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Authors: Isobel Chace
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hasn’t grown up,’ he chided her impatiently.
She freed herself impatiently from his restraining hands. ‘I’m old enough to prefer to be taken seriously !’ she informed him loftily. ‘More than old enough !’
‘Seriously?’ he repeated.
‘ As a woman !’ she added self-consciously. She couldn’t help feeling that she was destroying her own case by having to point it out to him.
‘Indeed?’
She saw the glint in his eyes and was afraid. This time there was no escaping the pressure of his hands. He held her tightly against him and kissed her hard on the mouth, parting her lips beneath his.
She had expected to dislike it, but it wasn’t like that at all. It was the most exciting, the most marvellous experience of her whole life. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him closer still, wondering that any man should be able to stir her in this way. His hands moved down her back with an intimacy that alarmed even while it thrilled her. Then, as suddenly, she was free and he stood away from her, looking down at her as though she were a complete stranger to him.
‘ You see,’ he said, ‘you are too young to tell when a man is serious !’
She threw back her head, her expression as proud as his. ‘ You flatter yourself, senor. I know you would never be serious with a nobody like myself ! Nor would I ever be serious over anyone as arrogant and selfish as yourself !’
‘I told you the boy in me is dead,’ he said coldly.
Her hands were shaking, so she put them behind her back to hide them from him.
‘He isn’t dead, senor. If he doesn’t live on in the man you are now, it’s because you deliberately destroyed him. I may be young, I may be very young, but I hope I never feel ashamed of what I was before—’
If she had hoped to anger, she had certainly succeeded. ‘That is enough, Megan,’ he snapped. ‘ Y ou don’t know what you are talking about.’
She was silent. She thought resentfully that it was easy enough for him to intimidate her at every turn and wished desperately that, just once, she might have the pleasure of placing him at a disadvantage. She pushed her hair back behind her ears and sniffed.
‘Are you going to cry again?’ he asked in exasperated tones.
‘No.’
He stood quite still, waiting for her to recover her poise. ‘Do you wish me to apologise?’ he asked at last.
‘No,’ she said again.
‘ I think I should all the same,’ he went on, not without humour. ‘I fancy that no one has kissed you quite like that before—’
‘Then you fancy wrong !’ she answered proudly. ‘I’ve been kissed often by heaps of people—’
‘That is not precisely what I meant,’ he interrupted dryly.
She cast him a startled glance, dismayed by the harshness of his expression and the unyielding look in his eyes.
‘Then what did you mean?’
‘I meant that you are very sweet and very innocent, no more than that—’
‘And boring ?’
‘I didn’t say that ! ’ he replied, trying not to laugh.
‘Well, I think innocence is boring,’ she retorted unthinkingly.
‘Perhaps that is where men and women differ in their approach to each other,’ he suggested mildly.
She felt herself blushing. ‘ Then—then—’
‘Then what?’
‘You didn’t dislike kissing me?’
He smiled at her anxious expression. ‘No,’ he said, ‘ I didn’t dislike it.’
She breathed a sigh of relief. He seemed to be waiting for something, though, and she supposed that he was hoping to hear what she had thought of the kiss, just as she had wanted to know about his reaction.
‘I didn’t dislike it either,’ she said abruptly.
He reached for her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing her palm and curling her fingers inwards to hold the place he had touched.
‘You are very generous,’ he said. ‘ That was much more than I deserved.’
She almost ran to the doorway in her eagerness to escape from the challenge his very presence presented her with.
‘I don’t see
She freed herself impatiently from his restraining hands. ‘I’m old enough to prefer to be taken seriously !’ she informed him loftily. ‘More than old enough !’
‘Seriously?’ he repeated.
‘ As a woman !’ she added self-consciously. She couldn’t help feeling that she was destroying her own case by having to point it out to him.
‘Indeed?’
She saw the glint in his eyes and was afraid. This time there was no escaping the pressure of his hands. He held her tightly against him and kissed her hard on the mouth, parting her lips beneath his.
She had expected to dislike it, but it wasn’t like that at all. It was the most exciting, the most marvellous experience of her whole life. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him closer still, wondering that any man should be able to stir her in this way. His hands moved down her back with an intimacy that alarmed even while it thrilled her. Then, as suddenly, she was free and he stood away from her, looking down at her as though she were a complete stranger to him.
‘ You see,’ he said, ‘you are too young to tell when a man is serious !’
She threw back her head, her expression as proud as his. ‘ You flatter yourself, senor. I know you would never be serious with a nobody like myself ! Nor would I ever be serious over anyone as arrogant and selfish as yourself !’
‘I told you the boy in me is dead,’ he said coldly.
Her hands were shaking, so she put them behind her back to hide them from him.
‘He isn’t dead, senor. If he doesn’t live on in the man you are now, it’s because you deliberately destroyed him. I may be young, I may be very young, but I hope I never feel ashamed of what I was before—’
If she had hoped to anger, she had certainly succeeded. ‘That is enough, Megan,’ he snapped. ‘ Y ou don’t know what you are talking about.’
She was silent. She thought resentfully that it was easy enough for him to intimidate her at every turn and wished desperately that, just once, she might have the pleasure of placing him at a disadvantage. She pushed her hair back behind her ears and sniffed.
‘Are you going to cry again?’ he asked in exasperated tones.
‘No.’
He stood quite still, waiting for her to recover her poise. ‘Do you wish me to apologise?’ he asked at last.
‘No,’ she said again.
‘ I think I should all the same,’ he went on, not without humour. ‘I fancy that no one has kissed you quite like that before—’
‘Then you fancy wrong !’ she answered proudly. ‘I’ve been kissed often by heaps of people—’
‘That is not precisely what I meant,’ he interrupted dryly.
She cast him a startled glance, dismayed by the harshness of his expression and the unyielding look in his eyes.
‘Then what did you mean?’
‘I meant that you are very sweet and very innocent, no more than that—’
‘And boring ?’
‘I didn’t say that ! ’ he replied, trying not to laugh.
‘Well, I think innocence is boring,’ she retorted unthinkingly.
‘Perhaps that is where men and women differ in their approach to each other,’ he suggested mildly.
She felt herself blushing. ‘ Then—then—’
‘Then what?’
‘You didn’t dislike kissing me?’
He smiled at her anxious expression. ‘No,’ he said, ‘ I didn’t dislike it.’
She breathed a sigh of relief. He seemed to be waiting for something, though, and she supposed that he was hoping to hear what she had thought of the kiss, just as she had wanted to know about his reaction.
‘I didn’t dislike it either,’ she said abruptly.
He reached for her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing her palm and curling her fingers inwards to hold the place he had touched.
‘You are very generous,’ he said. ‘ That was much more than I deserved.’
She almost ran to the doorway in her eagerness to escape from the challenge his very presence presented her with.
‘I don’t see
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