“I wanted to tell you. I meant to tell you. I wasn’t thinking straight.”
She raised one eyebrow. “You lost your head over a few kisses?” she said scornfully. “Do you really expect me to believe that? Your experience with women is well-documented, James. I hardly think kissing me would be enough to make you forget?—”
“You make me forget my own bloody name!”
The force in his voice made her blink and he stilled, as if realizing what he’d just admitted. And then he let out a long, slow exhale.
“Kissing you makes me forget the whole world,” he continued, more softly. “All I can think about is how good you taste. How right you feel. How I want you in my arms forever.” The corner of his mouth lifted in a rueful smile. “I love you Kitty. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember.”
He shook his head, and his laugh was half joy, half despair. “Andrew knew; he saw what I’d been hiding for years.”
Kitty stared up at him, her eyes wide. Her breath caught in her throat. “You love me?”
“I do. And not just as a friend.” He slid his hands down her arms and tangled his fingers with her own. “As everything.”
Kitty could scarcely believe her ears. He stared into her eyes, and she suddenly felt weightless, suspended between heartbeats, like a dandelion puff that might float away in the breeze.
“Kitty Worth, will you marry me?” he asked solemnly.
“You said you’d never marry,” she couldn’t resist saying.
“That’s not true. I said I’d gladly settle down with the right woman.” A smile softened his face. “And that’s you. The right woman.”
He saw she was about to argue and squeezed her fingers. “Please allow that years of warfare change a man. I was an idiot not to tell you how I felt. And when I got back from Spain, I was so consumed with guilt over losing Andrew that I didn’t think you could bear to see me.”
Tears of happiness pricked the back of her eyes, but she blinked them back. “Of course I wanted to see you, you idiot. I love you too.”
“So that’s yes? You’ll marry me?”
“Yes.”
His shoulders dropped in obvious relief, and then he gave a rueful groan. “I can’t believe you kissed Charles Willingham.” His lips quirked and a mischievous light entered his eyes. “You know, now would be an excellent time to admit that my kisses were better than his.”
Kitty slid him a teasing smile. “Oh, I don’t know. . . I think I need to do a little more research?—”
“Only with me,” he growled.
“Only with you,” she agreed.
His smile turned devilish. “Perhaps I should remind you again about the different types of kisses?”
“Please.”
He tilted her chin up and pressed the pad of his thumb to her lower lip. Kitty shivered, despite the warmth of the air, as excitement twisted low her belly. She leaned into him with a soft moan, wrapping her arms around his neck as he kissed her, tasting her sweetly and softly.
“This is the kiss of a desperate man,” he murmured. “A man who’s been starved of kisses.” Another kiss, a little more forceful. “A man who never wants to stop.”
“Then don’t,” Kitty said simply.
He gave a fevered groan against her mouth. “We have to stop, Kitty. If we don’t get back to the castle soon, you’ll be ruined and?—”
She gave a giddy laugh. “What? We’ll be expected to marry? Oh no! How will I bear the agony of becoming your wife?”
He shook his head at her sarcasm. “You’re shameless.”
She gave a delighted nod. He kissed her again, hard, then caught her hips and picked her up, effortlessly holding her against his chest before settling her on the wide ledge of the window embrasure. She widened her legs as he stepped between her knees and slid his fingers up her thighs, bunching the fabric of her skirts. Her heart pounded in anticipation.
His hands settled on her hips and he squeezed, as if making sure she was real flesh and blood and not an apparition. “God, Kitty,” he rested his forehead against hers with a ragged exhale. “I want you so much.”
