“You are the only person I’ve ever wanted to share my silence.”
She did not understand, though she hungered to. “Alexander—”
“The beauty of silence is that it simply is. In the stillness and tranquility, I find peace. Instead of being afraid of the void, I embrace it.”
Kitty thought of her mother and sisters and how quickly they rushed to fill any quiet moment with more laughter and conversation. How strange and complex they would find the duke.
“Do you hear your heartbeat?”
“No,” she whispered, her mouth drying when he slid his hand from her face and rested it against her chest. Kitty flushed, and millions of birds took flight in her stomach.
“In silence, the senses are heightened. I hear your heartbeat…and mine; I hear and feel the gentle rushing of the wind, the fishes swimming below us in the water, your sweet, soft sighs. There is such beauty in silence before the breaking dawn, after the violence of a storm, in the snow that blankets the land in winter. There is peace, and in the presence of silence, we find the answers to difficult questions.”
“Are you not lonely within the silence?”
“Infinitely so, echoing, endless loneliness.”
Kitty’s heart shattered at the icy acceptance in his voice.
She leaned lightly into him, tilting her face to his. “Why do you stay in this remote place, Alexander? Why not come to London, be a part of the season?”
“It is not the frivolity of the season, empty, aimless chatter, and hypocrisy that fills the void in me.”
“What does?”
An uncomfortable beat, then he said, “You.”
She searched his face, her heart pounding. “Then, why have you been avoiding me since our day in the tree?”
His expression stilled; he made no response. They stared at each other for a while, then Kitty said, “I can now hear your heartbeat, though I am not touching you. How it pounds…and that is because I am sitting so close to you, isn’t it? Do I dare think you are falling for me?” she taunted with a slow smile.
“You impud—”
“Impudent minx,” she finished for him with a low laugh.
The beginning of a smile raised the corners of his mouth. “You must learn to swim, Miss Danvers.”
The change in conversation startled her for a moment. “I daresay one day I shall. I’ve always thought sea-bathing such a risk—”
Kitty barely had time to gasp when the duke released the oars, grabbed her, and tumbled with her over the side.
“You beast!” she shrieked, spluttering and grabbing onto the side of the boat.
“I thought you were adventurous, Katherine.”
“You…you odious man,” she said with a choked cry.
“You are not sinking,” he said, his voice low and reassuring behind her. “And I am right here.” He was pressing into her, and the feel of his hard body against her made something wicked and delightful stretch deep inside her. A light touch against her hip and it was as if the sun burned her so bright.
The sensation was so electrifying. The chill of the water had no impact, for she was heated from the inside.
“You dumped us in the water to distract me from my purpose,” she accused.
“And what was your purpose?”
Ignoring his low question, she asked, “You are afraid of what I make you feel… Why?”
In reaction, he gripped her hips so tightly, she couldn’t breathe, but for a moment, she didn’t care, just savored the feeling of being surrounded by him.