He mustn’t. They must not.
“Declan?”
He felt the weight of her hand on his sleeve. He need only straighten his arm to slide her palm down. Their fingers would lock. The slightest tug, and she would fall against him.
He opened his eyes.
She was staring at his mouth.
“Bloody hell,” he rasped. He loomed closer.
“So serious,” she whispered. “Always so serious.”
“Helena.”
She licked her lips, and Declan could taste her. She inched forward. She raised her face to him.
“We cannot risk it,” he whispered, forcing the words out.
“Can we not?” Playfulness. Her eyes were smiling.
“No. We cannot. Theplanis the priority. Above all. Keep you from Lusk. Find some better situation for my father and sisters.”
She nodded. They were inches apart.
“I am a groom and you are the future wife of my employer, and we are embarking on a tenuous plan that puts us both in jeopardy. If we are found out—”
“If you are my groom, I have a task.”
“Oh God.”
“You’ve just said you are happy to do anything I ask.”
“In service,” he corrected, his voice cracking a little. Now who was unsettled and wavery?
“So serve me.”
“Helena,” he breathed.
“Just once more,” she said. Not a question.
“If we are found out...” he repeated, but he was already leaning. Every cell reached for her, his need had crystalized, hard as a diamond. If the armory doors flew open and the entire household flooded in, he would not stop.
“Last time,” she whispered. He felt her breath on his cheek. Her eyes drooped closed. She made a small noise of pleasure before he touched her mouth.
When their lips met, Declan felt as if he’d been fitted into the most secure, most wonderful place on the earth. The crevice of a grassy hill in the sun. A hollowed-out rock, smooth from the tide. He existed, body and soul, to tuck her against his chest.
She paused, waiting, and Declan let her wait. One beat, two beats. He breathed her in. When finally he moved, he went slowly, savoring, leading her into a last kiss that would sustain them. A kiss that celebrated The Now. Nothing more, nothing less. They would savor this forbidden thing now and never again.
“I could not be more serious, Helena,” he said, turning his face against the silky skin of her neck. “No more. This is the last.”
He found her mouth again, increasing the intensity, invoking his tongue, sweeping his hands up her back. With wide fingers and open palms, he memorized the dip of her waist, the run of her ribs, the lush roundness of the sides of her breasts.
“Last time,” she agreed breathlessly. She kissed him like she had something to prove. He’d taught her, and she’d understood. She was proficient, so much more than proficient. She was the perfect mix of seductive and playful, andkilling him.
Her kiss asked the question:What are you going to do about that?
His brain answered,I cannot ever kiss you again.
