Page 34 of The Season of Lady Chastity

“I longed for you to keep talking, just as I do now,” he murmured.

She lifted his hand from her cheek, and Bastian feared their moment had come to an end, but instead, she turned her face until her lips, warm despite the frigid night, pressed against the tender skin of his wrist.

“And I longed for someone to see me, but not just anyone. Someone special. A man like you.” He could feel her smile where her lips pressed against him, her warm breath caressing his skin when she spoke. “Despite what weighed you down, you saw me. I wasn’t a plain miss overlooked on the fringes of a crowded ballroom—discarded as dull and unassuming.”

“Never.” He sighed, feeling adrift when her lips left his skin, the stinging cold returning instantly.

“As I said, my lord…noble and worthy.”

His thoughts were anything but noble in that moment. Propriety be damned, he desired to pull Chastity into his arms, press their bodies close, and never let go.

* * *

Chastity was lost in the sensation of the moment. Bastian was so near, the winter wind whipping at her skirts, and the all-consuming need to make their brief private time together stretch ever longer almost overwhelming.

Her mother’s note fueled her, pushed her to find an ounce of the passion Clara had found with her dearest Cam.

Consequences be damned.

In a way, this was the moment, the connection, the intense yet quiet frenzy she’d longed for all her life.

Her heart beat—for Bastian

Her soul thrummed for him, as did her body.

It would be pure agony to part. A second away from Bastian would surely bring her to the depths of despair.

Heat radiated within Chastity, enough to banish the cold December night. A warmth that spread to every inch of her, leaving no place untouched. It was as if Bastian touched her, held her, yet there remained a physical distance between them.

The look within Bastian’s deep brown eyes seemed to swirl with a similar need and understanding as hers.

Utmost desire.

Chastity knew her intense, undeniable attraction for Bastian made little sense. They were little more than strangers, thrown together at random at a holiday house party. Yet, her soul proclaimed him the man she’d waited her entire life for. Her entire Season as a wallflower, dutifully following in Prudence’s silent wake had all led up to this moment.

In Bastian’s arms.

“Bastian.” She closed the distance between them and pushed to her toes, bringing her bodice up against his chest. “Kiss me?”

It wasn’t a demand, but a question.

She would never demand anything of another—not if it wasn’t their wish.

He released his breath, and it cascaded across her cheek in a welcome rush. Bastian’s rapid, harried heartbeat pushed hers over the edge as her lungs ached to draw in air.

The unfettered moonlight shone on them like a spotlight.

They found themselves in the center of the light from above—a place she’d never dreamt of Bastian being, and the exact spot she’d longed for since discovering her mother’s secret.

Bastian’s stare narrowed on her. “Are you certain?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything, my lord.”

His eyes darkened, and his hand came to rest on her cheek, his fingers gently caressing her chilled skin as he trailed his touch down to her neck.

Chastity didn’t fight the draw to close her eyes. It broke their connected stare, but now, they were joined in another way. His hand on her neck, her shoulder. Never had she thought her existence lacked this…the all-consuming sensation of physical touch.

But now, she feared she’d be unable to go on without it.