Page 16 of Once a Scoundrel

“But I-I didn’t—I didn’t!” He glanced down at her, and his eyes widened as he finally took in the quality of her clothes and the fairness of her face. “I-I...My apologies, my lady! But that dog bit at me, and I was only—”

“Leave,” Stephen ordered in a voice so filled with raw fury that an icy shiver slithered down Faith’s spine. He cocked the pistol. “Now.”

The man ran down the lane and plunged into the woods. Within seconds, he was gone from sight. By nightfall he’d be two villages away. A ragged sigh of relief poured from her.

Stephen eased down the hammer, then dismounted from his horse. As he tucked both pistols beneath his redingote, he came forward slowly, watching the dog and carefully keeping his distance from its snapping jaws.

“Good boy,” she told the hound in the calmest voice she could muster, despite the fierce pounding of her heart. “Hush now.”

At her soft words, the animal stopped barking and with a whimper spun around to race back to her. It buried its furry head against her shoulder, and all of it shook violently with fear. Petting it soothingly, Faith rolled her eyes that her guard dog had turned out to be not so fierce after all. Because for all he’d hated the man who’d struck him, he didn’t give a single growl or snarl as Stephen knelt on the ground beside her.Traitor.

“Are you all right?” Concern thickened his voice.

“I’m fine.” Although her dress was completely ruined, both by the ground where she’d fallen when the man shoved her and now by the ripe smell of dirty dog.

He tugged off his gloves and with a worried frown reached for her chin, to turn her head from side to side as he studied her for any signs of wounding. Heaving out a breath of relief, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly against him.

“Dear God, Faith,” he murmured, his mouth buried in her hair. “What were you thinking, to confront a man like that? You could have been seriously injured.”

“I wasn’t hurt,” she protested. She closed her eyes and drank in the strength of his arms around her, the hardness of his body pressed against hers. She’d missed being in his arms more than she’d realized, more than she should have let her herself feel. Even though she knew she should push him away, she couldn’t find the resolve to do so.

“When I saw that bastard raise that club—” A soft curse passed his lips. He cupped her face between his hands as he admitted in a raspy murmur, “If he’d hurt you, I would have killed him.”

Her lips parted softly at the intensity in him. She’d never seen him like this before. Never this angry, never this upset. And that it was because of her—

No.She wouldn’t let her foolish heart get its hopes up this time, only to be dashed again when he turned his attentions away. Or when he decided to leave again.

“Faith,” he whispered and leaned in to kiss her.

She froze, her breath catching in her throat and all of her tensing as his lips moved gently against hers. For one desperate moment she was certain that even her heart had stopped beating. He was kissing her—Stephen waskissingher! Oh heavens. She should have shoved him away, should have slapped him, should have done...anythingexcept sit there and let him.

But moving away was the last thing she wanted to do. Not when the protective warmth of his arms and the taste of his kisses were so bittersweet that she couldn’t find the strength to deny herself of them. And certainly not when his kiss ached, filled with such longing that she trembled from it. He kissed her as if he needed this embrace to survive, as much as he needed air to breathe. Its intensity stunned her. So did her own heart-thumping response to it, how her blood heated and her flesh tingled. How she thrilled at the way his mouth so easily took possession of hers.

Confusion spun through her, and an aching rose low in her belly. Stephen was kissing her, and it was just as wonderful as she remembered. No...not as wonderful.Better. So much better because when he’d left he’d still been a man-boy, full of fire and urgency. Now he was all man, and the rashness inside him had tempered into control, making him all the more dangerous because of it.

“Faith,” he whispered achingly as he tore his mouth away from hers and trailed his lips along her jaw. “Beautiful Faith...how much I missed you...”

She squeezed her eyes shut against the stinging tears. Instead of thrilling her, his words angered her. Her heartache ran too deep be assuaged by mere words. He’d flattered and flirted with her before, after all, only to break her heart. He’d kissed her hungrily four years ago, too, lavished her with compliments and flattery, and it meant nothing in the end.

“Not enough,” she whispered sadly, turning her face away.

“What do you mean?” His lips found her ear and sucked at her earlobe, and she couldn’t fight down the delicious tingles that vibrated through her.

“You left.” A confusion of conflicting emotions rioted inside her, half which had her wanting to shove him away and the rest making her thrill at the way his muscles flexed beneath her fingertips, tempting her to simply throw her arms around him and surrender. “With no warning, no explanation...”

“I couldn’t stay.” Regret roughened his voice even as his arms tightened around her, as if he could read her mind and sense her doubt. As if he were afraid she might slip away. “I had to leave. England was unbearable for me, you know that. There was too much pressure from my family to be something I wasn’t, too many responsibilities for the marquessate, and my father...” He drew a jerking breath at the memories of that time. “Daniel had already enlisted. The regiment was leaving—”

“You left,” she repeated, unable now to stop the tears from gathering at her lashes, the sobs from choking in her throat. “You leftme.”

“I was a damned fool, I know that now.” He placed a kiss against her lips, so tender that it stole her breath away. “Forgive me, Faith.” Another kiss, this one lingering long enough for his hands to sweep tenderly over her body. “Give me a second chance.”

Her chest clenched so painfully that she winced. Those were the exact words she’d longed to hear for the past four years, for him to realize what a cad he’d been and how much he’d lost when he left her. But sweet words and empty flattery had always come easily to him. How could she believe him about this?

His lips cajoled at hers to open so he could slip his tongue inside, and when she did, helpless now to push him away, a wanton sensation curled through her, sliding down her spine until her toes curled beneath her. Oh heavens, he’d curled hertoes! More, a wicked ache began to throb between her legs. Through a fog of desire, her mind couldn’t think of the right thing to do at that moment. She knew only the longing that blossomed inside her and the delicious slide of his tongue between her lips in a tantalizing rhythm that had her grasping at his shoulders to keep from falling away with him into oblivion.

He rained kisses along the side of her neck, never kissing the same spot twice before moving on, as if he wanted to explore and taste every bit of her. She couldn’t fight back the urge to lean into him, to press herself as tightly against him as she could. When she arched her back and brought her breasts against his lapels, she was rewarded with a soft groan of appreciation.

As if he knew how close she was to capitulation, he slid his hand up to her neck and massaged slow circles against her nape. Such an innocent touch, yet the possessiveness of his hand on her and the seductive caresses of his fingertips conveyed exactly how much pleasure he could give her if she simply let go. If she forgave him and somehow found a way to erase the past four years of loneliness and tears.