Page 44 of Gambling with the Earl
“Not ‘sir.’” He wagged a finger in her face.
A new thought occurred to her. The tower room would be the perfect place to hide something away from prying eyes. No one ever went in there. She had been convinced her jewels were in Guy’s bedchamber, but was she naïve to dismiss this option so quickly?
“Guy,” she tried again. “What happened in there?”
“In the tower room?” He pursed his lips as if reluctant to say.
“I should like to know,” she bravely went on, despite a trembling in her knees. She folded her hands tightly in her lap, her fingernails digging into her palms.
“Well now, I hardly know how to answer.” A laugh bubbled up inside him. “I didn’t expect that sort of question from you, Kitty.”
She was blushing furiously now. “Do you ever go in there?”
“I have been inside once,” he confessed. “And what I saw made my cheeks almost as red as your own.”
Horrified, she placed her head in her hands, but he gently pulled them away.
“I’m sorry for teasing you,” he whispered, his breath warm against the top of her head. “I believe that you know not what you ask.”
“The ways of men such as the old earl are entirely unknown to me,” she stated boldly.
“I expected nothing else.”
He was so close. She could smell his masculine scent of leather and sea salt. He hadn’t let go of her wrist and the warmth of his encircling fingers travelled up her arm. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, he traced a small circle over her pulse point with his thumb.
“I am not like those women,” she said weakly, to herself as much as to him.
He sighed and released her hand, making her immediately bereft.
“Forgive me. I am drawn to you Kitty, not only to your voice, but to you. Believe me though, I mean you no harm.” He swallowed. “I am not like my uncle.”
“I know that,” she blurted back, reaching over for his hands in her haste to reassure him. He linked his fingers with hers, looking at her with open surprise. “I’m drawn to you, too,” shesaid. The admission was unplanned, but it was the truth. A truth she had barely even acknowledged to herself. She fixed her eyes on her hands. Hands which she’d always thought of as large and ungainly, but now they appeared small, swamped as they were inside his. How had she dared to touch him?
What should she do now?
Even if she wanted to pull her hands away, she couldn’t. It was as if they belonged to someone else. Her body yearned to move closer to him.
“Kitty,” he paused. “My intentions towards you are honourable. I invited you to my solar only to hear you sing. But you should know, your presence and your proximity risk making me forget myself.”
She wanted him to forget himself. But at the same time, she trembled with uncertainty.
He squeezed her fingers gently, released them and placed his hands softly upon her forearms, his strong fingers bunching the cheap fabric of her sleeves.
“You should leave now,” he said hoarsely.
“I don’t want to leave.”
The sultry heat and strangeness of the day had placed her under some sort of spell. Rational thought deserted her. She wanted only to feel his touch and prolong this wondrous time. She didn’t even care about recovering her family jewels, not at this moment.
“Then I must kiss you,” he stated, his eyes boring straight down to her soul.
Her heart pounded against her ribs and that coil of tension once again flickered in her core. She had never been kissed, not properly. She had never desired it, but now it was all she could think of. His lips on hers. The rasp of stubble against her cheeks. But would a kiss lead to something more? Strength and vigour radiated from him. She recalled the rippling muscles in his chestand shoulders. Once he took hold of her, she would never be able to escape.
No matter. He had offered his kiss and she wanted it.
He stood up suddenly. “I will say goodnight.” His voice was harsh and abrupt.
“No,” she protested. “I want you to kiss me.”
