He blinked beneath scrunched brows. “I dinnae intend tae. Whatever gave ye such a foolish notion?”
She tried to sit up, but he held her tight. How could she tell him she couldn’t stand it if he repeated the same tired cliché’ she’d heard from every new ‘set-up’ her mother arranged.
I’m sorry for rushing you, Lauren. I know it isn’t proper, but I just couldn’t help myself.Every one of them had a different version of the same scripted come-on.
Predators, all of them. Dry, boring, perfectly groomed and mannered ‘wash-rinse-and-repeat’suitablegentlemen, searching for the golden ticket. All of them mom-stamped, and dad-approved. Including, Ben.
It was embarrassing to admit how desperately she’d wanted Reggie to be different. How much she was afraid to find out if she could be attractive to a man without her pedigree to back her up.
But she’d never expected that man to make her wanthim. For the first time, she felt unsure about a man’s attention. She’d never responded to a kiss the way she had tonight, and she had no idea how to respond, now.
It was cruel to take her so far with just a kiss. How was she to go back, now?
She dropped her eyes. “It’s just that I don’t think either of us expected that, and I didn’t want you to feel awkward, or that you had to explain, or…anything. It just happened and we can leave it at that, and not have to discuss it, or think about it, or—”
“Lauren!”
She stopped. Blinked, at the sharpness of his tone. “What?”
His slow smile turned into a broad grin and then a throaty chuckle before he took her by the shoulders and pressed a quick, but firm, kiss to her lips. “Ye talk too much.”
“I do?”
“Ye do. Now, lie down, as ye were before, and close yer eyes. Careful, now, with yer ankle.” He wrapped the tail of his plaid more snugly around them. “Ye must rest. We’ve a challenging journey ahead of us, in the morning.”
Tomorrow’s walk was a world away, yet. How could she consider that when she still felt so unbalanced from their kiss? Full of uncertainty, she settled into his warmth. But after several tortured minutes of silence, she couldn’t hold back any longer.
“Reggie?”
“Aye, lass?”
“I don’t think I can sleep. I have so many questions. What about you?”
For a moment there was only silence and the rise and fall of his chest, beneath her.
“Aye. Questions,” he finally replied. “But no answers.”
* * *
Reginald woketo early morning sunlight, rejoicing in the stiffness from sleeping on the cold, hard ground. He’d gladly take the aches and pains of mortality any day, over the comfort of his sleeping hollow, especially if he could wake with a beautiful woman in his arms.
Thisbeautiful woman.
Barely able to accept the reality of Lauren curled so closely against him, he carefully brushed his cheek against her hair as he replayed last night’s kiss in his head.
She’d given him much more than he’d ever anticipated from a kiss, real or imagined and pushed him to the edge of his restraint, which had both shocked and surprised him.
Today he’d return her to her world, which seemed as far away and untouchable, to him, as his previous life. But ’twas the life Lauren had already chosen. He could never belong in the one she described. Besides, one kiss certainly dinnae mean she wanted him there.
And even if by some miracle, she did, he couldnae share the taint of his name with her. Or, anyone. Nae, before he could share this new life with any woman, he had to clear away the stain on his last one.
But he could savor the feel of Lauren in his arms. Something to tuck away, remember and cherish, along with their kiss.
She stirred, sighed, and tipped her head back to look up at him. A shy smile curved her lips. “Good morning.”
“And, tae ye.” He studied her face, memorizing every detail, to tuck away with his other memories of her.
A slow blush colored her cheeks and he desperately wished he could ken her thoughts. “I hope yer sleep wasnae too uncomfortable.”
