“Allow?” Kate repeated. “Ash has no say in the matter. I am no longer a child and his responsibility.”
“Good. Then you can make your own decisions.”
Pulling away, she raised her gaze to his. “What do you mean, ‘good’?”
“I want to be your first lover.”
The bold statement sent a thrill through Kate. She wanted that, too, so very badly.
“If you are so independent, you can choose for yourself.”
Staring back at him, Kate felt a confusing mix of regret and desire. His offer was incredibly tempting. She wanted Deverill intensely…and yet not at the price she would have to pay. He might be interested in seducing her with his body, but his heart wasn’t engaged and never would be.
“I won’t be taking you or anyone else for my lover. I intend to save myself for my husband.”
“Six years ago you were prepared to give yourself to me.”
“I was mistaken.”
With a faint smile, Deverill drew her head back down to his shoulder. “Perhaps it was best that I didn’t make love to you then. Your brother would have shot me out of hand for taking advantage of you. At least now I won’t have to deal with him coming after me with murder in his heart.”
“He will have no reason to come after you. We won’t become lovers.”
She felt Deverill’s lips press tenderly against her hair. “Why shouldn’t you enjoy pleasure like a man can?”
At the absurd question, Kate’s mouth curled. It was a long-held complaint of hers also, but there was an obvious answer. “You well know that an unmarried young lady cannot take lovers.”
“Who says?”
“Society’s rules.”
“Rules can be circumvented. You weren’t meant for spinsterhood. You are far too passionate to languish on the shelf. Too full of life. You need a man who can satisfy that craving in you. Admit it, you’ve lost your sense of wonder and adventure.”
When she was silent, he bent closer to kiss her temple, then shifted across her face…her eyelids, her nose, her cheekbone, her throat. The feather touch of his lips on her throat held a tantalizing sensuality.
“I can teach you to be a woman, Kate, not just a society princess. Think of it. I could set you free.”
She did think of it. The freedom to do as she pleased. The chance to enjoy pleasure as a man could, unshackled by the chains that society placed on women. Deverill could indeed set her free.
He had always treated her as an equal, not as an heiress, not as a weakling or s
ome lesser creature, either. He made her feel like a person rather than a delicate object to be set on a pedestal and adored. He even appreciated her high spirits and never censured her sometimes tart tongue and rash temper. But there were so many things she wasn’t allowed to do because of her gender and breeding.
“All that fire, all that bottled-up passion,” he whispered, his mouth moving back to her face.
At his seductive accolade, Kate felt the spellbinding daze overcome her again. His lips were so arousing. The scalding heat of his touch made her forget how to breathe. She couldn’t bear for him to stop.
Hang the man. This was precisely what he intended.
Her breath shamefully uneven, Kate extricated herself from Deverill’s embrace and slid off his lap. Drawing the lapels of her cloak together, she glanced out the folly door at the garden. “The rain has stopped. We should return to the house. And before you accuse me of running away, I am not. I have considered your offer and choose to decline.”
“A pity,” Deverill said with an exaggerated sigh. Rising from the bench, he followed her to the doorway. “I trust I can eventually change your mind. Fortunately, I can be patient. As difficult as it will be, I will wait until you invite me to make love to you.”
Looking up, Kate met his gaze. “You will have a long wait.”
“We shall see.”
The promise in his declaration unnerved her, as did the unabashed desire in his eyes.