He glanced back at Kate, full of sympathy. She’d obviously made a desperate attempt to seduce her husband, only to catch him with his lover. What a shock that must have been. “Do you want me to leave, Kate?”
She made an inarticulate sound of dismay and stepped in Talon’s direction, apparently deciding he was the lesser of two evils. Talon sighed and put his arm around her waist, guiding her away from Daniel, entangling himself even further in her life.
“Which room is yours?” he asked, wanting to get her away from Daniel as quickly as possible.
She pointed to a door a few yards away opposite of Daniel’s. Next to his own, he realized in shock. They shared a suite connected by a common sitting room. Another of his father’s unsubtle ways of shoving the two of them together.
“Kathryn. Please,” Daniel whispered from behind them.
Talon glanced over his shoulder, sparing him a scathing glance.
Kate stiffened but didn’t turn around. Squaring her shoulders, she opened her door. “I have nothing more to say to you, Daniel.”
Her quiet dignity made Talon proud.
Daniel closed his own door with a gentle click, ending the conversation. Kate sagged briefly, and Talon glimpsed the effort this rigid control had cost her.
“Come.” He guided her into the sitting room and urged her to take a seat on the striped peach and green sofa in front of the fireplace.
She bent forward, the fall of her heavy, dark hair curtaining her face. Talon stood behind her, fighting an unfamiliar urge to offer comfort, to take her into his arms not as a lover, but as a friend. He wanted to let her cry her heart out upon his chest.
“Ah, Kate,” he muttered at last, sitting down beside her. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“Am I the only one who didn’t know?” Her voice was surprisingly strong. “I feel like such a fool.”
“You’re not a fool. I’ll wager that until tonight you didn’t even know such a possibility existed.”
Her shoulders relaxed a bit, and she let out a shuddering sigh. “All this time,” she whispered, her voice a mere breath of sound, “I thought it was my fault. I thought there was something wrong with me.”
“You’re a beautiful, desirable woman. Daniel is probably the only man you know who doesn’t appreciate that.”
She lifted her head and pushed a lock of silken, chestnut hair back from her heart-shaped face. He’d expected to see tears tracking down her cheeks, but her eyes were dry. “Thank you. You’re far too kind, but I needed to hear that more than you can know.”
He thought perhaps hedidknow. He’d seen the look on her face when Sutcliffe had berated her for Daniel’s inattention, and he’d heard the terrible satisfaction in his father’s voice when he’d spoken of how his brother’s apathy had kept her off balance. But she was stronger than he’d thought. In fact, he’d never admired anyone more.
He cupped her lovely face in his hands. “I never say anything merely to be kind.”
And then he kissed her.
He told himself he was taking his plan of seduction to the next step, taking advantage of her vulnerability, but he knew it was a lie. He kissed her because she was beautiful and so badly in need of it, and because he was lonely and needed it, too.
Her lips were soft, pliant and warm beneath his. He deepened the kiss, tasting the honeyed sweetness of her mouth, catching her small sound of surprise.
Her hands came up to his shoulders, and he thought she was going to resist. But instead of pushing him away, she threaded her fingers into his hair, pulling him closer.
The kiss erupted from something gentle and sweet to something fierce, hot and damned near uncontrollable. Months of celibacy had left him on the razor’s edge of desire. His control slipped a little more with every passing second until his senses screamed with the need to bury himself inside her.
He pulled away with a curse. He couldn’t do this. Not yet. Not until he’d assured himself there was no other way to save his men.
She stared at him, her fingertips brushing her kiss-swollen lips. His gaze dropped to her heaving chest and the tight dark buds her nipples made against the white lace. This blatant evidence of her passionate response nearly drove him back into her arms, but he managed to avert his gaze and regulate his breathing.
“I’m sorry,” he said at last. “That was unforgivable.”
She bowed her head. “I shouldn’t have invited you in. No wonder you thought I would welcome your advances.” She looked up, tears gathering in her beautiful emerald eyes. “Perhaps I wanted this to happen. Perhaps I wanted to hurt Daniel as much as he hurt me.”
It slayed him that he’d made her cry when she’d remained strong through Daniel’s betrayal. “I should go.” He strode toward the door that connected their rooms.
“What are you doing?” Her voice was breathy and soft, startled.
