Their first kiss should have been on her sixteenth birthday, but Collin was off training at the time. She’d written him in the code they’d developed. Every tenth word of their letters spelled out a sentence with their true feelings, and Collin had promised her secretly, by writing back in the same code, that he would kiss her for her sixteenth birthday present, even if belatedly.
Erienne had been working on her excuse to her mother and governess this particular morning. She’d begun bringing food and some old clothing to the poorhouse on Wednesday afternoons, after her studies ended, and she intended to do the same thing today. Only she planned to cut short her visit with Mrs. Elmsly and the other ladies at the poorhouse to meet Collin at their appointed spot.
Erienne’s middle was a mass of nerves as she brushed her hair fifty times, wrapped it into a chignon, and pinned it atop her head. She smoothed her hands down her white gown and pinched her cheeks to give them color. Then she hurried down to the kitchens to gather the basket Cook prepared each week for the poorhouse.
“Mother,” she called as she climbed the stairs to the main level of the house, “I’m off to see Mrs. Elmsly.”
A general affirmative sound came from the direction of the front salon, where her mother wrote her correspondence on Wednesday afternoons.
Erienne was out the front door and halfway down the street in minutes, a thrill of freedom coursing through her veins.
A short time later, she arrived at the poorhouse, not far from the church. She handed her basket to a grateful Mrs. Elmsly and asked how all of the children were doing, but she could barely contain her excitement, and it wasn’t long before she said, “Good day, Mrs. Elmsly. I must get back.”
She didn’t allow the woman to protest. Instead, Erienne hiked her shawl around her shoulders and hurried out the door. She made her way down the street as she always did, but when she came to the corner where the little whitewashed church sat, she went left toward the church instead of right toward her father’s house.
She glanced around to make certain no one had seen her. There were a few people out running errands, and Mr. Sanderson was herding a small group of sheep across the road in the opposite direction, but otherwise, no one seemed to care where she was going. She hurried along the side of the church and continued past the copse of trees behind the small cemetery until she spotted the tall branches of the sycamore tree. Their sycamore tree … hers and Collin’s.
He was standing there, waiting for her in his uniform, looking so tall and handsome and formal in his red jacket, white breeches, and black boots, polished to a shine. Her heart swelled.
A twig snapped under her slipper and he turned toward her. He held a bouquet of wildflowers in his hands. She loved flowers. Especially wild flowers. White, purple, and green. They were lovely. As soon as he realized it was her, a wide smile spread across his face. A smile that took her breath away. Collin had always been good-looking, but now he was even more so. Standing a few inches over six feet, he had brown hair, a perfectly straight nose, and dark slashes for brows that rested above jade-green eyes that missed nothing.
“Erienne,” he breathed.
She ran into his arms, and he picked her up and spun her around.
“I’ve missed you so, Collin.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” He set her gingerly back on her feet and cupped her elbows, looking down into her face. “You look beautiful, as always.”
“So do you,” she replied with a laugh.
“You received my last letter?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “I’m certain Mother doesn’t know the code. She even remarked on how similar our letters sound. I think she meant boring.”
“Similar and dull,” Collin said, laughing. “Precisely how we intend to write them.” He paused, and the look on his face turned serious. “I’m sorry I missed your birthday.”
Erienne’s heart skipped a beat. This was it. He was going to kiss her. “You can make it up to me.”
“How?”
She pressed a tiny bit of parchment into his hand, burying her nose in her shawl to hide the blush burning her cheeks.
Kiss me, the note read.
He lifted his gaze to look at her with love shining in his eyes, then he lowered his head toward hers, and Erienne lifted her arms to wrap around his neck. The moment his lips brushed hers, a jolt of heat rocked through her and settled between her legs.
As though he sensed her inner reaction, he pulled her tight against his hard body, and Erienne moaned. Her arms tightened around his neck and she clung to him while his tongue slid between her lips to explore her mouth. She hadn’t thought a kiss could be so invasive—or that she’d enjoy the invasion so much. Then his mouth slanted across hers and the kiss turned into something else entirely. Pure waves of lust streaked through her body as Collin kissed her again and again. One of his rough hands tenderly cupped her cheek, while the other held her snugly against him, somehow aligning every inch of their bodies though he was so tall and she so small. And she followed every movement he made, every restless shift, as if they were dancing.
When he sank to his knees in the cool grass, he took her with him, so tightly entangled were their bodies. And when the world tilted and she felt the soft, fragrant ground beneath her, she didn’t think, couldn’t think, because Collin was atop her, his weight welcome and warm. They kissed again and again, starved for each other after so many years of wanting—and then the laughter came, born of pure happiness. They rolled in the grass, laughing and clutching each other, lust melding into joy, until finally Collin lifted off her and flopped onto his side to stare at her.
“I wish I didn’t have to leave you again.” He was panting as he pulled a twig out of her coiffure and tossed it away.
“I wish you never had to leave again.” Erienne traced the line of his brow with one trembling finger, her bliss fading with the thought of being parted from him.
Collin pulled her against his chest and rested his chin atop her head. They lay like that, wrapped in each other’s arms, for as long as they dared. Dusk had begun to fall by the time Erienne murmured, “I’d better get back.”
She saw him three more times during those two weeks. Theirs were always stolen moments they had to eke out around duty and family, but looking back, she recognized their last encounter was a sign of things to come.
“Mother says my debut is the most important thing I’ll ever do, and I cannot let up on my studies lest I fail to find a decent husband. Can you imagine?” Erienne didn’t know why she’d brought up her debut. It was at least two years off. She supposed she wanted to see how Collin would react to the notion that she was to be put on the marriage mart.
His dark brows lowered. “Whom do your parents wish you to marry?”
She’d been so nonchalant that day, waving her hand in the air. Words had tripped off her tongue so easily, as if they had no meaning. “Someone of the Quality, of course.” She’d sneered the word ‘Quality.’ None of that had ever mattered to her. She’d known she would marry Collin since she’d been a girl. She didn’t give a whit what her parents thought was best for her.
“Of course,” Collin said, but a brief flash of hurt highlighted his fine features.
“Collin?” They were lounging in the grass by the tree again. She turned toward him. “You know I don’t care about any of that, don’t you? My debut and all the rest of it.”
“You should care, Erienne,” he replied solemnly.
“But I don’t. I never have. I love you.” She’d wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. He’d returned the kiss, passionately. They were going to be together forever.
“You love me too, don’t you?” she asked after the kiss ended, just needing to be reassured, to hear it again.
“Of course I do, Air.”
“And we’re going to marry one day, you and I.”
His only response had been to pull her closer into his arms and squeeze her tight.
*