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Carmen stared at him sullenly. Arthur stood up from his chair and paced the room. “Nora is upset. She hasn’t eaten anything in the last two days. You must resume your lessons immediately.”
While Carmen was struck at the little girl’s plight, she was equally infuriated at the man. “You assume that I’m going to resume my duties.”
“Well, aren’t you?”
Carmen folded her arms in front of her chest. “No.”
“No?”
“I did not choose to be spoken to in the manner that you displayed. You see me as something beneath you.”
“I do not,” he said.
“Actions speak louder than words, my lord,” she said. “There was a perfectly good explanation about my presence in your late wife’s room. And while I admit it was an error in judgment for me to give in to Nora, I was willing to make amends.” She shook her head. “But you had condemned me even before you heard my apology.”
Arthur walked towards her. “I did not condemn you.”
“You see nothing beyond yourself. You’re pleased as long as someone or something goes exactly how you will,” she said. “But the moment someone goes against your choosing, you go berserk.”
“You don’t know the first thing about me.”
Carmen continued without paying heed to him. “Don’t I? You hate music, you hate the very idea of it. You hate that your daughter is passionate about something that you think is utterly vile. Why is that?”
* * *
Why, why, why,the questions swam around Arthur’s head until he couldn’t take it anymore. “Enough,” he said. He strode towards her and took her by her arms.
“Don’t pretend as if you know me because you don’t,” he said, scowling down at her. She didn’t shy away from his gaze but met it stonily.
“If you wish to make me afraid, you’re failing greatly at it,” she said. She squirmed in his arms, trying to break free, but it only made him more determined. He pulled the infuriating woman snug against his chest. This close, he could smell her sweet scent which was in stark contrast to the fire that burned in her eyes. She bared her teeth at him, and he could see her flaming spirit. She was fire and he was a moth pulled to it. He couldn’t look away. He couldn’t let her go. He cupped her face with his palms till their eyes met.
“This might make you rethink,” he snarled before he reached down and captured his lips in hers. Her eyes widened the moment their lips touched, and then she was lost in his emboldened embrace. His mouth moved over hers, fierce and certain in a take-no-prisoners hold. She was putty in his arms, her body limp, but it lasted only for a few seconds before she was kissing him back.
Arthur nearly staggered as she responded to his motions. Teeth gnashing, their tongues an angry dance of gods as they fought each other for control. One of his hands moved from her waist to her breast and squeezed tightly. She gasped, giving him deeper access to her unrelenting mouth. His tongue dipped inside, exploring.
And then she slapped him, the force of it breaking his hold on her. He tasted copper in his mouth and when he swiped his palm across his mouth, he wiped away a trickle of blood. He turned to look at her. She was panting hard and her eyes transformed into the molten stare of heat and arousal. And there was something else apparent in her eyes…fear. He struggled to catch his own breath.
“Y-you kissed me,” she stammered. So he had, but he had no idea what in God’s name had possessed him to kiss her.
So, he had.He had no explanation for his action except that he had been gripped by a moment of pure insanity. “And I apologize.”
“You apologize?” she thundered. “Why on Earth did you do it?”
“You kissed me back,” he pointed out, which was the truth. Her face bloomed deep crimson, the color disappearing behind the neckline of her gown, and Arthur wanted to know what color her nipples would turn when he sucked on them.
There was no doubt about it. He had become unhinged.
“Y-you kissed me first,” she stammered. But she hadn’t denied his claim.
“You were leaving, and I needed to—” His eye fell to her forearm, just below her elbow, and subconsciously, he took her hand to examine it more closely.
Carmen stared at him mutely as Arthur’s eyes and then his fingers traced the splotched skin. The scar was old, but it hadn’t healed completely. “What happened to you?” he asked softly.
* * *
Carmen finally regained her senses. The man had kissed her and now he was examining her scar, the one that she took every possible precaution to hide from people. And here he was, trying to pry out all her secrets. She snatched her hand away and hid it behind her other arm.
“Several years ago, I accidentally dropped hot coal on my hand.”
