A Lady's Wish by Katharine Ashe

Author:Katharine Ashe [Ashe, Katharine]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins US
Published: 2011-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

He had never forgotten the texture of her lips, the sweet humidity of her breath, the taste of her tongue or scent of her skin. In every woman he had touched since then he had searched for glimmers of her and found none. Now he took her mouth beneath his and fell into sunlight again.

As on that day so long ago, she met him eagerly. But in the intervening years she had spent as a married woman, one thing about her kiss had not changed. He drew away and looked into her upturned face, her cheeks aglow. She was so beautiful to him and he held her in his arms again as he had dreamt. But this could not be right.

He could not mask his incredulity. “You have not been kissed?”

“Wha—what?” Her hazy eyes were fixed upon his mouth, her breaths quick. She wanted to be kissed, but she possessed no skill at it whatsoever.

“Did your husband never kiss you?”

Her brows cut downward, the pleasure slipping from her face.

“Are you insulting me?”

“Observing. In astonishment.”

She ducked out of his embrace and halfway across the chamber, pressing her palms to her cheeks.

“No, he did not kiss me. At least not—” Between her fingers her face flamed. “Not like you did.”

He stared, and probably his mouth hung open. Alongside the incredible satisfaction that apparently she had only him with whom to compare her husband in this matter came a sort of sticky nausea.

“But you have two children.”

She cast him a sharp look. “It does not require the attachment of mouths to conceive a child, Captain Acton.”

For a moment he could not speak. This was too unbelievable to accept. He finally managed words.

“Was he blind?”

“Are you trying to be cruel or is it merely an unfortunate byproduct of your incivility?”

He moved toward her; he could not remain distant watching her eyes so fraught with distress. He reached for her and she flinched back but he curved his hand around her delicate jaw and into her hair. Her eyes were wide, lashes fanned about the blue, her nostrils flaring slightly and lips parted. Nik’s breaths slowed through pure wonderment. How a man could gaze upon this and not wish to kiss every inch of it, he could not fathom.

“Was he disinterested in women?”

Her eyes shot wider yet. “No. He was quite fond of me in that manner.” Her gaze shifted away. “Quite,” she whispered.

Red washed across his vision. “Men can behave as beasts.”

She ducked her head again. “He was not a beast. He did not beat me or employ force. He was only . . . cold.” She was breathing heavily. “I cannot believe I am speaking to you of this.”

He threaded his fingers through her hair and touched his lips to her brow. God, how he wanted to feel her in his hands and upon his lips forever.

“Not all men are cold. You inspire quite the opposite in one man in particular.”

She remained perfectly still in his hold. “Despite my lack of experience

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.