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“Please do not hold it against me,” Alice replied.
“I will not,” Harold said.
Alice was illuminated in red, green, and blue as the sun shone through the stained glass at that moment. It looked like a divine halo and Harold found himself without words for a moment. All the thoughts that had been clamoring for attention were suddenly dispersed. There was only the loveliness of this woman before him. Her perfection. The urge to touch her was beyond control. Before he knew what he was doing, he was reaching for her, gently cupping the side of her face. The touch was gentle, as though he reached for a bird that he feared would fly away from him at too fast a movement.
Her eyes widened and her lips parted. Harold was close enough to see her breathing quicken as his fingertips stroked the side of her face, lingering at the corner of her mouth for a moment, a daring intimacy. As he lowered his hand, she raised hers, closing her fingers around his and returning his touch to her skin. She pressed his fingers to her cheek and closed her eyes, gasping slightly. Harold lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers.
The taste of her lips was intoxicating. Warmth and softness, delicious softness, and fragility were the immediate sensations. Then her lips firmed against his, sought to taste him, sought to return the kiss, and increase the passion of it. Alice’s arms went around his neck as she came towards him and his found her slender waist. Their lips parted but then came crashing back together. Her tongue darted into his mouth and he responded, bringing forth a sighing moan from her.
Innocence fell away from her. She knew how to kiss a man, knew how to show her passion and how to respond to his. She was not as wholly innocent as she had first seemed. That made her even more seductive, igniting the fires of his passion. Harold’s lips moved to her neck and she moaned aloud, a sound that echoed from the bare stone walls. He squeezed her waist, kneading with his fingers to try and feel the substance of her body beneath the dress. Her lips found his again, urgent and questing. Another moan from her was muffled by the conjunction of their mouths.
Harold wanted to push her back across the crate, to lay her down before him. But he held back, recognizing that she would not wish to go so far. That they should not go so far. The flames of passion that drove their kisses were being indulged by both of them but had to be curtailed.
There will be no believing that I am not the rogue that her family paints me as otherwise. But how I want to be that rogue now. How I want her!
After what seemed like an eternity, they separated. Alice was breathless, her cheeks aflame. Hair flopped into Harold’s eyes and he realized that at some point, her fingers had raked through it. Alice was smiling tentatively and Harold saw that she was unsure of herself now.
She looks to me to reassure her, worried that she has gone too far. Dishonored herself.
“This is not how I conduct myself,” Harold said, taking her hands in his. “But you inflame my senses. I do not want you to think of me as a…as your family seems to think of me.”
“Nor I. I do not know what came over me. Will it sound odd if I tell you that this setting is perhaps the most romantic I can think of?”
Harold found himself laughing. “Yes, very odd. I had thought you would find it dusty and perhaps boring. For myself, I can think of no more romantic setting than to be surrounded by the mysteries of the ages.”
“Yes!” Alice exclaimed, joining his laughter. “Keep your ballrooms and dances. I will choose this every time.”
Harold raised her hands to his lips and kissed each.
“And you do not see me as a dangerous seducer?”
“No,” Alice replied. “I was intrigued by you. And now…attracted to you in many ways. I…”
She became flustered, as though unsure how to say what she wanted to say.
“I would like more time to get to know you. Somewhere without the need to escape the watchful eyes of your family. Would you like that?”
“Yes. Yes, I would. But, may I ask a favor?”
“Anything.”
“You will tell me all you know of my father and my brother, Teddy. Hold no secrets back. I think Simon and Ruth have been lying to me, and are keeping something back even now. I want to find out what.”
Harold nodded somberly. “That makes two of us. I regretted the passing of Edward, though I didn’t know him well. I should like to know all I can of this mystery. I intend to shed more light on it.”
“Then we will do that together,” Alice said with a hesitant smile.
“We may not like what we discover. No, I should say that you may not like it.”
Alice looked into his eyes for a moment. “I want to know the truth. It may not be palatable but it is preferable to living a lie.”
“Speaking of which. Will you be sharing this truth with your siblings?” Harold asked, holding up Alice’s hands to emphasize what truth he referred to.
Alice bit her lip. “I want to. I cannot expect them to be honest with me and not be honest in return. But, it would cause more problems than it solves.”
Harold nodded. “I agree. I think Simon would call me out if he found out. And, I could not refuse such a challenge to my honor. He would die if he tried it.”
CHAPTER14
