Page 48 of Mine before Dawn
It hammered hard beneath her touch like a powerful metronome. The,n his rough hand slid beneath the hem of her blouse, spreading warm against her stomach until she sucked in a startled breath.
Higher.
Resting just over her ribs. Over her own racing heartbeat.
“But this?” he said gruffly. “This is same, int'it?”
Asha couldn't look away.
“My heart beats fer you, love.” His voice had gone rough suddenly. “And yours beats fer me.”
His thumb stroked slowly against her warm skin beneath the blouse.
“I’m obsessed wi’ ya. You know that. Have been since that day I first saw ya. Everyone thinks I am a fool for ya.”
Asha made a tiny strangled sound.
“And I think…” His mouth twitched slightly. “I think maybe you love me too. I think you like me being obsessed with you. And if you don't, you have the next fifty years to get used to it.”
Then, like he couldn't help it, he added smugly—
“At very least, yer jealous o’ Emma.”
Asha didn't deny it. She was stuck on the fifty years.
“I was not jealous!”
“Course not.”
“I wasn’t!”
His grin widened. Then his hand wandered beneath the layers of her clothing until he cupped her breast fully in his palm. His thumb brushed slowly over the hardened peak beneath the fabric.
Her breath caught sharply in her throat and she had to close her eyes.
James buried his face against her neck with a low satisfied sound, breathing her in deeply like a man finally home after wandering lost in the dark.
“Missed this,” he muttered against her skin.
Asha’s fingers, trapped between them, curled tightly into his shirt automatically.
Then his voice changed in a way she had never heard before. Tentative, almost shy.
“You asked me if I’d marry you. You caught me by surprise, love.” He rubbed his nose briefly against the side of her throat. “I’d never thought about it before. All I think about when I see ya is getting under your skirt.”
Instead of laughing like he meant her to do, something painful flickered across her face immediately.
James continued in a rush.
“But the second you said you didn't want to see me anymore," he said hoarsely, “I knew.”
Asha stared at him.
“Knew what?”
“That the answer is yes.”
Asha felt she could barely breathe.
