Had he just been having a bad dream? Or, as she suspected, had Edwards given him Laudanum?
She tried to pull away, but even slumberous he was too strong for her. Even if she wanted to fight him off, she just couldn’t bring herself to. Curiosity propelled her onwards, and she began to mimic his caresses. He shifted a little until he lay fully over her. She tried to stop him but he was too heavy, and her lips were rather blissfully busy.
Ensnared in a sensual web he had so expertly woven over her, she couldn’t summon the strength, or the will, to deny either of them and began to return the kisses with equal fervour. Although she would never admit it to another living soul, this was what she had dreamed of since the moment he had been carried through the door. It was everything she had ever imagined in all of her girlish fantasies and more. But this was real. He was real. He was strong, courageous, and so incredibly kind. She simply swept aside all of her concerns and savoured the moment. She knew it was highly unlikely she would ever get another chance to experience this kind of affection from him, and wanted to explore Aidan’s embrace while she had the opportunity.
He lifted his head.
“Petal,” he whispered, savouring the word on his tongue as he peppered kisses down her neck.
When the room began to swirl around them again, he clung onto her tighter so he didn’t lose her. For some reason he couldn’t quite figure out, he knew it was essential that he should not lose this woman.
“Say it,” he demanded in a low growl.
“What?” she murmured.
“My name. Say it.”
At that moment, she would have done anything he asked of her. She began to tremble when one large palm swept slowly down her side.
“Aidan,” she gasped, partly in protest and partly in a plea for more.
“Again.”
Before she could, his lips claimed hers again. She had thought their first kisses were swift and ruthless, but the second onslaught shattered her resolve not to allow matters to go too far. Desperate hands clung as his lips returned to hers again and again while his fingers explored every dip and hollow.
“We can’t,” she whispered when she felt a horrifying rush of cool air sweep over the now bared flesh of her thigh. “I can’t.”
Aidan’s body ached fiercely but then so did his head, and not in a nice way. His stomach churned but he couldn’t think about that. He knew he should let go, but he couldn’t bring himself to release her. Not Petal. She was special; she was different. If only he could remember why. Reluctant to move or allow anything to break the pleasant haze of desire that had chased away all the shadows, he placed several tender kisses against her flushed cheek while he rested his head on the pillow next to hers.
Petal lay beneath him gasping for breath. She tried her hardest not to allow the full horror of what she had just allowed to happen to chase away the precious memories. Nobody had come to any harm. Nobody knew of this, and nobody need ever know about this. Yet somehow she knew she had just done something; shared something, so incredibly foolish that she would never be the same. Not only that, but now, never be able to have the kind of special connection with Aidan she had hoped for.
From now on theirs had to remain a truly employer and employee relationship. After all, to consider anything else while he was paying her -
She quickly closed that thought out and tried to ease away from him.
Strangely, he had yet to move and seemed to have completely forgotten she was there.
“Aidan,” she whispered.
It was a relief in a way to consider for a moment that he had gone to sleep, but then she was quietly horrified.
Had she just shared those stunningly delightful kisses with a man she ought not to have touched only for him not to remember any of it? She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
In the end, tears won when she realised that whatever dream he had been having when she arrived had reclaimed him. He had indeed fallen asleep. In contrast to his previous anxiety, he was now calm and quiet, nestled in fitful slumber. Unfortunately, she was now pinned beneath his rock hard body, desperate to try to find a way out of the room without humiliating herself even more.
If you wanted to know how much you intrigue him, well now you know, she mused somewhat wryly. You were so wonderful that he went to sleep.
She pushed with all of her might until she could lever him up enough to slide out from beneath him, and she landed on the floor with a dull thud. Rubbing her bruised hip, she stood beside the bed for a moment and studied him. She should be blazingly angry, but couldn’t find it within her. Instead, she touched the bruised flesh of her lips with tentative fingers and felt an ache unlike no other settle around her heart.
He had known it was her. She just knew it. He had insisted on her calling him by his first name.
Had he realised he was kissing her? If so, why had he? Had it been the lingering effects of his nightmare? Had she been the comfort he had sought? She fervently hoped so. Or did she?
That particular thought brought forth one rather burning question. She hadn’t considered for one moment what kind of man Aidan truly was. Although backstairs gossip about him was favourable, she had absolutely no idea what kind of man he truly was, inside, where it mattered. She didn’t want to believe he could be the kind of employer who would use a servant for his personal pleasure so blatantly, but couldn’t ignore the scandalous behaviour of the last few moments. Did he want more from her than just her reading to him, and being his servant?
Well, he can forget it, she mused, hurt by the notion that he would think so little of her.
The more she contemplated what the kiss had all been about, the more the steady light of delight faded until it vanished completely, and left behind it a cold wash of horror that chilled her to the bone. Suddenly, the feminine joy at being able to stir a man like Aidan turned to stunned disbelief that she could be that foolish with her future; her livelihood.