A Lord's Dream by Summer Hanford

Author:Summer Hanford
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: 0
Published: 2017-09-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

Liza strode to the library with a frantic pace that threatened to wear a path in the carpet’s thick pile. She hadn’t slept the night before and could find no ease today. Lord Thomas did remember their kiss. Yet, he’d said he would bring her a list of marriageable gentlemen.

If he remembered and yet agreed to aid her hunt for a husband, that was proof of how little affection he held for her. She’d spent the past three years remembering the anguish in his voice when he spoke of his wife. Still, a small part of her hoped there was some feeling between them. That hope was now dead, and the loss of it made her ill.

A light tread sounded in the hall. Halting, Liza wrapped her arms about her middle in the vain hope the action would hold in her pain. When he arrived, she must not weep. He must never know how she longed for him.

The footfalls in the hall didn’t slow. Lord Thomas burst through the library door. For once, he wasn’t in any way disarrayed. He was perfection.

He strode to her. His strong hands settled on her shoulders. A spark of madness lurked in his eyes. Liza looked up at him in confusion. This was not the Lord Thomas she knew.

“I will not compose your damn list, Liza.”

“I-I don’t understand,” she stammered.

“There’s only one name I would put on it. Mine.”

His words ricocheted through her. “Yours?”

“For three years I’ve thought on it, thought of our kiss.” His intensity stole her breath. “I will not pass you into the arms of another man.”

“I don’t want you to.”

“You don’t want me to?” he repeated.

She shook her head.

“You asked me to…” His confusion made the words a question.

“Because I didn’t think there was a chance that…That is, I hoped maybe you…” What had she hoped? For exactly what was happening. She smiled, filled with a joy equal to her earlier pain. “I hoped you might care for me.”

The hands on her shoulders slid across her back and he lowered his mouth to hers. His fierce, possessive kiss fulfilled the promise of that earlier one, and yet offered more. When his hands at last returned to her shoulders and set her away from him, this time Liza was sure she was the one who swayed. He stroked her cheek with gentle fingers.

“Tell your father I will return.” He strode from the room as rapidly as he’d entered.

Liza all but toppled to the couch. Her whole body trembled. She pressed both hands to her lips, enveloped in a haze of joy. It took long moments for her mind to recover the ability for thought.

She dropped her hands and hugged herself, alight with happiness. Of their own volition, her lips curved into a broad smile. Why wouldn’t they? They’d just been kissed by Lord Thomas. A giggle escaped her. Maybe Lord Thomas was a bit like a pirate after all, stealing her kisses.

Her joy carried her through the evening. She existed

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