“Of course.”
Liliana gave one sharp nod. “Do you know what happens to sulfide when exposed to oxygen and water?”
“No, I do not.”
“It becomes sulfuric acid,” she said. “Which means every time it rains, the sulfides will react and turn to acid, which will then leach into the ground or will rush down the hill if the downpour is heavy enough, right into the very creek your villagers will bathe in and drink from. And it will soak into the soil they grow their food in, as well.”
Geoffrey examined the innocent-looking rock in a different light. “You’re certain? You can prove that?”
“I can create sulfuric acid from this rock quickly enough,” she said. She took a deep breath. “But I can’t prove a direct health consequence so easily. I can show you what acute exposure to sulfuric acid would do to a body, but a deluge of water would dilute the properties of the acid so much that it might take time for a cumulative effect to be directly discernable,” she admitted.
Liliana impressed Geoffrey with her honesty. He knew from the timbre of her voice and the fire in her eyes that she felt strongly about this issue, yet she’d willingly given him the flaw in her argument. Her obvious integrity only increased his respect for her.
“But I can tell you that at normal concentrations, sulfuric acid burns skin and tissues and, if ingested, can perforate one’s esophagus or gastric tract,” she stated. “If inhaled, it damages one’s lungs. It only stands to reason that even in small quantities, over a long period of time, exposure cannot be good for people.”
Liliana grasped his hand, sending a shock of awareness through him. Through her, too, if her expression was any indication, yet she held on, squeezing him firmly.
“I know my theory is correct. It may take me some years to gather conclusive data, but I know it.” Pink bloomed in her cheeks and she sighed, releasing him. “Forgive me. I’ve overstepped myself.” She turned her face away.
“Oxygen and water, you say?”
Liliana nodded.
“I wonder if that’s why my father closed that old well behind the folly a couple of years before he died,” he mused. “The villagers complained but he said the water was dead.”
“That certainly could be, if the well dug into the lead ore at any point,” she said.
Geoffrey gazed out over the valley, where he’d envisioned his soldiers living happily with their families, their children. He had no wish to do anything that might harm the very people he was trying to help. And if there was even a chance…“I’ll move the village.”
Liliana snapped her head around. Her eyes widened, but a small smile curled her lips and her shoulders relaxed. “You will?”
He nodded, her obvious relief convincing him that he was making the right decision. “I’ll have to clear some land behind us, but it can be done. I may even move the smelting mill down into the valley,” he said, calculating what such a move would cost in efficiency, as well as pounds sterling. “It shall be more expensive to operate, but I don’t wish the children to breathe the smoke it will generate.”
Liliana’s smile grew wider, even as her eyes took on a wondering look. “You are a good man,” she whispered.
Something tilted within him, and Geoffrey gave in to the need that had been building for days.
He kissed her.
It was no sweet suitor’s kiss, begun with a slow lean and fraught with anticipation. No, it was a hungry kiss, initiated first by his hands, which cupped Liliana’s face in a firm grip, followed by his mouth, which enveloped hers with ravenous desire.
She moaned low in her throat, a velvety sound that shot fire through him. He half expected her to pull away, but instead, she leaned up on her toes, relaxing into his hold and pressing herself against him. She opened to his exploration, allowing his tongue access to her mouth. Her skin was soft beneath his hands, like satin as his finger brushed the tender underside of her earlobe. She shivered in reaction, sending a tremor through him as well. By damn, she was so responsive it would take only—
Geoffrey yanked himself back, gasping for breath. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should not have taken advantage.” He dropped his hands to her shoulders, gently putting her away from him, lest he drag her into his arms and take real advantage…the kind that could not be undone.
Liliana, it seemed, was having just as much difficulty regaining her composure. Her chest rose and fell, and he could see the throbbing of her pulse against her neck, very near where his hand still rested. He released her, taking a step backward.
Her extraordinary eyes were wide but had darkened sensually into a deep amethyst. That incredible curiosity of hers gleamed in their depths as she watched him…that quality that he knew would make her an exceptional lover. He groaned. Thoughts like that would not help him in his bid to be a gentleman. “Forgive me,” he said, taking another step back.
Liliana remained, her chest rising in deeper, slower breaths. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lower lip, or perhaps to soothe it. His kiss hadn’t been gentle. Yet Geoffrey couldn’t regret it, even though he knew he should.
“I’ll not forgive you.”
Geoffrey grimaced. He straightened his shoulders and lowered his head, prepared to allow her to heap whatever well-deserved condemnation she wished upon him.
“There is nothing to forgive,” she said softly.
He raised his head, focusing on her face. Her lips were swollen, had deepened a shade from his kisses. Yet they were smiling.
“I have something to say.” Her voice didn’t waver, yet her cheeks pinkened, alerting him that whatever was on her mind wasn’t an easy thing to get out. “I’m going to be blunt, though it may cause you to think I am not a lady.”
Geoffrey held very still, his attention rapt.
Liliana took a deep breath. “I’ve told you I have no intent to marry, but that does not mean I have no wish to…”
He found he could no longer breathe.
“That is, I’ve been thinking since the night you kissed me in the library…” She shook her head and started again. Her chin trembled, barely enough for him to notice, but notice he did. “I am four and twenty. I have studied science since I was a girl. I am well aware of how…reproduction works.”
She took a small step toward him, and prickles of sensations rolled in waves over his skin.
“But I am only now becoming aware of a…” She licked her lips again, seemingly unconsciously, but it was as if she’d licked his own instead, so real was the jolt of lust that took hold of him. “A desire to experience it for myself.”
“Liliana,” he whispered, his throat too dry to speak. She waited for his response as bravely as any young soldier he’d ever witnessed, yet her lips quivered just a touch with a vulnerability that moved him. Still, he needed to understand what she was asking just as much as he needed time to cool his ever-increasing need so that he could think clearly. He swallowed and tried again. “You must know that I want you. A man doesn’t…kiss a woman with such fervency if he doesn’t desire her greatly.”
He waited for her nod before continuing. “So you understand that at this moment I would like to make love to you, more than anything else I think I’ve ever wanted?”