knew what she was thinking.
She caressed his cheek. “For what exactly are you apologizing?”
“That you learned of a future that I had set for myself long ago.”
Diana started to rise, but he held fast to her waist.
“Did it ever occur to you that those plans were once made by a foolish young man?”
* * *
Diana stilled.“Yet, they’d not changed over the years,” she said slowly.
“Are you so certain?”
Her pulse hitched and a small bit of hope broke through the carefully placed shield over her heart.
Did she trust him?
Somerton caressed her neck and gently pulled her forward. Diana didn’t resist and soon her lips were on his again. At first, he was gentle, but her passion grew as he shifted and pulled her closer and traced the seam of her lips. Diana willingly opened for him. This is what she had missed, but when his lips were on hers, Diana lost all reason and that could not happen now.
“Diana, I heard Edward injured Somerto…”
