Kiss Me Again
Page 9
“Being right is not a failing,” Dinah mumbled.
How could she make them see? How could she make them understand? “You all have men who love and adore you. Husbands who cherish you above all else. As Father still cherishes Mother’s memory. But Lord Savage does not see me in that way.”
“Well, have you asked?” Dinah said. “It seems the most practical thing to do.”
“Certainly more romantic than sitting here with us,” Bridget offered.
“We’re being terrible hosts,” Alice agreed.
Charlotte sighed and hugged herself. When had her life become so complicated? She had wanted and yearned for Damon for so long, and now that he was offering himself up to her, she was terrified.
“Are you sure I shouldn’t just hide in here instead and avoid the matter until morning?” she asked.
There was a smattering of laughter, interrupted by a knock at the door. They glanced at one another, doing the obvious arithmetic that they were all together.
“Come in,” Sera said, uncertainty in her voice.
Damon stood in the entry. His voice was stern. “You were supposed to chase after me, not drink yourself into oblivion.”
“Was I?” Charlotte said. “I did not receive the script you are reading from.”
“No matter. I’m happy to supply you with the next lines.” He raised a brow at her sisters. “This is to be a dialogue, my dears, not an ensemble play.”
There was a moment of silence before her sisters got to their feet and made themselves scarce. Sera kissed her on the cheek. Dinah said to send for them if she needed anything.
Her heart thumped wildly as each took their leave, and Damon crossed the threshold to sit across from her in an armchair. His long fingers clasped in his lap.
“We shall put an end to this affair, Lottie. One way or another. Right here. Right now.”
Chapter Ten
Just as he knew she would, Lottie sent him a withering glare. “I wouldn’t say affair is an appropriate term for our arrangement.”
“Since an affair is broadly defined as a sequence of events, it most certainly applies.”
“By that definition, then, I could be having affairs with several men.”
His gut clenched, not liking the sound of that sentence from her lips, even if he knew its meaning. “Have you nothing else to say to me?”
He noted the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed deeply. The silence in the room swelled, feeling like an oppressive, physical weight.
She threw up her arms in exasperation. “What is it you want from me?”
His temper was barely in check, and he answered her between gritted teeth. “I have made my intentions abundantly clear. An acceptance of my offer.”
“And I have made my refusal abundantly clear.”
“Because I have no idea of this love you speak of? Is it words you want, after all I have given you? I shall give you words, Lottie. Do you worry that you will fail to capture my interest? That I may turn my attention to another?”
“Yes, to be quite frank. You are not known for your constancy—or your celibacy.”
“But I am known for knowing my own mind, and since making the determination to marry you—which, despite your assumptions, occurred before this night—I have not been in another’s bed. I shall never want another because there is no one better for me than you.”
He didn’t know what to make of her tremulous breath and trembling fingers. Was she angry? Afraid?
“Your words do move me.” One hand moved to her throat. “You’ve always been a charmer.”
He swore and turned away. “You cannot use my past against me.”
“I fear that no matter your intentions, no matter how honorable, our marriage will suffer because a man such as yourself could never be enraptured by a woman like me.” She swept her hand over herself. “Just look at me.”
The last tensile string holding his temper together snapped. Would he actually lose her over this? He bared his teeth, crossing the room to her. “I thought we swore never to lie to each other.”
“I have never lied—”
“Yes, you have. You lie now. You claim that you fear I don’t love you, that you cannot marry me because I will turn to another. You forget how I know you, Lottie. You fall back on old excuses, on simple tropes. But you know how you’ve always fascinated me. How you’ve always held my interest.” He slipped his thumb over her mouth, triumphing in her gulps of breath and the parting of her lips. “You won’t marry me because you’re terrified. Not that I don’t love you, but that I love you too much, by whatever definition you make of it. Not that we won’t suit, but that we’re perfect for each other. You don’t want to marry me because you’re terrified that what we share is every bit as powerful as what your parents shared. And you should be terrified, because our connection is that strong. The truth is, I’m terrified too.”
His words washed over her, each revelation more shocking than the one before. Her hand slipped to her stomach, and she doubled over with the impact of it. Could this be true? Could Damon be hers? Had he always been?
She ached just glimpsing his romantic, dark features. The shock of seeing Lord Savage for the first time was a well-known phenomenon in London society. There was, after all, an entire gossip sheet devoted to anonymous accounts of ladies’ first sightings of him. While much of it was hyperbole, the consistent themes were undeniable. Women were overwhelmed by him, driven to titillation and fainting at his mere presence.
She had not expected to become inured to his dark beauty, but the time and depth of their acquaintance had changed it. Oh, she still became breathless at the sight of him. Even now, her eyes greedily sought the planes of his high cheekbones, the tilt of his full mouth.
But now her admiration of his hands was tempered by the knowledge of all he accomplished with them—how deftly he wielded a horse, scaled a building, even the way he could carve a piece of fruit into a flower with the edge of a butter knife, a trick he had tried to teach her. While she saw the beauty of his face, she also knew the slightly white, raised pucker of skin where his neck met his ear, which, while barely visible, was the result of the edge of a knife while on a mission to France years back. His smoothly affected walk was one he had perfected, but on cold nights, his left knee lent itself to a slight limp ever since he’d sustained injury during a charge in the Battle of Salamanca.
Everyone saw his perfection, but she knew his imperfections, and she loved him all the more for them.
“Lottie, you’re killing me.” He was across the room in an instant and rested his forehead against hers with a groan. “I’ve withstood torture at the hands of a madman, but your silence will be my undoing.”
“Could this really work? You see how people look at us?” she asked quietly.
“With unmitigated jealousy?”
She laughed and laid her palms against the backs of his hands as he cupped her cheeks. “And you say you do not love me?” she asked.
“Maybe, with enough time, when I have grown bored and weary of you, the depth of my feelings will mellow and sallow to something to approximate love. But in this moment, no, I do not merely love you. What I feel for you is so much more.”
She tugged him closer, her body vibrating with joy.
“Lottie, you have said nothing of your feelings, your intentions. I have broken every rule of intelligence by showing you my hand when I have not seen yours in return. It’s cruel, quite frankly. I should report you to the Crown at—”
She silenced him with a kiss and luxuriated in the petal-smooth softness of his lips. “You silly man,” she said against his mouth. “You have all of me. You always have. From the first moment.”
He pulled her against him. “And you shall have me until my last.”
Thank you so much for coming along with Charlotte and Damon’s journey, which has been four books in the making! Nearly all of their flashback scenes originate from the other Kiss A Belle stories. I hope you recognize wher
e you’ve seen them fall in love since the beginning.
What happened between Benjamin and the page that night at The Stakes?
Find out in Kiss Me Darkly.
What was the scandal of Reece and Robert’s niece Roberta?
What were Sera and Christian doing together the night before Sera’s wedding?
Find out in Kiss Me Softly.
What is Drummond Shipping, the company which merges with Mr. Belle’s parcel-shipping business?
Find out in An Illicit Engagement.
Why did Gray Abernathy break his engagement to Sera Belle?
Find out in A Dangerous Expectation.
* * *
The complete Kiss A Belle series is available to order now! While each book can be enjoyed as a standalone, you may want to read them all. Books 1–3 occur concurrently and can be read in any order; Books 4 and 5 follow respectively.
Kiss Me After
Kiss Me Darkly
Kiss Me Sweetly
Kiss Me Softly
Kiss Me Again
Characters you meet in Kiss A Belle are also featured in The Gentlemen Next Door. Don’t miss it, because sometimes a lady in need of love need look no further than next door. Each book can be enjoyed as a standalone, but if you love one, then you’ll probably love the entire series.
A Delightful Arrangement
An Illicit Engagement
A Dangerous Expectation
A Flirtatious Rendezvous
Cecilia’s Booklist
HISTORICAL ROMANCE
The Gentlemen Next Door
A lady in need of love need look no further than next door
The Complete Series
A Delightful Arrangement
An Illicit Engagement
A Dangerous Expectation
A Flirtatious Rendezvous
Kiss A Belle
Everyone has kissed someone, but who has kissed whom?
The Complete Series
Kiss Me After
Kiss Me Darkly
Kiss Me Sweetly
Kiss Me Softly
Kiss Me Again
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Small Town Jane
Coming in 2017!
Impulses (Emma—Christmas)
Illusions (Northanger Abbey—Easter)
Insensibilities (Sense and Sensibility—Halloween)
Impressions (Pride and Prejudice—Valentine’s Day)
Innuendos (Mansfield Park—Summer)
Intimacies (Persuasion—Thanksgiving)
YOUNG ADULT CONTEMPORARY
The Jane Austen Academy
“A unique twist on a classic.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred
Romantic Times Book Review Magazine “What’s Hot” Pick!
Fall For You (Lizzie—Pride and Prejudice)
So Into You (Ellie—Sense and Sensibility)
When I’m With You (Kat—Northanger Abbey)
Suddenly You (Fanny—Mansfield Park)
Only With You (Emma—Emma)
Always You (Anne—Persuasion)
Then Came You (Wickham—coming soon!)
Drawn
Drawn
Traced (coming soon!)
About Cecilia
Cecilia Gray writes sweet stories about smart girls and nice guys.
When she isn’t writing, she’s into books, movies, TV, food, and hanging out with her friends. Subscribe to her newsletter for updates on new releases, sneak peeks, and giveaways.