But shewashis, for now, while she was in his arms, with her breasts crushed against his chest and her soft gasps and whimpers in his ears. She was his, and he wanted her with a fierce desire he’d never felt for any woman before her. He wanted to touch her everywhere, with his hands and his mouth—to make her wet for him, only him, and then bury himself inside her until she shuddered with pleasure, and he spilled into her arching, writhing body.
He tore his mouth from hers, then nudged her onto her back on the sofa and leaned over her to trail hot, open-mouthed kisses over her throat and neck. She gave a sharp cry when his teeth closed over her earlobe, and the desire curling in his stomach sparked at the needy sound and blazed through him, reducing his control to ashes.
He nipped at her again, triumph swelling inside him at her soft moan. “Do you like that?” He reached behind his neck to unclasp her hands and hold them above her head, his fingers wrapped lightly around her wrists.
“Yes.” She arched into him, rubbing her breasts against his chest.
He buried his face in the curve of her neck, growling as he sucked at the soft skin there, out of his mind with desire, his cock straining against his breeches.
She was still wrapped in his coat, and he worked his other hand under the edge of it, stroking his palm over the curve of her hip. Then he moved higher to brush his fingers against her collarbones and the upper swells of her breasts, desperate to feel her bare skin. “Tell me what else you like,aingeal.”
She gazed up at him for a long moment without answering, then her lips curved in a dreamy smile. “Why do you call meaingeal? I’m not one, you know. Not even close.”
Lachlan looked down at her face, at her sweet, guileless smile. “You’re the closest thing to an angel I’ve ever seen.”
And the closest I’ll ever get to one.
A sudden chill crept over him at the thought, chasing away the haze of his desire. He stared down at her, and all at once everything snapped into sharp, painful clarity.
He was on top of her, one of his hands mere inches from cupping her breast. Her lips were pink and swollen from his kisses, and there were half a dozen tiny red marks on her neck where his teeth had grazed her tender flesh.
Jesus. What was he doing? He was pawing at her as if she were some doxy he’d found in a brothel on London’s West End, instead of his brother’s sister-in-law. She was young, naïve, and untouched, and she was…
Lachlan closed his eyes as shame washed over him.
She wasinjured.
If she knew what he truly was, what he’d done, the secrets he was keeping from her, she’d never let him lay a finger on her. Perhaps she wasn’t an angel, just as she said, but she deserved far better than to be touched with hands as bloody as his. He yanked them away from her, horrified, then stumbled to his feet and backed away, putting space between them.
“Lachlan?” She rose up onto her elbows, her puzzled gaze searching his face. “What’s wrong?”
He dragged both hands through his hair. “We can’t…this was a mistake. I shouldn’t have touched you. I can’t…this can never happen again.”
Her mouth opened, then closed, and she pulled his coat tighter around her in an unconscious effort to protect herself. “I don’t understand.”
Lachlan blew out a harsh breath. No, she didn’t understand, and why would she? One moment he was kissing and touching her as if she were London’s merriest widow, and now he was so ashamed he couldn’t even look at her.
“Your sister is married to my brother, Hyacinth. I swore to her I’d protect you, and I made the same promise to you. I said I’d take care of you just as I do Isla, as if you were my own…” He trailed off with a swallow.
My own sister.
It was absurd, given what had just happened between them.
She flushed, and her eyes dropped to her lap. “I—t-this isn’t your f-fault. I k-kissedyou, and I s-s-see I shouldn’t have.”
He recoiled from the pain and confusion on her face. He wanted to take her hands, to reassure her she hadn’t done anything wrong, but he didn’t trust himself to touch her. “Itismy fault. You’re an innocent, and I’m...”
A scoundrel, a liar, a murderer…
He blew out a hard breath. “I know better than to toy with a naïve girl.”
She flinched. “Yes, well...I suppose a gentleman like you prefers more sophisticated ladies, like Lady Joanna.”
Lady Joanna?Lachlan started at her, too shocked to answer. How could Hyacinth ever believe he’d prefer Lady Joanna toher?
“I daresay Lady Joanna isn’t obliged to rush off to Brighton every time her nerves are overset,” she added, with a forlorn little laugh.
The forced half-smile trembling on her lips made him want to tear his hair out with frustration. Did she actually believeshewasn’t good enough forhim? That he didn’t want her?
