Never Turn Away (Kellington Book Six) by Maureen Driscoll Page A

husbands?”
    “Immediately and irrevocably.”
    They continued to plod through the woods, allowing
their horses to take their time.
    “Do you have an opinion on Viscount Smithton or Mr.
Kensington?” she asked.
    He took a moment to answer.  Then another one.  “At
this time, I have nothing to disapprove of.  I do not know enough about either
of them to make an informed decision.  For that matter, I can think of no real
reason why a match with Dodson would be ill-advised other than you deserve a
better man.”
    “What kind of man would that be?”
    “One who is smart enough to recognize your
intelligence.  One who would allow you to continue to make your own decisions,
while offering you his protection.  One who would not be threatened by who you
are or expect to always be the one to take charge of your lives.  One who would
love and respect you.”  He paused for a moment.  “And one who is, of course, of
your class.”
    Of course.  He would say that.  His list would have
been perfect had he not added that last requirement.  “I see.  I do not know
where I shall find such an exemplary husband, but if you do run across him,
please let me know.”
    She heard a loud crack, but didn’t know from whence
it came.  Then there was a thundering noise and her horse reared.  Suddenly,
she was swept off her horse into Joseph’s arms, as Rocinante smartly stepped to
the side right before a towering tree fell beside them.  Her own horse had
reared, then leapt freely away.
    Evelyn could hardly breathe from fright, not to
mention how tightly Joseph held her.  She was relieved to see her horse several
feet away, unharmed but terrified.  She knew how the mare felt.  And she could
feel Joseph’s heart beating frantically.  Only Rocinante was calm.
    They sat for a moment like that: Evelyn held
securely against Joseph with her arms around his neck, Rocinante perfectly
still beneath them.
    Then, as if finding his voice for the first time,
Joseph drew back to study her.  “Are you hurt, Evelyn?”
    “No.  Just frightened.  But if you had not…I mean.” 
She tried to draw a calming breath.  “You saved my life.”
    He had no response.   With words failing him, he
kissed her.  Hungrily.  Greedily.  As if by kissing her, he could reverse time
and prevent the tree from falling.
    She was overwhelmed by the sensation.  His firm lips
on hers, probing, melding.  His tongue met hers and for a moment she was unsure
what to do.  She’d been kissed before, but her lips had never parted.   This
was new.  This was sublime.  It filled her with heat.
    And hunger.
    Her hip was wedged against him and she could feel
how hard he was.  She had never known anything like it.  She pressed against
him gently, only to be rewarded with a groan and his deepening the kiss.  He
kept her held against him securely with one hand, and with the other he  gently
squeezed her breast.
    She gasped and deepened the kiss.
    Rocinante sidled, and Joseph pulled back.  She tried
to pull him back to her, but he whispered “Dodson is on his way back.”
    “Drat!”
    “My thoughts exactly, though not quite the
wording.”  He tried to put a bit more space between them. 
    Evelyn felt every inch of the loss.
    “I must dismount for a moment,” he said.  “I would
like to check something.”
    He brought one leg over Rocinante’s neck, then slid
to the ground, taking Evelyn with him.  He only reluctantly lowered her feet to
the ground, but held on to her arms until he was sure she was steady.
    Then he walked to the base of the large tree that
had fallen.
    “What are you looking for?” she asked, surprised the
kiss had not robbed her of the power of speech.  “Because of the heavy snow, a
few trees fall every winter.  I should have thought of that before agreeing to
ride this way, but…”
    “But you wished our outing would end as soon as
possible?  I could not have agreed more.  Look at this,” he said, pointing to
the