He chuckled. “I don’t believe I wish to eat dinner without you again.”
Her heart shook at that confession. She closed her eyes. “I feel the same way, though… but there would be a very special guest on this particular evening.” She’d thought to get his promise without telling him that Creed would be there, but it seemed the wrong thing to do. He should know, be prepared, or simply not do it at all if the evening were to be bearable for him.
He slipped her hands behind her back and before she knew it, they were restrained with one hand. His other caressed her cheek. “Who would be our special guest?”
She knew the moment would change once she uttered his name, but saw no way around it. “Creed.”
Morgan released her and leaned away, his expression closed. “No.”
She grabbed his jaw once more. “You said I could have anything.”
He wrapped his hands around hers and said, “Not this.” His eyes were hard.
Her heart raced. “Please. He’s been like a father to me. He’s very important to me, Morgan. You don’t know him as I do.”
“No, it is you who is blind.” His face had lost all its warmth. “If you put us in the same room, it will end in disaster, Philomena.”
Her stomach dropped, and she looked away. “Very well.” It seemed there was nothing she could do to bring the two together. Morgan obviously hated Creed and not even her words of praise or her confession of how much he meant to her would change his mind. The pain that caused burned in her eyes, and she took deep breaths to battle the tears that wished to fall. She tried to take her hands from his, but his hold on her was tight. She looked at him once more and saw his eyes had softened slightly.
“I don’t wish to upset you,” he told her.
She shook her head and finally managed to break one hand free of him just as a tear fell. “No, don’t worry. It was foolish of me to ask.”
“Philomena.”
When he reached for her, she backed away. “I’m all right.”
“You’re not. I’ve hurt you. I swore I wouldn’t.”
She met his eyes and put on a smile. “You seem better. I should go so you can rest.”
He glared. “You’re manipulating me again.”
Her eyes widened. “No, I’m actually trying to not manipulate you.” Another tear escaped, and she wiped furiously at it. “I don’t want you to be moved by my weeping, so I should go. If you feel that the dinner will be a disaster, I believe you.” She turned toward the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Philomena.”
She was halfway across the room when she felt herself being turned around. Her lungs seized at just how quickly he’d moved. She’d never even heard him take a step. Morgan held both her arms, and his face lowered until he was staring into her eyes.
She wasn’t sure how long he simply looked at her, but it seemed to go on for longer than a minute.
“You’re not being manipulative.”
She shook her head. “No. I would never put my uncle in harm’s way.”
His eyes widened. “You think I’d attack him at dinner?”
“You said it would end in disaster. Was that not what your words implied?”
His gaze turned away. “They might have implied something of that nature.”
She touched his chest. “I don’t want him come between us, Morgan.”
“Neither do I.” He lifted his hands and touched her cheek once more, and she watched his jaw work aggressively as he thought.
She closed her eyes.
“You better put everything you have into this kiss or I’ll know if you’re holding back.”
She gasped at him. “You’ll do it?”
“If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll do anything you want. I even swear not to kill him.”
She smiled brightly and felt her heart expand in her chest, nearly growing too big to be contained.
He tilted her head up, and his eyes darkened. “I still require a kiss.”
The challenge of kissing him the way he wished was just as frightening as it was thrilling, but she’d put everything she had into it if it would get the two most important men in her life in the same room.
Having only kissed once before in her life and that one time being long ago with a young boy, she wasn’t entirely sure how she would begin.
Morgan seemed to understand this and took her hand. He slipped it behind his head, and he placed the other on his shoulder before he left her hands there and leaned forward. He stopped a breath away from her, and she inhaled his spicy aroma before completing the distance.
She pressed her lips to his and found Morgan’s mouth was soft, and the soft groan he released invited her to do more. She pressed harder and was shocked when his hands touched her waist and pulled her closer, aligning their bodies with their mouths. She opened her mouth slightly, and the feel of Morgan’s touch on her lips sent shooting pleasure up her spine. He licked his way past her lips, and the kiss became something more erotic than Mena had been prepared for. She tilted her head to get closer and the fingers at the back of his head spread through his hair.
Thoughts of Creed and dinner vanished as Morgan showed her just what it was to give oneself over to a kiss. As he taught, she paid attention, her own need for more rising. His taste was soothing and warm, and hunger pooled in her stomach as she consumed him. She dared to wrestle his tongue and quickly found that kissing could encompass play. She’d always loved games, a challenge, to win. A roar of greed swept through her, crawling from her throat in a deep purr before she latched her fingers in his hair and anchored him down upon her.
He broke from the kiss with a curse and when his eyes settled on her, they were like two pools of liquid heat. “That was—”
She didn’t let him finish. She curled on her toes and stole the rest of his words from his lips using her own. Her hand at the back of his neck gathered him even closer until their bodies meshed together. Even still, she pressed closer, moaning, purring, wanting more of him.
He broke from her again and took a few stumbling steps away from her, his hands put out as if to ward her off. “We must stop this or there will be no engagement party.”
Her eyes flashed and some of her hunger fled. “Why not?”
“Because, we’d be married before the sun set.”
The longing in her belly purred back to life and she smiled.
He touched his mouth hesitantly and then his jaw before running his hands through his mussed hair. A dazed expression still remained in his eyes. “You’ll have your dinner.”
She lifted a brow.
He chuckled. “With Creed, I mean.”
She laughed as well and touched her cheeks before placing the back of her hand against her brow. “Oh, pardon me.”
“It’s all right.” He filled the distance that he’d set between them and touched her cheek. “It’s good to know I’m not the only one who got lost in the throes of passion.”
“Passion,” she whispered when she’d meant to only say it in her head. Since she was already speaking, she looked away and said, “I hope you liked it. I hope you liked the kiss.”