Besotted (The Fairest Maidens #3) - Jody Hedlund Page 0,40

his before I could prevent it. He brought it to his lips and placed a tender kiss upon it. “I’m sorry. I beg your forgiveness though I don’t deserve it.”

I wanted to stay angry with him, but the moment his lips touched my skin, I could do nothing less than forgive him. “Very well. I forgive you.”

“I have behaved as a coward.”

“I should not have said so. ’Twas petty of me.”

“No, you were right. I was hoping that by putting distance between us, our parting would be easier.”

His statement reminded me of the one I’d made when we’d gone our separate ways the first time. “I understand.”

“But I suspect the parting will be difficult no matter what.”

“True.” In a short time, we’d become closer than I’d ever believed possible.

“I hold myself responsible. You cautioned against allowing false hope to spring up between us, but I didn’t heed your warning.”

“I neglected to heed my warning as well.” If hope had already taken root between us, then what were we to do about it? Did we have to go our separate ways?

“I need to leave,” he said, reading the question that likely showed in my eyes. “As soon as possible.”

“But you are not ready. Even Aunt Idony says so.”

“If I put off departing for a few days, even a week, I shall need to go eventually. So why wait? ’Twill slay me one way or another.”

He was right. A few more days wouldn’t be enough. A week wouldn’t be enough. Even a month or two wouldn’t satisfy. Perhaps only forever would suffice.

Forever. The word burned a trail through me. Being with Kresten was impossible, and yet I could think of nothing I wanted more than to spend forever with him.

“Perhaps you can come back?” The question slipped out before I had time to ponder the ramifications. Even if he did return to the cottage, my time was running out.

“Do you want me to return?” He searched my face, his expression serious, the strong lines fiercely beautiful.

I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it. But how could I reconcile my need to be queen with my need for him?

“Do you?” His voice turned low and insistent.

“Yes.”

The rigidness in his shoulders fell away. “I don’t know how long I must be away. A month, maybe a while more. Will you wait for me?”

A month? That was about when I needed to begin the journey to Delsworth. I could wait that long, couldn’t I? If he wasn’t back when I needed to leave, I’d find a way to convince my aunts and Chester to extend our time until Kresten arrived. Then I’d invite him to go with me.

I nodded, swallowing the last of my resistance. “I shall try.”

He bent his head and pressed another kiss to my knuckles. Dappled sunlight touched upon his hair, turning the brown to honey. Before I could stop myself, I skimmed my hand over the strands, relishing the softness.

His grip around my fingers tensed, and I hurried to dislodge from him, not wishing to overstep myself. Before my hand fell away, he snagged it and placed it on his cheek. The scruffiness was coarser than the hair I’d just grazed, but no less pleasurable. I drew a line down his jaw to his chin as he’d done to mine the other night. His blue eyes filled with a heat that told me just how much he liked my touch.

I rounded his chin and continued up the other side of his jaw.

He took an unsteady step closer and lifted his hands to my cheeks, cupping them. As his attention dropped to my lips, my breath caught. He’d almost kissed me that night. I was sure that’s what he’d intended. And if I didn’t stop him at this moment, I guessed he planned to kiss me now.

I let my fingers brush against his lips, feeling the warm dampness of his breath.

He kissed my fingertips. “I’ve fallen in love with you.”

The words whispered through me down to my soul, stirring me so I knew with certainty I loved him too.

He dipped in, and his lips covered mine so softly and sweetly I thought I might swoon. I must have swayed, for he situated one of his hands at the small of my back.

I hadn’t been sure I wanted to kiss him previously, but I had no doubt this time. He’d declared his love along with his intention to return to me. Though the odds conspired against us, I would devise a way