What do you have to lose?
Of coursehecould ask her that. He lost nothing, Rebecca fumed. She, on the other hand, had lost her first kiss. And that, in her books, meant something. She could never get it back. She could never give it to Langley. Damn Wolfstan. Damn his wolfish hide.
She fell onto her bed with a plonk and wiped at her eyes. However was she going to look Langley in the eyes again? To think if he had seen those sketches. . . . Private drawings that spoke of all the settings Rebecca had daydreamed about their kiss. In her mind he was a hero. The heart of a man every woman aspired to catch.
The perfect gentleman.
Unlike a certain beast.
Rebecca might never marry but she at least could experience the perfect kiss from the perfect man. And Wolfstan had ruined that for her. Rebecca grimaced. Well, not completely ruined, as his kisshadstolen her breath, a little, urgh, a lot, but that was not the point!
She opened her book and leafed through the pages, her throat hitching as she perused through the drawings of her and Langley, manifestations of her childhood fantasies.
Has he ever shown you any favor?
Rebecca shut her eyes.
Wolfstan’s cruel question was poised to haunt her future dreams. How was she to finish her current sketch with that question at the forefront of her mind, mocking her with each pencil stroke?
She flipped to the page in question. And froze. It had been torn from her book.
“Well, I never!” The man’s treachery knew no bounds!
Rebecca suddenly recalled Mr. Lance’s letter and skipped to the back of the book where she had placed it.
Lord Above. It wasn’t there.
She shot from her bed.
“Wicke and Selborne! I will have your head this eve!”
She strode from her chamber and down the west wing to the room Wolfstan always occupied whenever he visited. She threw open the door without knocking.
In her defense, Rebecca had not expected him to be in his chamber. She had been fully prepared to wait him out, perhaps vandalize his bedsheets while she was at it. But hewasthere, and he was stripped down to nothing but his breeches.
Her breath caught as her gaze locked on his bare chest. Lean, roped muscles laced his chest into a set of broad shoulders. His pale skin reminded her of smooth marble, the kind statutes were carved from, and she wondered if it would feel as smooth to the touch. Rebecca swallowed.
Her eyes lifted to meet his, and her reason for barging into his chamber returned full force.
“How dare you?” Rebecca demanded, marching up to him. She pointed a finger at his chest. “How dare you!”
He squared his shoulders and folded his arms over his chest. “I dared quite a lot today, Rebecca. You will have to be more specific.”
“You kissed me!”
“You did not push me away.”
“You caught me off guard and you know it. Youstolemy first kiss.” Her voice broke, fragmenting over the words. They were like siblings! Everything was ruined now.
He seemed taken aback by that. “Do not tell me you were saving your first kiss for Langley?”
Her face heated. “Not that it is any of your concern, but yes, I was.”
“How the bloody hell does that make sense, Rebecca? Saving a kiss for a man you barely know?”
“That is beside the point!”
“No, it is not. But let me impart this:youhave taken everything fromme. It is only fair I steal a kiss from you.”
