Page 33 of A Second Chance for Love

He sighed heavily and she looked up. “I know the bastard knew the child was his—along with poor little Jenny’s. But of course there was nothing a mere groom—a disgraced impoverished one at that—could do. I’m sorry for what I almost did to you, Oona. But Venable?” His jaw tightened and his expression made her shiver. “I hate him.” His blue eyes burned, the pupils tiny specks. “All those years I couldn’t find a job because he had discharged me without a reference for a child that was his—” He stopped, his jaw so tight she could see the muscles ticking beneath the skin. “Clara might have still died had we had a home and ample food, but then again she might have been fine. I might have had ten children by now. Instead she died at the age of nineteen in miserable circumstances because of him. ”

The only sound in the room was the fire crackling.

“You will take his house?”

“I will take his house, his land, everything.”

Oona could not argue with him, nor did she want to. Viscount Venable was a man who took what he wanted and let others pay the price; Oona knew that better than anyone. She looked at Juss, who was staring at her with a strange expression.

“What is it?” she asked.

His mouth pulled into a half-smirk, but this time it looked self-mocking. “You never knew I fancied you?”

“Of course not. I thought you all disliked me—you especially. You always teased me so dreadfully whenever I came to the stables with the children.”

“I was young and stupid.” His face broke into a sudden, disarming grin. “Of course I’m now older and perhaps even more stupid.”

Oona couldn’t help smiling.

He stood and came toward her, holding out his hands.

Oona put her hands in his before she even considered her actions, and he pulled her gently to her feet.

“I’m sorry I believed ill of you,” he said, his eyes roaming her face as if he were searching for something.

“I’ll admit it hurts, but after what happened to Clara?” She gave a tired shrug. “Well, apology accepted.”

“Thank you,” he whispered, releasing one of her hands and brushing her jaw lightly with the back of his fingers. “I still remember the first time I saw you,” he said in a voice that didn’t sound like him—a voice that almost dropped her to her knees. “You were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.” Oona made a mortifying gulping sound. “And so proud and stiff and haughty,” he said with a smile, his fingers not ceasing their delicious stroking.

“W-why didn’t you say anything?”

“You were beyond my reach, weren’t you? A governess and a groom? Not very likely.”

Oona could have told him it was far more likely than a governess and a viscount, but wisely kept that to herself.

Instead she told him the truth. “I wish you would have said something.”

His hand froze, his pale eyes darkening. And then his mouth lowered over hers.

Thirteen

Juss’s palm slid around to hold the back of her head, his lips caressing hers, his teeth nibbling, and his tongue invading—his actions smooth yet dizzying.

This was not Oona’s first kiss, but it was certainly the first kiss of this sort.

He was gentle, but something about the way he entered and stroked her—as if he wanted to consume her—was beyond wicked.

Edward’s kisses had been swift, rushed, and closed-mouthed, as if they were something to be gotten through quickly.

Juss kissed her with languorous thoroughness, as if kissing her was his new avocation and he could kiss her all day and night.

There was so much of him and he engulfed her with his big body without overpowering her, making her feel safe, cherished. When was the last time she’d been held by another person other than Katie? And even that had been months ago.

Oona heard a moan and knew it was her, but she didn’t care. She burrowed into his arms, pressing her body against his erection, glorying in the knowledge that he’d become so hard for her.

A growl of approval rumbled from his chest and he trailed kisses from her mouth to her ear.

“I’ve thought about you so bloody often over the years. I couldn’t believe it when I saw you standing there that night—right beneath my not insignificant nose.”