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Chapter 6
Fanny’s entire body trembled, but not entirely from the cold. She’d wanted to kiss him. Just to see if she would feel something. Anything other than the awful emptiness that had lived with her for too long. This kiss was familiar in its tenderness, yet also new in how it assaulted her senses. His strong hands moved to frame her face, and he deepened their embrace. He ravished her mouth with an intensity he had never done before. And they had shared many kisses. Heat gathered between her breasts, and with a muffled moan, Fanny wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed Simon with all the longing that had lived in her wounded heart.
She wanted to touch him, stroke him, hold him tight, and never let him go. Oh, Simon.Their wanton kiss felt like peace and happiness, even as she knew it to be an illusion. This man did not know her…he did not love her, and he might walk away and never look back. She felt caught between such terrible longing…and fear.
He hugged her to him, and she felt the strength of his reaction against her belly. A slow burst of heat spread from her stomach to her suddenly aching breasts and then back down to more intimate places. His tongue twined with hers in a carnal dance. A thrill chased over her skin, and she ached with desire as Simon made love to her mouth, stroking her tongue with his. Without releasing her, he held her against his body and moved into the cottage. The door slammed shut, and he spun with her to press her back against the wooden frame. The thickness of his erection pressed between the juncture of her thighs, and her body pulsed in answer.
His kiss left her mouth and trailed down the delicate slant to her throat, his tongue sweeping over her throbbing pulse. A cascade of pleasure blossomed through her body. A distant alarm went off inside her head, and she dazedly thought she had not planned this kidnapping properly. It was after he remembered her they should be kissing. “Simon?”
He lifted his mouth from her throat. They stared at each other, and she couldn’t help noting how dangerously virile he appeared in the moment. Simon had been unable to resist her. The knowledge made Fanny feel wonderfully wicked and hopeful. “Do you remember?” she whispered. Please, remember me.
Something stark and raw flared in his eyes. “No. I am thoroughly aggrieved with that question.”
Of course, he would have been presented with it often from his family. She used the tip of her finger to smooth the frown from his brow. He sighed and leaned into her touch, his actions so sweetly familiar to her. He stayed like that for wonderful minutes before the tension slowly left his limbs, and he stepped away from her. Fanny was fascinated by the tinge of color on his slashing cheekbones.
Raking his fingers through his ebony hair, he said, “Miss Fairbanks, I do not know what came over me, please—”
“I believe it is called lust, or more delicately desire. Please do not say that you are sorry.”
He blinked, appearing astonished at her frankness. She smiled. It was one of the things he had liked about her. Now it seemed there were other facets to Simon she had not known. He truly seemed disapproving, as if she had not behaved respectably. It stung, and Fanny did not like it. This man before her, the one they had transformed into Lord Havisham, was very different from the carefree young man she had known, the man who had dreams of one day being a barrister, the one who had run barefoot with her in the glen, the one who had tried to teach her how to swim in the lake abutting the cottage.
It felt as if the Simon Gracely she had fallen in love with had gone, and she was on a fool’s errand to reclaim what had been thought lost forever.
“I will stay for the seven days.”
She sagged against the door and helplessly stared at him. “Thank you.”
He nodded once and glanced about the small cottage. “In that time, however, there will be no kisses and certainly no coupling.”
She nodded.
“I need your verbal agreement, Miss Fairbanks.”
“I do not want to lie to you.”
He shot her an incredulous look. “I beg your pardon?”
“I am not certain I will be able to stop myself from arousing your memories with my kisses. I do believe if you are worried about your responses, it is your responsibility to resist me.”
“You are entirely serious.”
“Of course. I am not to be blamed for your weakness to me.”
The corner of his mouth tugged into a smile, and her heart thrilled to see it there. She would not agree to anything so outrageous that might put her at a disadvantage. Fanny was attempting something impossible. She would fight to make him fall in love with her in seven days. The first time he fell for her, Fanny never forgot he said he’d tumbled into love the first night they met and danced. She had done it then in one night…surely within seven days, she could remind his heart and body of all they shared, even if his mind did not remember her.
“If I do not recall you in seven days, we shall part ways with all cordiality. Are we agreed?”
“What if you should fall in love with me? Would you still walk away?”
Surprise flared in his eyes. “You are an astonishing woman, Miss Fairbanks.”
Clearly, he did not think it possible, for he was not a sentimental gentleman.
“You are an astonishing girl, Fran. I am damn lucky to have met you.”
“I shall expect long walks in the woods and long conversation.”
“Agreed,” he murmured. “I would like to know you.”
