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If he kissed her, he’d wish to do it again. Of that, Kieran was certain. And kissing Maisie each time he came back to the Red Stag would lead down a path neither of them wished for.

“I have been told that many times,” she said, addressing his earlier thought. “But this is the first time the words have affected me in such a way.”

Dammit.

He’d been just about to begin walking. Had been about to congratulate himself on mustering the discipline to walk away. Until she said that.

“In what way?” he found himself asking, already knowing the answer.

“In such a way,” she said, “that makes me forget my vow.”

Though he suspected it already, Kieran asked, “What vow?”

Her answer was immediate. “To never be with another man again. To never give myself over to someone who might control me the way my husband did.”

Dammit, again.

His desire to show Maisie not all men were like her husband was too strong to ignore. Surely one quick kiss would not bring either of them too far down a path they did not desire to travel.

He took a step toward her.

Maisie held steady.

“I say the words because they are true.”

Maisie tilted her head up even farther. Her eyes told him all that Kieran needed to know. She wanted this. Perhaps as badly as he.

Another step.

“I’m going to kiss you, Maisie.”

She blinked. “I know.”

With one final step, he reached out with his thumb and forefinger and lifted her chin. She was so close, their chests touched. Kieran stared at her lips. So lush and full. Lips he’d wanted to taste from the first moment he saw them.

Saw her.

He would be gentle. Much more so than his body demanded. As his head lowered, so much of him wanted to descend on her. Capture her mouth. Devour her.

Make love to her.

Of course, he would not do that. She was as much a virgin as a woman who’d not yet known a man. Being with one such as her husband was worse than the unknown.

Kieran could feel her breath, their mouths were so close now. He pulled her by the chin toward his lips, and their first touch was better than he could have imagined.

So soft.

He pressed, wanting to run his tongue along the crease of her lips to open them wide, but also, not wanting to startle her. So instead, he simply touched his lips to hers, moaning when she made a soft sound of pleasure deep in her throat.

Kieran’s good intentions fled when Maisie’s arms wrapped around him, pulling their bodies together. He did allow his tongue to wander then, and though Maisie seemed unsure how to react at first, she opened for him.

And Kieran did not hesitate from there. His mouth widened, head slanted, and his tongue sought entry, attempting to show her what he wanted. When Maisie finally did ken, the first touch of her own tongue hesitant, she knew not what to do, confirming her earlier words.

She may have had a husband, but this was, in many ways, the woman’s first kiss.

Kieran meant to take it slow, but as their tongues touched, he wanted more. Needed more.

Took more.