alive. My mother believed it would enable both of my sisters to marry well and restore the family’s coffers so that my mother wouldn’t have to live on charity the rest of her life. The only communication I’ve ever received was a brief message when my mother died.”
“Kind of them to let you know,” Alex said, though she seemed to miss his derision.
“Yes, well, they told me after her funeral. I think they were afraid I’d show up,” Mia said. Then she frowned and shook her head. Her lips thinned and she visibly swallowed. She wiped her eyes before any tears escaped to roll down her cheeks. “I don’t think I would have.”
“Your sisters did marry well,” he said. Though suddenly it seemed less of a compliment or an assurance of their well-being and more of an insult to Mia. She’d been the sacrifice so the rest of the family could keep themselves clothed in the nicest dresses. How had her mother lived with herself while two of her daughters danced with suitors and her youngest sat mostly alone in a cottage with no family to protect her?
He wondered how he would have handled that scenario. He doubted he would have cut her off as if she were some infected limb. Blindness certainly presented a problem, but it wasn’t as if she were a simpleton. She was articulate and poised and . . . damn, but she was beautiful. His throat knotted at the thought of her being dropped off at his cottage when she was a girl of just sixteen.
“I don’t mind being on my own,” she said. “Truly.” There was so much courage in her voice, it was like a kick to his stomach.
She did mind, she had to. Who wouldn’t mind if their entire family simply walked away from them, left them to fend for themselves? Even in the best of situations, a person with all their working faculties would find that difficult.
Without another thought he bent and kissed her.
It was merely a gentle, sweet kiss to comfort her, he told himself. And that was precisely how it started out. A soft kiss, nearly chaste in its tenderness. But her lips were so pliant, so warm, and so soft that desire coiled through him and darted in every direction at once. He moved one hand behind her neck and pulled her closer to him. He held her firmly in place.
She sighed, relaxed into him. And everything changed, shifted. Alex pressed into her, her lips parted and what had begun as tenderness changed abruptly to hunger. He took her mouth with a ferocity that surprised even him.
His tongue slid into her mouth, met hers and merged as if they were one, as if this were the woman he’d been meant to kiss. He explored until he thought he would go mad from wanting her. And he kept enough of his senses to keep his hands in place, to not run them over her ill-fitted dress and feel what curves she hid demurely beneath.
He knew, though, that he needed to stop now, or else there would be no turning back. There was no denying, no pretending, which he wanted. He wanted desperately to lay her back on this settee and spend the rest of the day exploring every curve of her body and pleasuring her until she forgot the wretched things her family had done. Desire or not, he knew it was time to stop. Finally he was able to pull himself away.
He stood, putting space between the two of them. She still sat on the settee, eyes closed, lips parted, a flush covering her cheeks. Damn, but she was beautiful.
“My apologies, Mia, I don’t know what came over me. If you’ll excuse me . . . I’ll make certain a footman sees you home safely.” With that, he walked out of his study.
Chapter Eight
Mia sat still on the settee not certain what had just happened. One moment Alex had been kissing her, eliciting sensations she hadn’t known her body could feel, and then the very next moment she’d been alone. She could feel his void, a chilly draft around her.
She knew enough about the ways between men and women to know that he’d wanted her, truly desired her. She could tell that when
“Kind of them to let you know,” Alex said, though she seemed to miss his derision.
“Yes, well, they told me after her funeral. I think they were afraid I’d show up,” Mia said. Then she frowned and shook her head. Her lips thinned and she visibly swallowed. She wiped her eyes before any tears escaped to roll down her cheeks. “I don’t think I would have.”
“Your sisters did marry well,” he said. Though suddenly it seemed less of a compliment or an assurance of their well-being and more of an insult to Mia. She’d been the sacrifice so the rest of the family could keep themselves clothed in the nicest dresses. How had her mother lived with herself while two of her daughters danced with suitors and her youngest sat mostly alone in a cottage with no family to protect her?
He wondered how he would have handled that scenario. He doubted he would have cut her off as if she were some infected limb. Blindness certainly presented a problem, but it wasn’t as if she were a simpleton. She was articulate and poised and . . . damn, but she was beautiful. His throat knotted at the thought of her being dropped off at his cottage when she was a girl of just sixteen.
“I don’t mind being on my own,” she said. “Truly.” There was so much courage in her voice, it was like a kick to his stomach.
She did mind, she had to. Who wouldn’t mind if their entire family simply walked away from them, left them to fend for themselves? Even in the best of situations, a person with all their working faculties would find that difficult.
Without another thought he bent and kissed her.
It was merely a gentle, sweet kiss to comfort her, he told himself. And that was precisely how it started out. A soft kiss, nearly chaste in its tenderness. But her lips were so pliant, so warm, and so soft that desire coiled through him and darted in every direction at once. He moved one hand behind her neck and pulled her closer to him. He held her firmly in place.
She sighed, relaxed into him. And everything changed, shifted. Alex pressed into her, her lips parted and what had begun as tenderness changed abruptly to hunger. He took her mouth with a ferocity that surprised even him.
His tongue slid into her mouth, met hers and merged as if they were one, as if this were the woman he’d been meant to kiss. He explored until he thought he would go mad from wanting her. And he kept enough of his senses to keep his hands in place, to not run them over her ill-fitted dress and feel what curves she hid demurely beneath.
He knew, though, that he needed to stop now, or else there would be no turning back. There was no denying, no pretending, which he wanted. He wanted desperately to lay her back on this settee and spend the rest of the day exploring every curve of her body and pleasuring her until she forgot the wretched things her family had done. Desire or not, he knew it was time to stop. Finally he was able to pull himself away.
He stood, putting space between the two of them. She still sat on the settee, eyes closed, lips parted, a flush covering her cheeks. Damn, but she was beautiful.
“My apologies, Mia, I don’t know what came over me. If you’ll excuse me . . . I’ll make certain a footman sees you home safely.” With that, he walked out of his study.
Chapter Eight
Mia sat still on the settee not certain what had just happened. One moment Alex had been kissing her, eliciting sensations she hadn’t known her body could feel, and then the very next moment she’d been alone. She could feel his void, a chilly draft around her.
She knew enough about the ways between men and women to know that he’d wanted her, truly desired her. She could tell that when
Similar Books
