His Enemy's Daughter by Terri Brisbin Page B

them as she stood in the darkness that was now her world, awaiting his response. Sybilla half-expected him to strike her now for her insolence, just as her father would have if she’d spoken to him in this manner. The touch of his mouth to hers was not what she expected.
    This time he did not hold her in place. He simply placed his lips on hers and kissed her. She gasped at the feel of it and then felt his tongue slipping inside her mouth. Stunned, shocked and completely inexperienced in such things, Sybilla did not know what to do. She’d been kissed before—her parents, family, even her father’s overlord—but never by someone in this intimate manner. When his tongue touched hers, swirling around it, and pressing more firmly against her mouth, Sybilla forgot about everything else.
    He recognised his mistake as soon as he got close to her. Old habits died hard and his enjoyment of taking pleasure where he could came roaring back at him. This was his wife, after all—he could take her to bed and pleasure her and no one could naysay him. It was right…his right. But her words took him out of his need for pleasure and to the heart of the matter.
    He had come here to kill her.
    He had taken her lands and everything and everyone she held dear, to what extent she still did not know.
    He had stolen her sight and whatever life she could have had.
    Sybilla had spoken the truth of it all, yet her mouth beckoned to him anyway. The urge to touch those full lips and silence her with pleasure overwhelmed his control. He would show her what she would miss if he had their marriage annulled and let her go to the convent.
    So, he stole but one kiss.
    Only to show her the folly of her belief that she had nothing to lose. To demonstrate that she would miss something . Instead he taught himself a lesson, one that would be difficult to forget.
    The woman he’d married might be blind and might be innocent, but he could feel her arousal, feel it against his mouth and taste it on her tongue. If he continued and deepened the kiss the way his body urged him to, her mouth would soften even more against his, her breasts would swell in his hands, the nipples would tighten into buds and he would suck…
    Merde , he thought as he fought the passion that rose within him, he could have her beneath him in minutes, if not sooner, both of them panting and him kissing parts of her body she most likely had never considered having kissed… She would arch to his touch and call out his name…
    Durward’s voice, his laughter as he attacked from behind, echoed in Soren’s head at that moment and hepulled back at almost the instant he was about to surrender to the need to have her. He stepped back, releasing her mouth.
    Her expression showed her surprise and her confusion. Though her eyes could not see, she blinked as though waking from a slumber and frowned. Her mouth, the one that would tempt him again this night in his dreams, closed into a thin line. The flush of arousal still coloured her cheeks.
    Soren pushed down the concern he felt growing even as the passion cooled. He ruthlessly ignored all the things he knew she needed to hear from him, from a man of his experience, from her husband, and walked away. Picking up the clean garments near the tub, he dressed hurriedly and turned to face the door.
    He would not give in now to weakness when it was his inner strength that had kept him alive this long. He could not relent and let her in or even close to him. He had almost made his escape when her soft voice echoed across the chamber.
    â€˜Do you give me leave to go to the convent?’
    It would be the easier of the possible paths to take. It would be almost the kindest thing to do rather than condemning her to the life he’d planned for her. It would make complete sense, considering her condition and her inability to carry out the duties expected of the lord’s wife.
    What had begun as teasing, as