“Avery, please. Don’t act like this.” When he straightened, she stepped close to him. Reaching her hand upward, toward his cheek, she whispered, “Listen, I…”
He knocked her hand away, staggering backward as if burned. “Do not touch me.” But that wasn’t what he really wanted. He wanted to pull her into his arms and press his lips to hers, but he could not ruin her, no matter how much he wanted her.
Her fingers curled into a fist, which she dropped down by her side. “Fine. Have a nice life, Mr. Russell.”
As she turned, the sweet, exotic scent of her tantalized him. She marched up the stairs toward the street.
“Miss Ramsey?”
She stopped but did not turn. “Yes?”
“I wish you well,” he said in a low voice.
She nodded and then was gone, taking Avery’s sense of peace with her.
A moment passed, then two, and with each heartbeat Avery’s regret grew. When the torment grew too much to bear, he sprinted up the stairs to chase after Leah.
Her back was rigid as she strode quickly down the lane.
She was nearly at the corner now. He watched her walk away for a long moment, warring with himself. What the devil was wrong with him? He should be glad to see the back of her. She’d caused him no end of trouble. So why did he long to chase after her and apologize?
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upset the household; she’d upset his internal balance. Best
to get back to it. He had a journey to prepare for and a mill to attend. As distasteful as both propositions were, what choice did he have?
He turned and reluctantly made his way toward the kitchen door, but voices ground him to a halt. A man and woman arguing? The woman’s voice grew louder and more insistent.
“I told you, I’m not interested.”
Miss Ramsey.
Without another thought, Avery leaped up the stairs and sprinted after her. Adrenaline pounded through him, forcing his footsteps faster. She needed him. He’d been right to worry. She was unprepared and vulnerable and in no position…
He stopped suddenly, gravel crunching beneath his boots. Miss Ramsey stood over Lachlan Mackenzie, who was moaning and grabbing his crotch as he lay in a heap on the gravel.
“Maybe next time a woman tells you she’s not interested, you’ll take her a little more seriously.” She glared at the man and nudged him with the toe of her boot.
He would thrash Mackenzie. Later. For now, he directed his attention to Miss Ramsey. Her eyes were alight with anger, and her chest heaved with exertion and outrage. She was the picture of a warrior goddess, strong and decisive. The antithesis of a meek and demure female, but strangely he was drawn to her even more at the sight.
“Miss Ramsey, are you injured?” You simpleton, she is obviously not. But he could think of nothing else to say. If the stable master had laid a finger on her, Avery would not simply thrash him. He’d kill him.
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She glanced over at him without losing her cross expression. “No, I’m fine. Just had to explain some basic communication skills to gropey-boy here.” Hefting the bag in her right hand, she sniffed. “Well, I’m going to try this leaving thing again. See ya.”
This time, when she turned, he reached out a hand and stopped her.
“Miss Ramsey.” No, that was too formal. “Leah.”
Her face softened slightly as she tilted her chin upward to look into his eyes. “Yes?”
I should not. I cannot. He must, and he did.
Stepping toward her, he closed the short distance between them. His hand trailed from her shoulder to the delicate curve of her neck, higher to tangle into the hair at her nape. Her lips, pink and pale in the breaking dawn, parted slightly on a breath.
“Avery?” The question was whispered, her eyes soft and confused as she looked up at him.
He let his actions answer. Bending low, he pressed his lips to hers.
Soft heat. That was the sensation of her mouth on his.
His muscles trembled with the effort of holding himself still, of restraining the urge to draw her body tight against his and possess her completely. This was enough. It was more than he deserved and all he’d ever get. She was leaving here, leaving him, forever.
Her breasts just barely brushed his chest. He imagined he could hear her heartbeat, stuttering and thundering just like his own. She opened her mouth wider, and he let his tongue explore the wet recesses of her mouth.
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tongue across her soft, full lips. No woman could be this
perfect, this maddening, this…