Devoted to You

“It is breakfast-time. I was helping Mrs Kempton get your tray ready,” she said gently.

“But I have had breakfast,” he said, his frown deepening.

Petal studied him and wondered if he had any awareness of what day it was.

“I was waiting for you to come back,” he murmured. “I was waiting for you to come to read to me.”

She looked at him blankly. Now that she came to think about it, he had been asleep a lot over the last couple of days.

“What do you remember?” she asked with a frown.

He scowled as he tried to recall what he had done. “I ate breakfast.”

Petal tensed. “And?”

“Nothing else,” he replied thoughtfully. “I don’t remember anything else.

“Can you remember what you ate?” she whispered.

“Ham, eggs, some toast.” He gave her a chastising look. “You should have woken me when you delivered it. It was nearly cold.”

Petal was already shaking her head. “I didn’t deliver it,” she informed him.

Aidan studied her. “But when I woke up, it was there, right beside me.”

Petal wondered if he was a little confused because of his dream, or whether there was something else going on.

Aidan eyed the moistened curve of her lips hungrily. His fingers tightened around hers, holding her steady in case the fog swallowed her up again like it had moments earlier. His gaze remained locked on hers as he tugged her closer.

“What is it? Would you like some water?” Petal asked with a frown.

She dutifully leaned forward, expecting him to tell her what he needed. As she did so, she eyed the bell pull and wondered if she should call Rollo because something was decidedly wrong with the master.

“Aidan?” she prompted when his eyes rov

ed over her face, and he didn’t answer her.

“I like it when you call me Aidan,” he whispered.

She smiled.

“I want you to,” he replied. “Call me Aidan.”

When she didn’t speak, he tugged her closer.

“Say it,” he prompted again.

When she was leaning over him as far as she could go, temptation got the better of him. Sweeping one long arm around her waist he swept her off her feet, rolling her over until she was beneath him.

Petal gasped. Her eyes widened as she pushed instinctively against his chest.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, her voice pitifully weak.

Rather than reply, Aidan captured her lips with his. The kiss was no gentle persuasion, though. With the barriers of proprietary temporary lowered, he plundered the way he truly wanted to. There was nobody around to stop him.

This was something he had wanted from the first moment he had set eyes on her in his hallway. Nothing and nobody was going to stop him tasting those tempting lips.

A wild flurry of excitement swept through her only partly tempered by the scandalous way this felt. Lost in the strange and unusual feel of his lips against hers, Petal had little choice but to cling onto his broad shoulders. It was clear that he was too heavy to push away, even if she wanted to, which she didn’t. She wanted this. It was wrong because he wasn’t well; or was he?