Hands already closing his shirt, he stood to retrieve his coat and laid it over her nakedness. “A rider. Stay here.”
Throwing her hands over her eyes, Alexandra blew out a loud sigh that followed him as he walked away.
Collin slipped into the trees, then worked his way back toward Thor. The jingling of the harness grew louder with each step.
By the time he reached Thor, he’d spotted the wheel ruts of a much-used trail twenty yards away. It seemed to follow the western edge of the wooded area. Looking back to where Alex lay, he was relieved to see no sign of her. He couldn’t even see Brinn from here.
He stayed in the shadows, unwilling to take the risk of some friendly traveler stopping for a long chat. He was not in the mood. Still, he wasn’t in quite the same mood he had been a bare minute ago.
His blood had definitely cooled, he realized with some disappointment as he watched a tinker’s cart emerge from the copse of trees and rumble past. The tinker himself looked to be asleep at the reins. Collin watched for a good ten minutes to be sure that the cart continued on its way, then sighed with no small amount of sorrow as he turned to work his way back to the lovely Alexandra.
His brain had sprung back to vigilant attention. Damn. She was by far the most responsive woman he’d ever had the pleasure of touching. Holding her had been like holding a living fire in his arms, a fire that threatened to burn out of control at any moment.
A few minutes ago he’d thought he would die if he didn’t slide himself into the core of her. Now, mourning the loss of that pleasure, he would have to help her back into her clothes and escort her home.
Why had he been cursed with a mother who’d browbeaten him into responsibility?
He approached their makeshift bed and saw her still lying on the grass. As he drew closer, his scowl relaxed into a smile. She’d fallen asleep. Despite the danger of being spied by a traveler, she hadn’t even bothered to dress. She’d only pulled down her skirts and drawn his coat close before curling onto her side.
As quietly as he could, Collin sat on the grass next to her, arms resting on his bent knees. He watched her, studied her face, turned as it was toward the shade. Her lovely pink mouth had relaxed in sleep, lips parted slightly and curved just the tiniest bit into a smile.
By God, she was a beauty. Her heart-shaped face was delicate—the perfect foil for those huge blue eyes. Her black hair contrasted deliciously with pale skin, especially the pale skin of her belly and thighs.
No, he told himself sternly. Do not think of that.
Even her imperfections were perfect. The freckles made her seem real. And the too-strong jut of her chin matured what might have been a child-like face.
Still, she looked young and fragile, a fairy princess caught in a nap.
The soft breeze picked up a stray curl and it whispered over her cheek to caress her lip. Collin gently brushed it away and leaned in to replace it with a kiss. Those blue eyes of hers peeked out beneath heavy lids.
“Collin,” she breathed and he remembered very clearly how he had lost himself in that mouth so easily. But he only smiled down at her.
“Do you feel as lovely as you look?”
Her smile turned to a grin as she rolled to her back and stretched like a well-fed kitten, shirt gaping open to reveal one shell-pink nipple. Collin took a deep breath and reached toward her—he couldn’t help himself—but he forced his twitching fingers to draw the shirt together. Her naughty smile faltered when he began to refasten the buttons.
“What are you doing?”
Collin fought the urge to laugh out loud. Any other young miss would have spoken those words if he had had the gall to try to unbutton her blouse.
“I’m fixing your clothes,” he finally replied.
“But you…I mean…We are not done!”
He did laugh then, as he moved on to the next button. “I think we’d best be done after all.”
Alex gasped and slapped his hands away from her half-open shirt. “No! Stop that!”
His smile gentled at the confusion in her eyes. “Alex. We can’t do this.”
“I was under the impression that we were doing it quite successfully before we were interrupted.”
He didn’t know now whether to laugh or cry at her outrageous statement. He had keen memories of just how nicely it had been going.
“Alexandra, you are—”
She cut him off with a frantic wave of her hand, eyes flashing danger at him. “If you dare to bring up my brother’s title again, I will hurt you.”
“Your social status is nothing to be scoffed at. However—” he held up a hand when he saw her lips part—“I was going to say that you are George’s cousin and a friend to Lucy and it would be unconscionable for me to take advantage of their friendship by…by taking advantage of you.”
Her luscious mouth thinned to a hard line of displeasure. “I had not planned to run back and announce what we’d done. And I’d hardly call it taking advantage.”
His hand felt rough when he ran it over his face, and his throat felt rougher when he spoke. “I’m sorry, Alex. Believe me. I am sorry. But this cannot be.”
She blinked, looked away from him. That stubborn jaw worked hard to clench and unclench her teeth. High spots of red burned her cheeks.
“Fine, Blackburn. You obviously have your reasons. Shall we return to the house then?”
He watched her hurriedly fasten the last three buttons of her shirt and stand. She adjusted her skirts with rough twitches and tucked in her shirt, all without meeting his eyes. He saw the exact moment her face cleared of all emotion.
When she turned to look about for her discarded jacket, he reached to take her hand. “Alex, please don’t.”
“Don’t what, Mr. Blackburn?”
“I’m trying to do the right thing by you. Don’t look past me like that.”
She finally met his eyes and he saw them warm to just above freezing. “It is a rather uncomfortable situation, is it not?”
“It does not have to be. It was a surpassingly lovely morning.”
Her lips quirked. “I did enjoy myself.”
“Well, lassie,”—he couldn’t resist pressing a quick peck to her mouth—“so did I.”
Alex glanced away and forced a wider smile. He was very sweet to lie to her like that. It was part of the problem, this extreme likeability of his.
“We should head back,” she murmured. “We will miss luncheon.”
Her not-quite lover nodded and bent to retrieve his coat. He gave her a searching look before he walked away toward Thor.
When he’d gone, she put her hands to her face and groaned. How embarrassing this all was. She should have learned her lesson the last time she’d been humiliated by her baser needs. Of course, that time had been nothing like this. No, this time had been very nearly worth any amount of embarrassment.
Nearly. It had taken her a few awkward moments to realize he was rejecting her. She’d offered herself to him like the harlot she was, and he had, very politely, turned her down. She didn’t even know that men would do that.
He must find her wanting in some way. She almost smiled at the thought, despite her rising humiliation. Oh, she was wanting all right.
Not waiting for help from him, she scrambled onto Brinn’s back and stared out at the sea until she heard the soft sound of hooves behind her. When she turned, she found Collin watching her intently and smiled for his benefit. No need to make him