“How is it you get into these scrapes and come out unscathed? I’d give anything for that kind of luck,” Justin said, clearing his throat.
“Unscathed? I’d hardly agree,” she replied. Her voice was low, husky. “A sprained ankle for nothing. You were right in the end, you know.”
Justin’s gaze met hers tentatively. Her brown eyes were wide, assessing him. “I haven’t thanked you for helping me,” she said, her cheeks blooming. “At the washed-out road and now the abbey. I’ve been cursing your arrival for some time now, but I can see that if you hadn’t been at the right place at the right time…”
“Cordelia,” Justin whispered. His hand traveled up her calf, squeezing the muscle there. The smell of bluebells filled his nostrils as Cordelia leaned closer.
*
What am Idoing?the thought implored, but it was distant and easy to push away.
She touched her lips to his timidly. They were full and warm against her own, not unlike a woman’s. After a moment she licked his bottom lip and to her delight he opened his mouth, tangling his tongue with her own.
But as soon as she’d kissed him, he pulled away suddenly, leaving her cold.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “We… you…”
Cordelia’s cheeks were flaming as she regarded him. “I shouldn’t have presumed that you wanted…” she began, the heat of embarrassment replacing whatever desire had burned there before. “I apologize.”
Justin raised his eyebrows. “Did you think… that I didn’t want to kiss you?”
Cordelia looked away and swallowed. “You said that you wanted more distance between us.”
“Oh God,” Justin replied. “Cordelia, I wanted distance between us because I wasn’t sure I was capable of being around you without ravishing every inch of you.”
Cordelia’s gaze snapped back to his. His blue eyes had darkened, his wavy black locks were tousled, and she could see a suggestion of dark curls beneath the blanket he used to cover himself. She could no longer resist, so she ran her hand through his hair, pushing an unruly strand that had fallen in front of his right eye. He was stock still the entire time.
“Have I shocked you?” he asked, his voice low and deep.
As a response she leaned down again and kissed him. It was as though something he’d been holding back finally snapped. He pressed his lips against her urgently, fisting a hand in her hair and pulling her head back to possess her mouth completely. She was panting when they came up for air, the place between her legs throbbing with an insistence she’d never felt before.
“Are you sure?” Justin whispered, cradling her cheeks in his hands. “Because if we start down this path…” He did not finish.
Cordelia leaned her forehead to his, letting their heavy breaths mingle. “There’s something you should know,” she began, the words becoming choked in her throat. Justin’s thumb stroked her cheek and she shuddered. “I’m not a virgin.”
“Really?” he murmured.
“Does… that not please you?” she asked, trying to mask the urgency in her voice.
“No,” he asserted, pulling away from her. Gazing up at her, he smiled. “Rather unexpected.”
“What with all my goings on about propriety and manners?” Cordelia added, chuckling. She supposed that anyone other than Justin would have presented her with a judgment, but she was starting to appreciate his light teasing where there might have been a serious conversation. It did not make her feel so heavy.
“Quite right,” he replied, fitting his arm under her knees. Cordelia wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her over to a cot. “You scolded me once for mentioning women’s clothing.”
“Well, you likely deserved it, Your Grace,” Cordelia replied, with a laugh. “How else are we supposed to get you up to snuff?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” he said as he laid her on the cot. “I’m hopeless at ducal business.”
Cordelia let the woolen blanket slip from her body, crumpling on the dirt-packed floor. All she had left was her shift, which was still damp. Her peaked nipples showed through the fabric.
Justin’s pupils engulfed his blue eyes in the dark half-light as he leaned over her.
“I should say,” she added hurriedly. “It was nearly five years ago now… I am rather worried I’ll no longer suit.”
“You’ll suit,” Justin assured her, leaning down to kiss her once more.
His lips mollified her somewhat, pushing the doubt to the back of her mind. When she felt his hand rove over the length of her body, all coherent thought vanished. The only thing that mattered was the hot press of their bodies against one another. Cordelia gasped when she felt his callused fingertips pull the shift down the side of her shoulder, exposing one breast.
