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Anything but you, she thought sadly.You will do anything for me except let go of your past hurts. It seems that even the depth of your feelings for me are still not enough.
She could rail against her fate, scream in rage as Amy had done earlier, but she knew all too well it was an exercise in futility. If there was anything Emily was good at, it was knowing when to stop fighting a losing battle.
“Well then, I guess this is the end for us,” she smiled bitterly, “and we have not even begun.”
“I am sorry, Emily. Sorrier than I can ever say.”
She untangled herself from his arms and stood up. She needed to leave now, leave while she could, while she still had most of her dignity intact.
However, this was the last time she could ever be with him. After tonight, she could never be with Daniel again.
This was goodbye.
And I want to make it count, she thought resolutely.
“There is, however, one thing you can do for me,” she spoke softly, her back to him. There was a tremor in her voice that she tried desperately to hide from him.
He stood up, and she could feel his warmth reaching out towards her, his unique scent wrapping her in its spell. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, losing herself in the magic but knowing that she could not afford to stay for much longer.
“Kiss me.”
Her voice was soft but this time, it was steady.
“Kiss me like you mean it.” She turned to face him, and her voice gained a strength she could not name. “Kiss me goodbye…Daniel.”
CHAPTER18
As soon as the words left her mouth, Emily felt very, very foolish. She was standing before a man—a very dangerous one, at that—and just asked him to kiss her one last time before they parted ways for good.
How utterly,deliciouslyinappropriate!
Seeing as my reputation and the next half of my life have been thoroughly ruined, she thought to herself wryly,why should I not?
It was not like he was the type to indulge a woman’s requests. Emily had been with the Duke long enough to know that he did not truly hold tender feelings for the fairer sex. He might view them as passable companions on occasion, and as much as he confessed to having fallen for her, she did not believe he cared enough.
If he cared enough, he would have stepped in before the Viscount threatened me and my family with ruination,she lamented in her heart.Not made an excuse.
As she stood there, her eyes never flinching from his, she felt an inexplicable sorrow, a sort of dejection, that he apparently was not as susceptible to her supposed charms as he claimed. After all, even with a new dress and a few measly tricks up her sleeve, she was still the very same wallflower who had been neglected for almost the entirety of two seasons.
What was I expecting? That he would fall to his knees and beg me to marry him?
The very idea of it was so absurd that she fought to keep in the snort of laughter. Somehow, she could never imagine Daniel Bolt, the Duke of Gilleton, falling over himself to marry a female, especially one like her. However, her traitorous heart could not help longing for that sweet, sweet fantasy.
“All right.”
The word was spoken so softly, so carefully that Emily feared she might have misheard them after all. Her gaze snapped back to his quickly, and she saw the same tormented longing in his deep blue eyes just before she felt him tip her chin up to meet his kiss.
The first touch of his lips on hers was but a whisper, a breath, as if he feared that she would splinter apart in his hands.
Her eyes fluttered close, and her hands went up to his shoulders as she rose on her toes to tentatively reciprocate the very kiss she had been asking for, pressing herself to the solid strength of his chest.
“Emily…” he groaned. “We really should not…”
She pulled back a little, steeling herself for the force of disappointment. “You are right, Your Grace,” she said in a soft, steely voice. “We really ought not to.”
But his arms tightened around her, and his eyes had turned a dark midnight hue. “Then, I shall kiss you goodbye.Properly, this time.”
Emily felt her heart beat madly from within her ribcage as his lips swooped down upon hers, sliding insistently, demanding to be granted access he absolutely hadnoright to. But, oh, how she wanted him, yearned for him!
