Page 60 of The Hidden Heart

“No! No, I think rather that I have come to my senses. I have missed you all this time, thought about you, wanted you.”

Jessica gaped at him. “For ten years?”

“Yes.”

“This is nonsensical. I don’t know what maggot you’ve gotten into your head, but the whole thing is absurd. We don’t even know each other anymore. I don’t want you to ‘make up’ to me for anything. Yes, I was angry once, but that was long ago. I am not angry still. I—I don’t feel anything for you now.”

“No! That cannot be true!” Darius exclaimed, surprising her by moving forward swiftly and grabbing her arms. “You can’t have forgotten how it feels. Deny it all you want, but you must remember the sweetness of our kisses.”

All that sprang to Jessica’s mind at his words was how Richard had kissed her last night, and she would hardly term his kisses sweet—searing, perhaps, or stunning, fiery and fierce and hard, branding her very soul, it seemed, but nothing so insipid as “sweet.” She blushed a little at her thoughts.

“There!” Darius said triumphantly. “I knew you remembered them.”

“No!” Jessica protested, realizing too late what he intended.

He pulled her to him and kissed her. His lips pressed hard into hers, pushing them back against her teeth. Jessica put her hands between them, shoving at him, trying to pull away, but his fingers dug into her arms, holding her still. Finally, in exasperation, she kicked him sharply in the shins.

“Ow!” Darius raised his head in surprise.

“Damn you!” a masculine voice roared behind them, and the next thing Jessica knew, Cleybourne was beside them. He grabbed Darius by the arm and flung him away from Jessica. Darius stumbled, his arms flailing wildly, and fell backward over a sofa, rolling onto the seat and then to the floor in front of it.

“Richard!” Jessica exclaimed in astonishment.

Cleybourne was not listening to her. His eyes fiery, he ran around the side of the couch to reach down and haul Darius to his feet, then swung his right fist flush into Darius’s jaw, knocking him down again.

“Richard!” Jessica cried, hurrying around the couch and grabbing his arm before he could punch the man again. “Stop it. Please. You are creating a scene!”

“You think I care?” he asked. “I’ll kill this bastard.”

“Well, I care,” Jessica pointed out, exasperated. “It will hardly do my reputation any good to have the whole household come in here and find you two brawling. Everyone will know what happened.”

Richard hesitated, then let his arm fall to his side. “All right.” He looked sharply at Darius. “You can thank her for saving your worthless skin. Get up and get out, and if I see you around Miss Maitland again, I won’t stop next time. Understood?”

“Yes, yes…” Darius was scrambling away from him as he got to his feet. “Sorry. My mistake. I didn’t realize she was your—that you were—”

As Richard’s eyes flashed red and he started after the man again, Darius broke off and ran from the room. Richard stood for a moment, still facing the door pugnaciously. Then he made an obvious effort to relax, shaking out his arms, and turned back to Jessica.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, I am fine. I had no idea he would—I—how did you know?”

“I saw him pull you into the music room. Didn’t take much intelligence to know that he was up to no good. I would have been here sooner, but that bloody Pargety female trapped me, whining about the intruder, and I couldn’t let her follow me in here.”

He strode quickly over to the door and closed it, in case anyone had seen Darius’s hasty exit and came to investigate. When he turned around, Jessica had difficulty meeting his eyes, embarrassed by what he had witnessed.

“Thank you,” she said stiffly.

“You are welcome. Frankly, it was rather nice to hit something. I have been wanting to for the past three hours.”

Jessica could not suppress a smile. “I see. I am sorry.”

He shrugged. “You needn’t be. I—I should not have yelled at you this afternoon. I am—having these people around tries my temper sorely.”

“And here I thought I was the one who tried your temper.”

A smile flickered briefly across his mouth. “So you do.”

“I am sorry that you had to witness this scene.”