“And my pearls.” She touched her delicate throat, as if she still wore the necklace. “My mother’s pearls broke when you kissed me. We tried to recover all of them.”
He gritted his teeth, the memory hot in his mind. Both of them crawling about on their hands and knees searching for those precious pearls. The heirloom had been restored a week later after he’d paid a jeweler to see it done. James was drawn to her light laughter and heat. There was something about her, deeper than her charm and natural beauty, that commanded the attention of a ballroom or that of every person sitting down to dine. Even now, alone with her, that attraction, that undeniable invisible hand pulled him closer to her.
“Do you still have the necklace?” he asked.
“Yes. I’ve always kept it close, for it was the one thing I had to remind me of you.”
“What about your engagement ring?”
She lowered her chin. “Father tried to take it from me.”
James had presented her with an heirloom from his side of the family, a sapphire and diamond ring his mother had loved.
Raven reached beneath the neckline of her gown and pulled out the end of a ribbon tied about her throat. The ring was secured on the ribbon. “I had to keep it hidden.”
James closed his eyes, guilt stabbing at his heart. What if she was telling the truth? He gazed at her again in earnest, wondering how much she had suffered for loving him against her father’s wishes. “What did they do to you?”
She frowned and looked away. “Leave those memories in the past, James. I am here with you now.”
No.He had a right to know. “Did someone…”
“I was confined to a small bedchamber for months, food withheld if I did not do what my father demanded of me, even beaten occasionally with a switch. Nothing not worth enduring for a chance to be reunited with you.”
Rage filled his heart and mind, then quickly surrendered to animal-need and love. James could not contain it, not for the span of another breath. He lifted her from the chair, hands possessively gripping her shoulders, then her hips, tugging her to his body, his mouth craving her taste, her lips, her tongue moving against his.
There was brief moment of silence as they stared into each other’s eyes, the mutual longing and attraction no longer controllable or deniable. He whispered her name as he slanted his mouth over hers, swallowing her tiny cry of happiness, claiming her for the second time in his life.
Chapter Five
Reason returned toJames, and he quickly separated himself from his temptress, though his lips burned with desire. He wanted more of her, much more. But the injustice that had been done to him, whether the fault of her father or herself, continued to plague him, to give him great pause—something about her sudden appearance did not sit right. He glared at her then, wondering if he could trust himself at all.
“James,” she said, “it is cold, please close the doors.”
He looked to the French doors, snow swirling in the howling wind outside. The cold was the only thing that anchored him to the reality that continued to slip away with every moment he spent in her presence. As he approached the balcony, he wondered why she had not used the front door to visit him? Anyone else would have, but not his Raven.
“How is it you came to the balcony tonight?” he asked as he secured the doors.
“Do you not know?”
“I cannot say I do.”
“To avoid scandal,” she said.
“Scandal?” he scoffed, displeased with her answer. “Are we not still legally bound, engaged?”
“Yes.” She tugged at the ribbon about her neck again. “Unless I am mistaken, my father never formally broke our betrothal.”
“No. He did not.” Tears seemed to well in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall as he continued to watch her closely, weighing her words and motivation. “What scandal in reuniting with your finance in public then, by way of my front door? If I were in your position, lady, I would wish the whole world to know of my triumphant return.”
“In the middle of the night?”
“At any hour.”
“Then we differ greatly in that respect, my lord. For I did not know what to expect when the carriage rolled to a stop in your driveway. And fear subdued my joy. What if you had married and were now a father? I could not risk humiliating myself or your family.”
Her explanation was reasonable enough. “How did you know I’d be in my library?”
“What other place would you be? Is this not your favorite room in the house?”
