“Alexander?” she asked with a frown, lowering the basin. “Are you well?”
When he did not reply, she dropped the basin on the floor and hurried over to him. “What is it? Speak to me, please.”
Then she touched his shoulder.
Suddenly, nothing else mattered but touching her, holding her.
Acting on the impulse, he tugged her onto his lower thigh, ruthlessly ignoring the shock of agony. He slowly breathed through the pain until it lessened and simply hugged her. And without question, she returned his embrace. The sexual need had vanished, and in its place was something tender, and for some reason that sensation felt more important. He kissed the top of her head, unable to express his appreciation.
“What was that for?” she whispered.
“For being a friend,” he replied gruffly.
Slowly her face turned toward him. Her eyes widened; her lips parted on a silent gasp. She pressed a delicate hand to her chest and regarded him without betraying either dismay or astonishment. Then she smiled, and it was the most radiant thing he’d ever witnessed. “I quite like being your friend…Alexander.”
The dawn broke right at that moment; the sun crested the horizon, warm glowing light chasing away the dark remnants of the night. Light spilled through the window, splashing bright sun into the small bedroom.
“I need to see the morning,” he murmured.
She did not question the odd turn of phrase, and he fancied she understood this was a routine for him. Each day, at the crest of dawn, before he broke his fast, he met the sun, the skies, the birds.
He stood and slowly made his way from the bedroom and down the small hall. Once he reached the front door, he opened it and breathed in deeply. The scent of last night’s rain was still heavy in the air, and he swore he could almost taste the purity of the sunshine.
Katherine came up beside him. “Don’t you smile?”
“I do.”
She arched a brow. “When? You are all but scowling now.”
“When the mood calls for it.”
Kitty shrugged. “I smile when I wake.”
An odd warmth slowly twisted through his body. “Do you?”
“Mm, the simple joy of greeting the sunshine and the morning.”
He squinted toward the sky, and she laughed.
“I smile when I hear the chirping of birds, when I smell the rain, hear the rumble of thunder. I smile before I sleep. I smile…because I am.”
“Perhaps you are merely addled,” he mused. “I’ve heard tell lunatics tend to grin a lot.”
Kitty spluttered, and she mockingly punched his arm.
He shifted, facing her, head tilted in quiet contemplation. “Perhaps I’ve been asleep.” For years so many feelings and sensations had been dormant, but now, everything pulsed beneath the surface of his skin, raw and primal, thrilling…and oddly enough, uncertain.
Alexander wasn’t sure who he was with this woman. And he did not like that. He liked a surety of emotions and the path one should walk in life. He prided himself on his honor and consistency of character, but for the second time since meeting Katherine Danvers, he wondered who he was…around this woman.
Something inside awakened with a trembling force. He wanted to make her his…in a way a man would make a lady his. If only…
Something stirred in him deep down, something gentle and tender and long forgotten.
He refused to draw her enticing scent of lavender too deeply into his lungs. He’d want it to stay there forever, and he couldn’t be that cruel, for he had the wealth and ruthless will to bend her to his whims.
But she coul
d be mine…if only for a little.