A Passion For Him Part 5

"I will help you." He pushed heavily to his feet. "Then you should disembark before you are a.s.sociated with me."

"Too late for that," the Frenchman said, his gaze direct. "I will remain with you until you are settled and this matter of my master's death is resolved."

"Why?" Colin asked simply, too weary to argue.

"Arrange our departure now," Jacques said. "We will have plenty of time to talk on the journey."

Unbelievably, within the hour they were out to sea. But the Colin Mitch.e.l.l who stood at the mist-covered bow was not the same one who had shared a farewell dinner with Quinn.

This Colin had a price on his head, and the cost to pay it could be his life.

Chapter 4

The fence w as directly ahead. After making certain that the guard w as still far enough aw ay to miss seeing her, Amelia hurried tow ard it. She did not see the man hidden on the other side of a large tree. When a steely arm caught her and a large hand covered her mouth, she w as terrified, her scream smothered by a w arm palm.

"Hush," Colin w hispered, his hard body pinning hers to the trunk.

Her heart racing in her chest, Amelia beat at him w ith her fists, furious that he had given her such a fright.

"Stop it," he ordered, pulling her aw ay from the tree to shake her, his dark eyes boring into hers. "I'm sorry I scared you, but you left me no choice. You w on' t see me, w on' t talk to me-"

She ceased struggling w hen he pulled her into a tight embrace, the pow erful length of his frame completely unfamiliar to her.

"I'm removing my hand. Hold your tongue or you' ll bring the guards over here."

He released her, backing aw ay from her quickly as if she w ere malodorous or something else similarly unpleasant. As for her, she immediately missed the scent of horses and the hard-w orking male that clung to Colin.

Dappled sunlight kissed his black hair and handsome features. She hated that her stomach knotted at the sight and her heart hurt anew until it throbbed in her chest. Dressed in an oatmeal-colored sw eater and brow n breeches, he w as all male. Dangerously so.

"I w ant to tell you I'm sorry." His voice w as hoa.r.s.e and gravelly.

She glared.

He exhaled harshly and ran both hands through his hair. "She doesn' t mean anything."

Amelia realized then that he w as not apologizing for scaring the w its from her. "How lovely," she said, unable to hide her bitterness. "I am so relieved to hear that w hat broke my heart meant nothing to you."

He w inced and held out his w ork-roughened hands. "Amelia. You don' t understand. You' re too young, too sheltered."

"Yes, w ell, you found someone older and less sheltered to understand you." She w alked past him. "I found someone older w ho understands me. We are all happy, so-"

"What?"

His low , ominous tone startled her, and she cried out w hen he caught her roughly. "Who?" His face w as so tight, she w as frightened again. "That boy by the stream? Benny?"

"Why do you care?" she threw at him. "You have her."

"Is that w hy you' re dressed this w ay?" His heated gaze sw ept up and dow n her body. "Is that w hy you w ear your hair up now ? For him?"

Considering the occasion w orthy of it, she had w orn one of her prettiest dresses, a deep blue confection sprinkled w ith tiny embroidered red flow ers. "Yes! He doesn' t see me as a child."

"Because he is one! Have you kissed him? Has he touched you?"

"He is only a year younger than you." Her chin lifted. "And he is an earl. A gentleman. He w ould not be caught behind a store making love to a girl."

"It w asn' t making love," Colin said furiously, holding her by the upper arms.

"It appeared that w ay to me."

"Because you don' t know any better." His fingers kneaded into her skin restlessly, as if he couldn' t bear to touch her, but couldn' t bear not to either.

"And I suppose you do?"His jaw clenched in answ er to her scorn.

Oh, that hurt! To know there w as someone out there w hom he loved. Her Colin.

"Why are w e talking about this?" She attempted to w rench free, but to no avail. He held fast. She needed distance from him. She could not breathe w hen he touched her, could barely think. Only pain and deep sorrow penetrated her overw helmed senses. "I forgot about you, Colin.

I stayed out of your w ay. Why must you bother me again?"

He thrust one hand into the hair at her nape, pulling her closer. His chest labored against hers, doing odd things to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, making them sw ell and ache. She ceased struggling, w orried about how her body w ould react if she continued.

"I saw your face," he said gruffly. "I hurt you. I never meant to hurt you."

Tears filled her eyes and she blinked rapidly, determined to keep them from falling.

"Amelia." He pressed his cheek to hers, his voice carrying an aching note. "Don' t cry. I can' t bear it."

"Release me, then. And keep your distance." She sw allow ed hard. "Better yet, perhaps you could find a more prestigious position elsew here. You are a hard w orker-"

His other arm banded her w aist. "You w ould send me aw ay?"

"Yes," she w hispered, her hands fisted in his sw eater. "Yes, I w ould." Anything to avoid seeing him w ith another girl.

He nuzzled hard against her. "An earl...It must be Lord Ware. d.a.m.n him."

"He is nice to me. He talks to me, smiles w hen he sees me. Today, he is going to give me my first kiss. And I'm-"

"No!" Colin pulled back, his irises sw allow ed by dilated pupils leaving deep black pools of torment. "He may have all the things that I never w ill, including you. But by G.o.d, he w on' t take that from me."

"What-?"

He took her mouth, stunning her so that she couldn' t move. Amelia could not understand w hat w as happening, w hy he w as acting this w ay, w hy he w ould approach her now , on this day, and kiss her as if he w ere starved for the taste of her.

His head tw isted, his lips fitting more fully over hers, his thumbs pressing gently into the hinges of her jaw and urging her mouth to open.

She s.h.i.+vered violently, aw ash in heated longing, afraid she w as dreaming or had otherw ise lost her mind. Her mouth opened, and a w himper escaped as his tongue, soft like w et velvet, slipped inside.

Frightened, she stopped breathing. Then he murmured to her, her darling Colin, his fingertips brus.h.i.+ng across her cheekbones in a soothing caress.

"Let me," he w hispered. "Trust me."

Amelia lifted to her toes, surging into him, her hands sliding into his silken locks. Unschooled, she could only follow his lead, allow ing him to eat at her mouth gently, her tongue tentatively touching his.

He moaned, a sound filled w ith hunger and need, his hands cupping the back of her head and angling her better. The connection became deeper, her response more fervent. Tingles sw ept across her skin in a w ave of goose b.u.mps. In the pit of her stomach a sense of urgency grew , of recklessness and flaring hope.

One of his hands slipped, caressing the length of her back before cupping her b.u.t.tock and urging her up and into his body. As she felt the hard ridge of his arousal, a deep ache blossomed low inside her.

"Amelia...sw eet." His lips drifted across her damp face, kissing aw ay her tears. "We shouldn' t be doing this."

But he kept kissing her and kissing her and rolling his hips into her.

"I love you," she gasped. "I've loved you so long-"

He cut her off w ith his lips over hers, his pa.s.sion escalating, his hands roaming all over her back and arms. When she couldn' t breathe, she tore her lips aw ay.

"Tell me you love me," she begged, her chest heaving. "You must. Oh, G.o.d, Colin..." She rubbed her tear-streaked face into his. "You've been so cruel, so mean."

"I can' t have you. You shouldn' t w ant me. We can' t-"

Colin thrust aw ay from her w ith a vicious curse. "You are too young for me to touch you like this. No. Don' t say anything else, Amelia. I am a servant. I w ill alw ays be a servant, and you w ill alw ays be a viscount's daughter."Her arms w rapped around her middle, her entire body quaking as if she w ere cold instead of blistering hot. Her skin felt too tight, her lips sw ollen and throbbing. "But you do love me, don' t you?" she asked, her small voice shaky despite her efforts to be strong.

"Don' t ask me that."

"Can you not grant me at least that much? If I cannot have you anyw ay, if you w ill never be mine, can' t you at least tell me that your heart belongs to me?"

He groaned. "I thought it w as best if you hated me." His head tilted up to the sky w ith his eyes squeezed shut. "I had hoped that if you did, I w ould stop dreaming."

"Dreaming of w hat?" She tossed aside caution and approached him, her fingers slipping beneath his sw eater to touch the hard ridges of his abdomen.

He caught her w rist and glared dow n at her. "Don' t touch me."

"Are they like my dreams?" she queried softly. "Where you kiss me as you did a moment ago and tell me you love me more than anything in the w orld?"

"No," he grow led. "They are not sw eet and romantic and girlish. They are a man's dreams, Amelia."

"Such as w hat you w ere doing to that girl?" Her low er lip quivered, and she bit dow n on it to hide the betraying movement. Her mind flooded w ith the painful memories, adding to the turmoil w rought by the unfamiliar cravings of her body and the pleading demands of her heart.

"Do you dream about her, too?"

Colin caught her w rist again. "Never."

He kissed her, lighter in pressure and urgency than before, but no less pa.s.sionately. Soft as a b.u.t.terfly's w ings, his lips brushed back and forth across hers, his tongue dipping inside, then retreating. It w as a reverent kiss, and her lonely heart soaked it up like the desert floor soaked rain.

Cupping her face in his hands, he breathed, "This is making love, Amelia."

"Tell me you don' t kiss her like this." She cried softly, her nails digging into his back through his sw eater.

"I don' t kiss anyone. I never have." His forehead pressed against hers. "Only you. It's only ever been you."

Amelia jerked awake with a violent start, her heart racing with the remnants of adolescent pa.s.sion and yearning. Tossing back the covers, she sat up, allowing the chilly night air to seep through her thin night rail to her perspiration-damp skin. She lifted shaking fingertips to her lips, pressing hard against the swollen curves in an effort to stem their tingling.

The dream had been so vivid. She imagined that she could still taste Colin, a heady exotic flavor that she craved to this day. I t had been years since she'd been plagued with such recollections. She'd thought they were fading, that perhaps she might be healing. Finally.

Why now? Was it because she had agreed to proceed with the wedding? Was Colin's memory rearing up and demanding that the love of her life not be set aside?

Amelia closed her eyes and saw a white mask above shamelessly sensual lips.

Montoya.

His kiss had made her tingle as well. From head to toe and everywhere in between.

She had to find him. She w ould find him.

"What does he say?"

Colin refolded the missive carefully and tucked it into a drawer of his desk. He looked at Jacques. "He believes Cartland is leading a group of men here in England."

"He will not want to bring you back alive." Jacques walked over to the window and brushed the sheer panel aside to look down at the front drive.

The town house they occupied was a rental in fine shape. I t was a short distance from the city, near enough to be convenient, but far enough away to ensure that no one would find them noteworthy. The distance also allowed them to ascertain if they were being followed or not, which Colin had been just a few nights past. The night he had danced with and kissed Amelia.

"I t is good that you stay indoors during the day," Jacques said, turning back to face him again. "You are being hunted on all sides."Shaking his head, Colin closed his eyes and leaned into the back of his chair. "I t was foolish of me to seek her out that way. Now I have attracted St. John's attention, and he will not rest until he knows why I displayed such interest in her."

"She is a beautiful woman," Jacques said, his voice laced with a Frenchman's innate appreciation of such delights.

"Yes, she is."

Beyond beautiful. Dear G.o.d, how was it possible for a woman to be so perfect? Stunning green eyes framed by sooty lashes. An imminently kissable mouth. Creamy skin, and the fully ripened curves of a woman grown. All carried with an air of latent sensuality that he had always found alluring.

He could admit now that his attendance at the ball had been goaded by his hope that he would see her and find his attraction unfounded.

Perhaps absence had made his heart too fond. Perhaps he had embellished her memory in his mind.

"But that is not why you love her," Jacques murmured.