“Oh, my!” Miranda exclaimed from behind them. “This is a green-winged orchid.”
They turned to face her.
She adjusted her spectacles and straightened from where she was bent over a delicate purple flower. “Would you mind overly if we were to delay for a few minutes while I examine the orchid? I was reading about this particular species only this morning.”
“Of course, you must,” Henry insisted. A thought struck him. “There is a bench by the lake only a couple of hundred yards away. Do you see it?”
Both women looked around, shielding their eyes against the sun.
“I see it,” Miranda confirmed.
“Charlotte could use a rest. We shall retire to the bench to rest until you are finished.” He glanced at Charlotte. “If that’s acceptable to you?”
She nodded. “That would be nice, Your Grace.”
He escorted her to the bench, taking as much of her weight as he could. Once they arrived, he helped her sit down and then settled beside her. He found himself stealing glances of her more than he ought to, noting the way the sunlight danced on her hair and her lashes fluttered against her cheeks as she looked out at the water. It was unsettling, this growing consciousness of her, an acute awareness of every detail of the way she looked, the way she moved.
She turned her head and caught him looking at her, her eyes wide and innocent. He couldn’t help himself; his gaze dropped to those full, pink lips.
“Your Grace?” Something like hope flared in her eyes.
He wanted to kiss her. So very badly.
She looked back at him, her eyes soft, her breath uneven. Her cheeks were flushed and her pink lips softly parted.
Her mouth was barely inches from his.
A deep, dangerous hunger surged within him, sweeping away all of his usual iron self-control. Before he could think better of it, he brushed his fingers along her jaw, tilting her chin just slightly so that he raised her face to his. She was holding her breath, staring up at him in wide-eyed wonder. He hesitated, giving her the chance to pull away, but she didn’t.
Instead, her eyes fluttered closed as she tipped her face farther up to his. Her lips parted a little more in anticipation, and he could hold back no longer.
He kissed her, crushing his mouth against hers, feeling a wild desire rise up in him to have her, to make her his. But he forced himself to slow down, to be gentle with her. Charlotte melted into him, gripping his coat tightly.
It was a slow, lingering kiss, filled with something unspoken that had been simmering beneath the surface for far longer thanHenry had ever allowed himself to be conscious of. But now it all came bursting into awareness.
God, heneededthis woman. The world shrank to just this—the scent of her, the softness of her lips, the warmth of her body against his. Time seemed to stand still, and everything else was forgotten. There was just him, and Charlotte.
Then a sharp voice from behind him shattered the moment, ringing through the soft summer air.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
William stood a short distance away, a rifle over his shoulder, and his expression thunderous.
CHAPTER 21
Charlotte took a deep,shaky breath, her heart pounding in her chest as her gaze darted from Henry to William and back again. She could still feel the press of Henry’s lips against hers, the warmth of his touch, the way time had slowed in that perfect, breathtaking moment.
He had kissed her.Henry had kissed her.And then…
This.
William stood rigid on the bank, glaring at both of them, his mouth hanging open in shock. His rifle was still slung over his shoulder, and his grip on it looked dangerously tight. His focus narrowed on Henry, sharp and furious. Charlotte swallowed hard as Henry leapt to his feet and stepped slightly in front of her as though to shield her should William decide to use that gun.
But she knew it would never beherthat her brother shot at.
“What on earth is going on?” Miranda called from farther back. “William? What is the matter?”
Charlotte briefly closed her eyes. Darling Miranda must have been so distracted by the plant life that she hadn’t noticed the kiss. When Miranda drew near, Charlotte held up her hand to stay her and slowly got to her feet.
