“A bit garish, don’t you think?”she asked, indicating the plates.
“As tonight is a celebration, I thought a lowly human such as yourself should dine on gold.” I pulled out her chair, waiting until she’d situated herself before taking my own. Then I plucked a tart from the stand and set it on Aveen’s gold plate.
She stared down at it, sniffed, then took a bite. A low moan fell from her throat, and I felt it all the way in my groin. I grabbed my wine, hoping the next bite would be the very same. Such delicious torture.
“These have to be the best things I have ever tasted.” Crumbs clung to her full lower lip as she blinked up at me, a blush creeping along her cheeks. “Aren’t you having one?”
“I’d rather watch you enjoy yourself.” I could drown my sorrow in tarts on Sunday.
She grabbed another, guzzling wine when she finished.Instead of taking a third, she stared longingly at the remaining tarts.
I nudged the tray closer. “Have another.”
Her eyes flicked to me before falling back on the stand. “I couldn’t possibly.”
“Do you want it?”
“I do.”
I took the one from the very top, spilling over with sticky filling, and added it to her plate. “Then take it.”
“That’s your motto, isn’t it? If you want it, take it.”
Oh, my dearest Aveen. If only she knew how wrong she was. I took a slow sip of wine, holding her gaze the entire time. “If it was, we wouldn’t be sitting here eating tarts.”
“No?”
Not a feckin’ hope.
Aveen drew her finger around the rim of her wine glass. “What would we be doing instead?”
I’d be the one feasting, and it wouldn’t be on cherry tarts.She’d asked for the truth, hadn’t she? Far be it for me to deny her anything tonight.“It would involve fewer clothes and more screaming.”A lot more screaming. “Unfortunately for me—and for you—I don’t bed maidens.”
Her finger stilled on the goblet. “What makes you think I’m still a maiden?”
Where did I even begin? “It’s not appropriate for a man to enter a lady’s private quarters.You mustn’t speak so improperly. It wouldn’t be proper for me to be alone with a man who is not my husband. Getting caught with you would ruin my reputation.”
So many reactions she’d given—her social standing, her upbringing, every time she’d shot down my advances.“Shall I go on, or would it beimproper?”
Aveen sipped her wine. “Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that I wasn’t a maiden . . .”
I eased forward, needing to see her eyes, taste her truth. “Have you given yourself to another?”
Her ragged breathing hitched. The ferocious blush painting her cheeks told me enough, but I had to hear her say it. I held my own breath as her mouth opened and she whispered, “I have.”
Bitter, beautiful truth.
What was his name? Had she loved him? Did she love him still? Why hadn’t she married him? Had he been good to her? Had she liked it?
Of all the questions whirring through my mind, only one found its way to my lips. “Will I unravel you now or wait until you finish that tart?”
15
I held my breath,unable to contain my excitement when Aveen nudged the plate aside. Her wide eyes locked with mine, and she said, “Now, please.”
I caught her by the back of her head and dragged her forward so I could kiss her with everything I was. One night may be all we would have, but one night was more than I ever thought I’d get. A gift from fate that I didn’t deserve but sure as hell wouldn’t be turning away.
Aveen clung to my collar, pulling me closer. I nearly came out of my skin when she climbed onto my lap and her knees fell to either side of my hips.Her passion, her desire—I never thought it possible for this woman, but they seemed to match my own.