Page 23 (1/2)

"I think you do," he whispered "I think you feel you can only accept my touch when it is forced upon you"

"That’s not true!"

"Then prove it," he ain "Sheath your claws and kiss me"

He brushed his lips softly over hers, a caress that was al her lips, and he kissed her openmouthed Lushly Sweetly She could drown in a kiss like this; it wasof before This kiss spoke of yearning, of need She shook at the possibility that this man could want her so much And that she wanted him in return She knew she shouldn’t, but she pressed her mouth back at his She kissed Saht in the whisper of breath between them If only she--

He suddenly raised his head, and she opened her eyes dazedly,over her shoulder "The footmen Lady Hasselthorpe sent back are about to join us Are you all right?"

"Yes" Her hands were tre a bored expression on her face The foot a basket of wine bottles between them They didn’t look particularly interested, so perhaps the footmen had missed their explosive embrace

"Will you taketo steady her shaking senses When had she become so impulsive? The effect Samuel Hartley had on her was not one she relished He seemed to tear the veil of civilization from her limbs He left her naked and exposed She was an unsophisticated creature all e without a mask at his feet, unable to control her basest coht to refuse his arm and run as fast as she could away from him She needed to find her old self, to soothe her raw nerves with the rituals of polite society

Instead, as she laid her fingers on his arm, she felt when he threw a triu

LADY EMELINE’S TOUCH soothed hiiven reluctantly, and the scent of lemon balm drifted close to his face Saain control of himself before the footmen were upon the native warriors and not broken rank Yet, place hi He whispered a curse as the footmen tramped closer This had to stop She was an aristocrat and not for him

He let his face relax and hailed the footmen "We were sent to look for you May I help you carry that?" He indicated the full basket of wine

"No, sir Thank you, sir," the elder man replied His breath was short, and his companion’s face was red, but there was an undertone of shock to his voice Obviously a gentleman was not supposed to offer to help a servant

Sahed and turned with Lady Emeline to lead the way back to the picnic "Your people revere divisions between men"

She peered up at hi your pardon?"

He gestured to the foot behind them "Every little detail of rank, every little opportunity to separate one fellow frolish worship the tiniest difference betweenclasses in the Colonies? Because if you are, I won’t believe you"

"There are differences, but take my word that station is not nearly so idolized there as here In America, a man can raise himself above the rank he was born with"

"As has your friend, Mr Thornton" She tapped his arlishman"

"Thornton wasn’t invited to this pretty house party, was he?" He watched her face flush a beco dark pink and suppressed a su and wealth, but obviously he is still not considered good enough for the gentlefolk in your society"

"Come, Mr Hartley," she snapped "You served in the army Don’t try to tell me that you weren’t aware of rank there"

"Aye, we had ranks," he replied bitterly "And soenerals even, solely on the basis of their birth You needs uood in ranks"

"Was my brother a bad soldier?" she asked stiffly

He dahtless? Naturally she would think of her brother first "No Captain St Aubyn was one of the best officers I ever knew"

Her head was down bent, her lips thinned For such an argumentative woman, she could be very vulnerable sometimes It hurt him, somewhere in his chest, to see her so It was odd, her vitriolic tongue made him feel alive, made him want to seize her and kiss her until she moaned beneath his mouth But when she revealed a rare weakness, she crushed him Pray she only let show her vulnerability with hi that part of her He wanted to be the only one to protect that softness

"And Jasper?" she asked now "Was he a good officer as well? So with the them about, no"

"Then perhaps you do not know your fiancé very well"

Her head came up and she scowled at his"

He shrugged "I don’t think you ever know a man until you see how he faces death"

They’d coht of the picnic spot now Lady Emeline looked over to where Jasper reentlemen He’d doffed his coat for so in his waistcoat and shirtsleeves, long arander As they watched, another wave of laughter went through the group

"Lord Vale was the htfully

Lady Emeline turned to stare at him, her eyebrows raised

He nodded "I’ve seen hiet up bloodied and keep fighting, even when all around hi He faced battle--faced death--as if he had no fear Soht"

She pursed her lips, watching Jasper caper about "Maybe he didn’t have any fear"

Sam slowly shook his head "Only fools have no fear at all in battle, and Lord Vale is no fool"