Was she simply a fool who was allowing her memories of past tenderness and her desire to cloud her better judgement?
But she could not shake the impression that there was something different about Kempton now. The way he’d interacted with Archie had been a pleasant surprise, to say the least. She could so easily imagine him speaking to his own son in just such a way, and he’d always doted upon Clara. Being so much older than his sister could have opened aninsurmountable chasm between the siblings, but he’d always loved and cared for her, even when she frayed his very last nerve.
Amelia rolled over on her mattress, her legs tangling in the coverlet and the hem of her butter-soft nightrail. The drapes of the four-posted bed had been closed to help weaken the white light of the storm raging outside, so she stared into the darkness trying to will herself to sleep, but to no avail.
The beat of thunder drowned out the slight sound of her door opening on well-oiled hinges.
Her only indication that there was someone else in her chamber was a grunt as Faye stood up near the hearth and then elicited a low growl.
Amelia froze, barely daring to breathe.
It couldn’t be Archie seeking comfort from the storm; Faye would not have had such a reaction—nor would she to Clara or a maid.
As if confirming her train of thought, a low, familiar masculine voice attempted to reassure the dog. “Easy now. I mean no harm, beast.” His efforts, however, only served to increase Faye’s guard.
Amelia sat up and sucked in a shaky, bracing breath; her heartbeat fluttering like the wings of a frantic bird. She parted the curtains to find Dorian, dressed in a loose linen shirt, brown breeches, and bare feet. He was limned by the silver lightning, holding his hands up to ward off Faye as she stood her ground between where he stood and Amelia’s bed.
“What are you doing here?” Amelia hissed at him, though she suspected the answer. It made her pulse race even more.
He turned his head toward her but never removed his eyes from Faye. “At the moment, trying not to be maimed by your beast, here.”
Amelia allowed him to stew for several more heartbeats before she told Faye to stand down. “Calm, Faye. To your place.”The dog did so, however grudgingly, and returned to the rug by the hearth. She kept her head up and her wary eyes on the intruder.
Once he was relatively sure all his body parts would remain intact, Dorian turned toward Amelia. She kept everything but her pale face hidden by the bed’s heavy draperies.
He looked so large there in her bedchamber, so self-assured in his state of undress. She fisted her hands in the heavy fabric of the curtains and hoped her voice sounded more confident than she felt when she repeated her earlier question.
“What are you doing here?” she repeated.
His mouth tilted in a lopsided smile. “Why do you think I am here?”
“I never invited you to my bed,” she said.
“But you did not tell menotto come.”
“Of all the infuriating, presumptive, ridiculous—” She didn’t realize she’d released the curtains during her hissing tirade, nor that he’d sauntered nearer.
“I must admit that this is not the reception I was hoping for.” There was a note of self-deprecation in his tone, and it was difficult not to find that endearing.
“And what was it you were expecting, hm? Did you think I would welcome you with open arms and spread my legs like…like…” She drifted off when she noticed that his eyes had strayed to the swells of her breasts beneath the modest lace neckline of her nightshift.
“That would not be the most unwelcome sight,” Dorian murmured before she yanked the coverlet up to her chin.
Amelia suddenly felt so exposed, so vulnerable—like she’d felt when he’d betrayed her all those years ago. His smoldering eyes returned to hers, and she knew he saw the blatant uncertainty. “If you tell me to go, I will, Amelia. Believe it or not, I’ve no desire to force you to do anything against your wishes.”
He was so beautiful standing there half-dressed in the firelight. There was no artifice to the sincerity in his tone. And she truly believed him. This realization helped lower her guard, loosening her grip on the coverlet.
How would it feel to have him hold her, flesh-to-flesh? To have him atop her—inside of her?
She swallowed past the lump of desire clogging her throat.
To have the only man you’ve truly ever desired…
Her nervous heart pounding in her skull, she dropped the coverlet and pushed aside the curtains a bit more to admit Dorian.
He hesitated for a moment, almost as if he could not quite believe she’d acquiesced, but he closed the gap and slowly climbed onto the bed with her, tangling his fingers in the wisps of hair at the nape of her neck as he pulled her mouth to meet his.
As soon as their lips collided in that achingly sweet kiss, all rational thought dissolved and was replaced with only him.
