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“You’re right,” she said. “About everything, save one.”
If only that one thing were the state of his matrimony.
“I am deserving of this. Have you ever desired a woman before?”
Had he? Garrick wasn’t sure.
“Aye,” he managed.
“Then how is it wrong for me to desire a man?”
It was not wrong that she should desire him. It was wrong that he should act upon it. But rather than say as much, he found his body moving toward her.
“One kiss.”
She nodded.
Garrick reached for her then. When he wrapped his arms around her, he groaned as if he were already inside her. She fit perfectly against him, their bodies melding together as if they’d been made for each other. Garrick lowered his head then and captured her lips with his own. He wanted her more than he wanted to breathe. When he opened his mouth and she followed his lead, Garrick groaned again, the feeling of her hesitant tongue touching his too poignant to ignore. He delved deeper, trying desperately to get even closer. Maddened by the taste of her.
Garrick’s hands gripped Emma’s gown at her back, pressing her more tightly to him. Their fervent pitch increased. He backed her against the door, her hands no longer around his neck but clinging to his hair. She pulled, her grip tightening as his tongue swirled in her mouth, mimicking another notion. Her mouth was soft and wet against him, her breasts pressed so tightly to his shirt that Garrick could almost feel her nipples through the fabric.
He wanted more.
He broke the contact, moving his lips from her mouth to her throat. She lifted her head as he licked and kissed a trail lower and lower. His tongue teased the soft spot between her breasts just near the fabric that kept him in check. He wanted to tear it off her, take her into his mouth, and give her more pleasure than she’d ever dreamed of.
He was going to ravish her.
Garrick pulled away, his breath coming as quickly as hers. He’d been about to do something beyond foolish. Something that didn’t bear consideration. She stood against the door, her hair tousled every which way, her lips swollen with his kiss.
He wanted to be inside Emma. And he’d very nearly made it happen.
She was as passionate as he’d expected. Untamed. Unabashed.
Utterly perfect.
“Emma, oh God. I nearly . . .” He couldn’t say the words aloud. She was his charge, and rather than protect her, he’d nearly taken her.
“What was that? It wasn’t just a kiss.”
Goddamn right it wasn’t. “I don’t know what that was, Emma.”
“But you’ve—”
He shook his head, trying to make her understand.
“Emma, I don’t know what that was,” he repeated. “When you look at me. When you touch me . . .”
He turned and ran his hands through his hair.
Damn.
“So that’s it, then.”
Garrick turned back around. Emma attempted to tame her hair.
“It?”
“That is what makes Sara and Geoffrey look at each other so. ’Tis why Clara risked her life to protect Alex.” She shrugged. “Well, now I know.”
