Page 42 of Gone With the Rogue
She nodded. “But that doesn’t change the fact that we can’t use some of the fabrics. Only the highest paid modistes in London and Paris work with some of the fabrics and beading you sent over. The girls can’t use some of what you sent until much further along in their sewing skills. They’ve hardly learned to properly sew on a button. Most of the fabrics are much too delicate for them to work with.”
Garrett smiled. He was enjoying the banter with her. “The school is over a year old now. How longdoes it take to learn how to sew a dress or put a bow on a hat?”
“They are also learning to read, write, and add and subtract numbers. All these things combined takes time. A few lengths of muslin and broadcloth would have been much better.”
He bent his head forward, almost touching his nose to hers. “Are you going to give it back?”
“Of course not,” she answered breathlessly.
That’s what he wanted to hear. The tension that had built inside him ebbed away. “Then why are we arguing?” he said, his tone softening considerably.
“I don’t know.”
“Neither do I, Julia. I don’t want—”
One moment he was talking and the next he was silenced by the eager touch of her lips on his. His instinct was quick and impatient. He slid his arms around her narrow waist and brought her slender body against his. She leaned into his chest and a shock of pleasure ripped through him. The taste of her mouth was euphoric, inciting him to unleash all the stored-up desire he had for her in this one arousing kiss.
This was no dream. She was in his arms.
Garrett accepted the unexpected kiss with urgency and took control. Her lips softened and surrendered beneath his as they kissed over and over again. Her arms circled his neck and she traced the breadth of his shoulders and cupped his neck before her hands settled in the center of his back, holding him fiercely, possessively. His body stirred with wanting.
Whispered moans of hectic pleasure wafted past her sweet lips. Garrett caught each in his mouth and savored and swallowed each one. With an intensity initiated by her, he kissed down the length of her neck, across the swell of her breasts, and back up to her lips again and again as if he were a desperate, thirsty man drawing cool water from a well. She welcomed and participated in his greedy assault.
Their kissing was impatient and unrelenting in its fervor. Her body was warm, soft, enticing. His hands caught and tangled in her long hair falling against her shoulders. He crushed its softness between his fingers before moving his hands up and down her back, around her waist again, and past the flare of her slim hips. He wanted to touch every inch of her.
Much too soon she pulled back from him, gasping with little short breaths that caused her chest to heave seductively. Her moist lips hovered close to his. They were lush and tempting him to capture them beneath his once again.
Her bright violet eyes searched his, but for what, he wasn’t sure. Hadn’t his response to her unprovoked kiss told her everything she needed to know about what he was feeling and how much he wanted her? He’d wanted a sign that she was as thoroughly, madly hungry for him as he was for her.
Just in case she didn’t know what she had started, he pulled her up closer and tighter to his chest, pressing her soft breasts against him so there would be no doubt that at this moment he considered her his. Yet she continued to stay silent.
With a hint of a smile and in a huskily whispered voice, he said, “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“I know,” she said with uncertainty in her tone, as a tremor shook her. “It was dangerous and very forward of me.”
“No.” His smile grew wider. “It was what I wanted, but one kiss from you is not enough to satisfy me. I need more.”
A smile eased across her beautiful, full lips, and she whispered, “Then don’t let me stop you.”
He lightly, briefly brushed his lips across hers and then looked into her eyes once again. “You’re beautiful, Julia,” he whispered, and then reached over and kissed along the bare skin of her upper arm. He smiled again when he saw goose bumps pebble her smooth skin.
Garrett placed his lips on hers, giving her a slow, yearning kiss. He didn’t want them to rush and devour this kiss as they had their first kisses. This time they would linger, revel, and explore all the sensations blossoming inside them.
Julia tempted him with her excitement and willingness to be an equal partner in their embrace. He explored her body and she explored his with equal desire and respect. Their kisses were searching and desiring. Each kiss melted into the next and all he could think of was how good and desirable she felt cuddled in the circle of his arms.
Long ago he’d learned how to control his sexual emotions, as most seafaring men had. And it usually didn’t take him long to find his way into the arms of a willing woman shortly after setting his feet on land, but this time had been different. Somehow he knew he was waiting for someone special.
Something hard thumped Garret in the middle of his back. Fearing they’d been caught, he instinctively swung around and shielded Julia behind him, ready to do battle with whomever was challenging him. No one was there. His chest tightened, his heart thumped. Aboyish giggle sounded down the corridor. A leather ball lay at his feet.
“Chatwyn,” Julia whispered, breathlessly.
Garrett’s tension eased and he chuckled. “The mischievous little imp threw the ball at me.”
“He—he saw me. Saw us kissing. I should have been more careful, but you make me lose all sanity.”
She seemed horrified by the possibility. “Don’t worry about him,” Garrett offered, wanting to calm her. “He obviously didn’t know what we were doing. He was laughing.”
“But I should have remembered he was in the house. The housekeeper was lingering outside the door. I was so caught up in how I was feeling that I—”
