Christmas at Lilac Cottage - Holly Martin Page 0,41

and she inexplicably trusted him. Everything melted out of her, the adrenaline and fear from rescuing Sam from the sea, the memories the pub evoked, her anger towards Chris, her inability and fear of moving on from her past. In his arms, in that moment, for the first time in a long time she was looking to the future. And maybe her future wasn’t with this man, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to hide away any more.

She clung on to him for what felt like an eternity, until eventually she pulled away slightly.

She looked up at him. ‘Thank you, you have no idea how much I needed that.’

He cupped her face in his large, rough hands and kissed her forehead. Need for him erupted through her so fast it was almost painful. He pulled back slightly to look at her and his eyes scanned down to her lips and in the light of the fire she watched them darken. She didn’t hesitate this time; she reached up and kissed him.

Chapter Nine

His response was instant, his hands holding her face gently, his lips touching hers with the softest of kisses, his mouth lingering slowly. His tongue licked her bottom lip, ever so slightly, and she opened to him. As his tongue touched hers, the taste of him exploded through her and she flushed with embarrassment at the moan that escaped her throat. The sweet, spicy smell of him invaded her senses, his touch on her face, the feel of him against her mouth, it was too much all at once. She wanted to separate each sensation, each feeling, each moment and appreciate it all slowly but there was no time for any of that.

Eventually he pulled back slightly to look at her. He smiled. ‘I’ve been wanting to do that since you opened the door to me on that first night.’

She smiled. ‘Me too.’

He moved to the sofa, taking her with him. He sat down in the corner of the sofa and pulled her onto his chest, wrapping his arm round her shoulders.

‘Do you want to talk about what went on tonight?’ he asked softly.

She nodded, telling him all about Chris and his parents and the new baby and he listened without interrupting, without taking his eyes off hers. It was a cathartic release to talk about it with someone after so long keeping it locked up inside. Whilst she talked he wrapped a blanket round her, warming her from the outside and from the inside with his kind gesture.

When she had finished she rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes, suddenly feeling like she had run a marathon. She wasn’t sure what the future held for her and Henry, but it didn’t seem to matter right then, lying in his arms.

He shifted slightly beneath her and she found her hand instinctively gripping his shirt, before she quickly released him. She opened her eyes to look at him and he smiled at her.

‘Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.’

She smiled and let herself drift off to sleep.

* * *

Henry woke the next morning to find he was stretched out on the sofa, Penny lying completely on top of him, her face buried in his neck. Her soft breath on his skin was one of the most wonderful feelings he’d ever had.

He couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss, how it felt, how she tasted. He wanted so much more.

Guilt suddenly slammed into him. For the first time in his life, Daisy hadn’t been at the forefront of his mind. She had specifically asked him not to do anything with Penny and, although he hadn’t promised anything, he had decided to respect her wishes and not take things any further. But that hadn’t even entered his head the night before when Penny had kissed him and he had most certainly kissed her back. Crap. The one thing Daisy had asked him not to do and he’d gone ahead and done it anyway. He really didn’t want to do anything that might upset or hurt Daisy.

But he was already in way over his head here. He really liked Penny. Maybe he’d just see how things went over the next few days, maybe nothing would happen between them at all and there would be no point bringing it up with Daisy. Maybe the kiss would be the last of it. But he had only known Penny for a few days and he’d already kissed her and spent the night with her,