He’d brought Kate here to spend time with her and he hadn’t seen her the whole two hours since she’d arrived. The whole two hours and fourteen minutes since she’d arrived.
He’d wanted her the moment he’d seen her, but he hadn’t known what to say. He could hardly ask her to disrobe the moment she crossed the threshold. She wasn’t a whore come to service him.
“Aidan?”
The soft, hesitant word was a slide of silk over his spine as he turned back to her. The little coal of heat that had burned inside him all evening flared to life, sending waves of fire through his body. Then she smiled—and he melted.
“Thank you for coming,” he finally said, stupidly.
“To dinner?” she teased as she took a few more steps into the drawing room.
He smiled back until he realized he’d been grinning like an idiot for nigh on a minute. “Would you like a drink before we eat?”
“That would be lovely.”
He opened the bottle and filled two glasses, but one glance in her direction and he had to stop, to watch as she slowly circled the room, taking it in.
A pang of sadness struck him, a bite like the taste of medicine, bitter on his tongue. If she’d never been stolen from him, if her parents hadn’t sent her away, this scene would’ve had a different premise entirely.
They would, perhaps, have been enjoying a drink in the drawing room before departing together for a party. Or they may have already settled in for an evening in front of the fire after an early dinner. Surely they’d have already grown into the comforting, passionate friendship of a happy marriage. There would’ve been children upstairs, readying for bed.
She turned then and caught him watching, so he set his melancholy thoughts carefully aside. Useless, to spend time on regrets. He only had these few nights alone with her. For now.
Tilting her head, she smiled in question. “What is it? You look so . . . mysterious.”
“Mystery. An admirable addition to any romance.”
“I’m sure I’ve had enough mystery in my life to last well into my old age.”
“Yes, I’ll have to agree with you.”
They met in the middle of the room, but instead of giving her the wine, he set the glasses on a small table and pulled her into a gentle kiss.
“You look beautiful.”
“Thank you. The maid was quite helpful with my hair.”
“I’m glad she’s useful, but I rather regret her attention to detail. You were locked in that room for a very long time.”
Coming up to her tiptoes, Kate lightly bit his lip. “I’m here now.” A pulse of heavy blood traveled to the lower parts of his body.
“You certainly are. All of you.” He leered down the bodice of her gown, making her throw back her head with another of those arousingly throaty lau
ghs.
“Perhaps we’d better have dinner.”
“Appetizer,” he growled, sinking to his knees before her, tugging one side of her bodice down as he went. He put his mouth to the rising mound of her breast, feeling her flesh strain against her shocked gasp. The gasp deepened, then softened to a groan when he let his hand explore the sweet curve of her calf. Dinner could wait, but he could not.
Thirty minutes later, Kate walked into the dining room on impossibly weak legs. Aidan smiled innocently when she tripped over the rug, tightening his hold on her elbow without a word.
She gratefully took the seat he offered and tried hard to hide the shaking of her hands when she touched the table. Her body was drained and limp, yet still charged with an underlying tension that likely had to do with Aidan’s burning green eyes. There was a palpable heat hovering around him, and just watching his fingers as he curled them around the wineglass sent a shiver of need through her belly.
She couldn’t tear her gaze away as he lifted the glass to his mouth, and when she saw his lips part, she licked her own.
“You’ll have to stop looking so damned tempting, Kate, or we’ll never make it through this.”
“Sorry,” she breathed, thinking of the way he’d touched her, the life he’d drawn from her body.