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“I cried for more than a sennight. About a kitten. And I’ve similar stories that I could tell you of . . .” Her shoulders rose and fell as Maisie looked straight at him. “Of times my heart was broken too easily. My father called me fragile. Though I do not agree with such a sentiment. ‘Tis just that I . . . I . . .” She struggled to finished. To find the word that described what Maisie clearly saw as a vulnerability.

He did not agree.

“Loving is not fragile. You are the very opposite, in fact. I’ve not met a more resilient woman in all my days, Maisie.”

Her smile was a sad one. But there was something else in her expression. Something he did not expect as she told him about Pebbles.

Desire.

She is afraid to get too close.

Of course.

“I ken,” he said. How had he thought they could stay in the same bed together? Kieran pushed the coverlet from him and began to get up from them bed. “I’d never wish to hurt you, Maisie. I will sleep on the floor.”

She reached over, her hand splaying on his shoulder. Stopping him.

“Do not.”

Kieran froze.

“I ken,” he repeated. “And perhaps it is best.” He almost added, for us both.

“Perhaps. But as I lay here, I cannae help but wonder about . . . the pleasures you mentioned. Despite myself, I want for you to kiss me again, Kieran.”

He grew hard instantly.

Maisie’s hand on his shoulder. The sight of her in this bed. Her words.

“I would gladly kiss you again, Maisie. But are you sure you wish for such a thing? After what you shared?”

Her hand never moved. “Aye. I told you that not to discourage you, but so that you might ken my reasoning.”

Maisie’s thumb began to move, gently caressing his shoulder. It was more than he could endure. Capturing her wrist, he moved to her so quickly she made a sound of surprise. Taking Maisie’s second wrist and pinning both above her head, Kieran was careful not to crush her as he held her beneath him.

And then kissed her very differently than before.

This time, she knew how to respond, and did. The moment his lips touched hers, Maisie opened for him. His tongue found hers, demanding she meet his intensity.

And she did.

Holding on to both wrists, he allowed everything to let go. Every inhibition and doubt. Kieran simply allowed himself to feel her under him. Taste her lips and the sweetness of her tongue gliding along his own with more familiarity now.

“Mmmm,” she murmured under him.

He wanted to show her more. Kieran let go of Maisie’s wrists so he could use his hands to pull down the fabric of her chemise along the deep collar. As he trailed kisses from her neck downward, he lifted her breast above the fabric. Letting out a groan at the sight of her, Kieran’s head descended. He took her deeply into his mouth, suckling. Teasing her nipple with his teeth. Her hands grasped at the back of his head, Maisie’s fingers in his hair.

The desire to lift her chemise above her head was strong, but he resisted. Kieran did not want to startle her or move too fast. Instead, he righted her chemise and kissed her neck again, moving back up toward her mouth until he paused to whisper into her ear.

“I’m going to put my hand between your legs,” he said. Aware she’d been with a man but discounting her husband as a lover, Kieran would not have her scared.

Her sharp intake of breath was not followed by Maisie telling him to stop, and so as his lips found hers once again, he did exactly as he said he would. Running his hand up her thigh, the feel of Maisie’s bare skin on his fingertips only a precursor to what was to come, Kieran continued upward.

Groaning as he reached his goal, Kieran wasted no time slipping first one finger and then a second inside. So wet. So responsive as she moved her hips into him after just a few gentle thrusts. He broke their kiss to look at her.

“Has this ever happened to you before?”

She shook her head.