“Don’t women hit the men they are angry with?”
“I’m not angry,” she said softly.
She wasn’t? “You’re not?”
“Do you want me to be?”
“No . . .”
She shook her head. “To be honest, I do find it all rather strange, stranger still that I am not upset that you’ve been keeping an eye on me all these years. But in truth, I feel a bit guilty. After all, I didn’t recognize you at all when we met.”
“A lifetime has passed,” Blake said. “It is to be expected.”Look at you, you fool, pulling wool over your own eyes!He cleared his throat. “You have nothing to feel guilty over.”
“Was it hard, living with a father like that?” she suddenly asked.
The hardest. But he only shrugged. No need to drag her into his horror. “I survived.”
“You are not a monster, you know. At least, I don’t see one before me.”
“You will have to look a bit deeper for that. Or just look at my title.”
She suddenly burst out in laughter. “Your title? As in the Duke of Crane?”
“Exactly.”
Her expression turned amused. “Do you realize that it’s just a title?”
“All the things my father did . . .”
“Yes,” she interrupted. “Whathedid. Not you.”
“I still carry his name. I’m still burdened with the title.”
“Then unburden yourself.”
He shot her a look that spoke volumes about what he thought about those three words.Impossible. “You make it sound so easy.”
She leaned closer, too close. “Easy or not, it’s still something within your power to do.”
His gaze dropped to that sassy mouth. Of all the things she could have said... Even though he couldn’t agree, she had a way of capturing him with her words. God, could he admire her more?
He wanted to kiss her.
God help her soul.
God save his.
Because he couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t capture her heart, but he could capture her lips. And he did just that.
Turned out, his will couldn’t hold out much longer at all.
Rosilee had neverbeen so shocked in her life. Not even upon discovering the news of her brother being tricked and gambling their estate away, or Baston offering her marriage as a way of repayment. No, this kiss, the duke’s lips on hers, was much more shocking than any of that!
He swept his tongue into her mouth, and Rosilee let him. In fact, curiosity bloomed as she hesitantly explored in return. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced, and her head spun, a dizzying coupling of warmth and coldness all the same time. She grasped his coat, pulling him closer, her fingers curling into the thick fabric.
His hands—oh, his hands—traced the line of her waist, locking her against him. In all the tales she’d read thus far, she’d only ever experienced the heroine’s adventures second-hand. Now, she was experiencing her first kiss... undeniablyfirsthand. His lips left hers, trailing kisses along her jaw, sending shivers down her spine before he slowly pulled away.
Silence stretched between them as he stared down at her, and she up at him.
