A Fool Again by Eloisa James Page A

to think logically. “Why would my father do such a thing? I know he was enraged with me—”
    Tobias was there, standing just before her. His lips brushed over her cheek, and his hands took hers. “Perhaps he thought it was for the best. But I have destroyed it all, haven’t I?” he said, and the anguish in his voice caught her heart. “I was stupid enough to believe your father. And I’ve been just as stupid now, taking you away from Felton. I know how you feel about him. He knows how you feel. You heard him!”
    â€œI suppose so,” she said, struggling to clarify her thoughts. Felton seemed a million miles away and quite unimportant, given the fact that Tobias was—was her To-bias again.
    â€œI haven’t been entirely honest with you,” he said, taking her shoulders in his large hands. “Felton asked me to walk him to the lobby because he cares for you, Genevieve. He knew you were in the room all the time. He could tell from your perfume that you were behind the screen. But he played it as if he didn’t know.”
    â€œWhy on earth would he do that?” Genevieve said, her eyes flying open.
    â€œI believe he thought that I loved you more than he did. He knew that I’m enthralled to you.” And then he took both her hands and brought them to his mouth. “The last time I asked you to marry me, Genevieve, I was jug-bitten and young and incredibly stupid. But I knew I loved you.”
    A smile was growing in Genevieve’s heart, the kind that bloomed and didn’t die for years.
    He kissed her hands. “I wasn’t so stupid. I loved you then, and I love you even more now. Will you, Genevieve? Will you marry me again?”
    But Genevieve’s heart was so full that she couldn’t speak. Her eyes filled with tears, and his hands tightened on hers.
    â€œIf you don’t wish to, Felton would marry you and— God, I was wrong about this, Genevieve—he wants you. Really wants you. He’s just more of a gentleman than I am.”
    But she didn’t want to talk about Felton. She turned her face and captured his mouth, and it was her tongue that caressed his lips, and his mouth that opened to her entreaty, and she who spoke into the sweetness of their kiss. “I don’t want a gentleman, Tobias. I want you, my first husband.”
    He kissed her then, and she melted against him, her heart, her whole body straining to be part of him.
    â€œAre you sure, Genevieve?” he asked hoarsely. “Oh God, I didn’t mean to leave you!”
    â€œYes,” she said simply.
    But he had to say something important, so he didn’t let her kiss him again. “I know you’ve become alarmingly elegant, Genevieve, and you play a respectable widow very well—”
    â€œBecause I am one, except when you’re around!” she inserted.
    â€œThat’s just it,” he said, capturing her face in his hands and looking into her eyes. “We’re the wild ones, Genevieve. You and me. We belong together. Felton would bore you to tears, and you would drive him to distraction. Our marriage is about passion, Genevieve.” He stopped and kissed her, so fiercely and so lovingly that she almost wept. “Your marriage to Felton would be about little more than propriety and genteel behavior.”
    She had her arms twined around his neck, and she was pressing against him in a way that no proper matron would do. “I love you, Tobias,” she said, her eyes glimmering with tears. “I don’t want Felton. I want you—it’s always been you.”
    And finally he pulled her close, kissing her ruthlessly until they were both breathing quickly and shaking, and then he said, hoarsely, “This time, we’re going to a bed, Genevieve.” He swept her up in his arms but she couldn’t stop kissing him, even on the way to the bedchamber, so he almost stumbled against a wall and finally