Page 33 of Wicked Designs
“Please, Emily. I don’t want to see you hurt again, so I must know what to protect you from.”
Emily drew in a slow shuddering breath. “I asked Godric if I could read a book. He said that if I wanted to, I would have to kiss him as payment.”
Rising fury darkened Ashton’s heart.
“But I’m not very good at it, and he said he’d teach me.”
Ashton’s animosity grew.
“Did he…did he force you? Did he get rough with you?” he asked, a dangerous edge to his words.
Emily shook her head.
“Then why are you crying?”
“It was what he said to me afterwards… He said he shouldn’t have asked a child to kiss him.A child!”She buried her face in his chest again.
Ashton was confused. He couldn’t understand what had gone wrong. What could lead Godric to say such an odd thing? Women were always natural kissers andcaught on quickly. It was men who needed practice to master the art.
There was no reason for Godric to have said such a cruel thing, not when she’d done as he’d asked. “Emily, look at me, dear.”
She did.
“What did you do when you kissed him? Can you tell me?” Perhaps he might learn what had bothered his friend.
“I just kissed him. I thought about what you had told me about him, about his childhood and his father, and I kissed him. Did I do it wrong?”
The shadows underneath Ashton’s eyes lightened a little. “I’m sure you did not.”
“Then why?”
Ashton put a finger to her lips. “I believe you have done something to Godric that no one has done before. It scared him. He needs time to sort his feelings out. Can you be patient with him?”
“But what did I do?”
“You really don’t know, my dear?”
Emily shook her head.
“You kissed him from the depths of your heart.”
Her brows drew together as she considered his answer. “Isn’t that how everyone is supposed to kiss?”
It pained him to realize that she was as sweet and innocent as she appeared. No man under this roof was worthy of such a heart as hers. Ashton held her hands together, kissing them softly before he spoke.
“If everyone kissed as you do, men would never leave their lovers to go to war, fathers would never beat theirchildren and wives would never worry about unfaithful husbands because there would be none. More of us should kiss with our hearts. No matter what Godric said, remember this. What you’ve shown in your kiss is priceless.”
And Emily had reminded Ashton that he’d once wanted something more from life. He silently thanked her for this epiphany by kissing her forehead. He helped her up and escorted her out of Godric’s study and back to her room.
“I have a matter to settle with Godric. May I ask you to stay here unguarded until tomorrow? Charles has wagered twice our previous amount that you’ll escape before dawn, and I would very much like to see him lose.”
It wasn’t the first time her escape attempts had been compared to sport, but how Ashton said it made Emily laugh. “In fact we were discussing giving you a ten minute head start tomorrow,” he added.
“You are?”
“Oh yes. On foot, of course. Then we’ll use horses and hounds to chase you.”
“You cannot be serious.”
