Strictly Forbidden (40 page)

And as he
laid
his lips over hers again, reaping of the perfection of her kiss, the need won.

Wanting her willing response, he gentled the kiss, coaxed her response. A brush of
his lips, the warm slide of his tongue, a soft moan, a caress of her shoulder, and
she began to melt.

Pulse skipping, he deepened the kiss, sinking into her slowly again. This time, he
tasted, indulged, hands skimming her back, her silky black curls. Gavin did his best
to take her in, to memorize every bit of her.

His mind grew sluggish. His body took over. As she clung to him, arms cast about his
neck, the fire inside him became a slow-burning inferno. He had no notion how—or if—he
might ever put it out and suddenly, he could not care.

Over the roaring of his heart, Gavin registered the sound of a
click
from far away. Suddenly, Kira’s palms at his chest began to push. He redoubled the
persuasion in his kiss. A gasp followed next, but he could not bring himself to leave
the lush warmth of Kira’s mouth to investigate.

Then someone roughly grabbed his coat and shoved him against a wall.

Disoriented, Gavin looked about to find himself staring into Darius Melbourne’s furious
hazel eyes.

“You bloody libertine! I warned you to leave my sister alone.”

Gavin opened his mouth to answer, to apologize—something
—when
, when he caught sight of James standing behind Darius. Utter shock transformed his
cousin’s features. Aunt Caroline stood just beyond James, her face a mirror of her
son’s.

“Gavin!” cried Aunt Caroline.

Then he saw Kira, lips berry red and swollen. Color flushed her cheeks. She trembled.
Even if they hadn’t seen the kiss, no one could have more than a moment’s doubt what
they’d been about.

Damn! Everyone would be angry. Kira would be humiliated
—

Darius grabbed Gavin by the cravat and pounded him against the wall once again. His
head struck with a thud. Pain radiated from the back of his head until it enveloped
his entire scalp.

“It wasn’t enough for you to lust after my sister,” Darius spat. “You had to ruin
her, bed her. And still you chase her
. E
ven after I warned you to stay away from Kira, you didn’t. Are you so led around by
your lust—
”

“Yes,” Gavin said to shut Darius up. “Every Daggett is a cad, through and through.
I’m sorry.”

Aunt Caroline gasped.

James’s frown revealed he still struggled to understand. “Y—you ruined Miss Melbourne?
You took her to your bed and…”

The horror and betrayal on James’s face told Gavin he understood, believed the truth,
and loathed him for it.

Darius shoved Gavin against the wall again. “Answer him!”

He sighed, knowing he owed his cousin an answer. “Yes, James. I did.”

Shock, disappointment, and hurt transformed James’s soft, young face.

Closing his eyes, Gavin let the regret and dread slide through him. He was a blackguard
of the first order, no doubt. But then, he’d known that for some time.

“You—you ruined her and have made no plans to marry her?” James struggled to grasp
the concept.

“He informs me he plans to wed Lady Litchfield,” said Kira. “She, apparently, is acceptable.”

Gavin watched tears tremble in the corners of her endless blue eyes and he hurt. Damn,
how badly he ached. He’d never wanted to see her pain. Never. But he’d explained that
he’d been trying to save her from him and the utter depravity his life would become
,
and she refused to believe him. How could he convince her that she would thank him
someday?

“You cannot!” James protested.

“I agree,” proclaimed his aunt.

As if they’d never spoken, Kira glared at him and raised her chin. Then she regarded
James and Caroline. “He asked her today
,
and she has accepted.”

“What?” Darius demanded in a low hiss of breath, shoving his forearm into Gavin’s
throat.

“Oh, my word.” Aunt Caroline began fanning herself.

Darius looked ready to kill. “I’ve had all of this bloody mess I’m going to take.
Find a pistol and name a second. I want to see you at dawn.”

Aunt Caroline gasped in unison with Kira.

James tugged on Darius’s sleeve. “Violence will solve nothing.”

“No, but killing your cousin will certainly improve my mood.”

“Oh, my goodness.” His aunt fanned herself more quickly. “Oh, Gavin. Someone. This
is simply awful. I fear I shall need smelling salts!”

No one heeded her.

Gavin regarded Kira’s brother with the calmest gaze he could muster. “A duel will
only incite more gossip, and I will not have my family’s name being bandied about
by the
ton
.
”

“You should have thought of that before you seduced my sister.” He swallowed. “If
you refuse to duel, I expect you to do the right thing, you lecher. Marry her.”

Lord, he wanted to. The idea of making Kira all his in every way, for the rest of
his days was indecently tempting. Except for one problem… “I will only make her miserable.”

Darius’s mouth curled down into something ugly. “Maybe so, but you won’t make her
a whore.”

“Darius!” Kira cried.

Gavin knew he could have struggled against Darius. He was an inch or two taller and
outweighed the younger man by twenty pounds. He’d been boxing all his life. But what
was the point of fighting? Darius was determined to see them wed, regardless. Aunt
Caroline looked disappointed and James disillusioned. Kira hated him, and well… he
hated himself.

Marrying Kira would not change any of that. But Kira would be his, for better or for
worse. Her smiles, her passions, her joys and sorrows all his for the taking. He just
hoped like hell that he didn’t crush her heart when the bad Daggett blood finally
conquered his good sense.

Or perhaps he could simply give her the protection of his name and retire to the country,
put hundreds of miles between them so he would not be tempted beyond his bearing anymore.
Yes, that might cool his blazing need to be with Kira. Except he knew he would miss
her terribly.

But, as always, Gavin would do his duty.

“Let me go,” he demanded of Darius.

The dark man hesitated, his hazel eyes narrowing, assessing.

“If you want me to ask your sister a particular question, you must release me.”

Darius hesitated, then after a small shove into the wall, he released Gavin. A smart
move, as far as Gavin was concerned. He itched to fight back. Darius had interfered
too much in a situation he could not understand.

After righting his coat, he approached Kira. James and Aunt Caroline ambled backward,
out of his way, watching with avid interest.

Kira herself stared with wary blue eyes. She looked exotic and ethereal at once, somehow
fragile. But he knew when forced, she could be very strong. And for that he was glad.
He had little doubt she was going to need every ounce of fortitude to survive life
as the Duchess of Cropthorne.

Everyone stared, and Gavin felt their gazes poking him from every direction. He’d
made this bloody mess in private. Could he not try to atone for it in a similar manner?

“I want a moment alone with her.”

“No,” Darius returned immediately. “I plan to stand here and make certain you do the
thing correctly.”

“I think he is right,” Aunt Caroline seconded. “It would be most improper to leave
you alone, and we need no more of that. Now ask her.”

Gavin cursed. A proposal was a private matter. He did not need a blasted audience
to watch him. But they had left him with no choice, damn it all. Did they think he
had so little honor that he would refuse to do the thing after saying he would? The
thought infuriated him. He was a man of his word.

No, now he was merely a defiler of innocence in their eyes.

Spine straight, he approached Kira. Anger with her brother, with the situation, bled
into his voice. “Miss Melbourne, would you do
me
the honor of marrying me?”

He sounded stiff, but there was no help for it. And for long moments, she said nothing.
Instead, she searched his face with the thick-fringed pools of her eyes, confusion
imprinted on her lovely
countenance
.

“Why?”

“Certainly you can see it’s what everyone expects. This family does not need the kind
of gossip that will arise if your brother and I duel. Everyone will surmise what happened
and no one will stop talking about it. Marriage is the only remedy to rectify this
mistake.”

Gasping, Kira stared at him. “You have nothing else to say?
N
o other reason?”

She wanted him to declare undying devotion. Grinding his teeth together, anger sizzled
inside him. Listening to his desires rather than his conscience had landed him in
this position. Lust he could easily admit to, even fondness and a certain amount of
affection. But love? A vow to be only with her always? The Daggett blood simply did
not make that possible
,
and he refused to utter a promise he could not keep.

He shook his head. “There is little else to say. Marriage is the only way to avoid
a terrible scandal. We can spread the word that it was an impulsive love match and
do our best to act the part. People will still talk, but imprudent marriages are sometimes
made in the name of love. We can simply claim to follow suit.”

Kira reared back, stunned. “Y—you have insulted me in every way possible!”

“I apologize,” he said, not knowing how else to reply.

“You wretch!” She scowled at him, fury pounding across her face. “I will not marry
you.”

“You
will!
” Darius insisted.

“I think you must, dear,” said Aunt Caroline.

She shook her head. “In fact, I would not wed his grace if he was the last man on
earth. I mean to be someone’s bride, not someone’s burden.”

“You must be reasonable, Kira,” Darius said.

“Indeed,” said James. “If you’ve allowed Gavin to know you in the biblical sense,
then you must accept him as a husband.”

She appeared not to hear them. Instead, she turned to face Gavin.

“I loved you!” She threw out the words like an accusation. “After everything you’ve
done, everything we shared…” She shook her head, hurt and fury dominating her lush
countenance. “I guess you really are a heartless bastard.”

* * * *

Kira darted from the room, stunned, completely stripped of happiness and hope for
the future.

On the other side of the wall, she heard her brother’s voice raised in anger. She
ran up the stairs, relieved when the voices faded away.

When she heard another set of footsteps, Kira realized someone followed. She turned
to find Mrs. Howland huffing her way up, skirts held at her ankles.

“Miss Melbourne.” She swallowed, panted.

Kira felt ready to scream. Could the woman not see how much she wanted to be alone?
She did not want to stop or talk. She merely wanted to pack her bags and be gone,
put this entire mess behind her.

But she could not be rude. “Yes, Mrs. Howland?”

“I—I have no…” She brought a fluttering hand to her chest and moaned. “Oh, I must
apologize.”

“Apologize?” She sniffled. “You have already done so.”

“No, for something else entirely. I feel terrible, even worse than before, to know
what I have done and how it has brought about your ruination.”

The older woman was babbling and nothing made sense. “Mrs. Howland, I assure you my
ruination was my fault.”

“Oh, no, my girl. I pleaded with Gavin to find a way to eliminate you from James’s
life, for I knew you did not suit him. As I recall, Gavin did his best to shame you
and pay you into leaving. And then, oh—
”
She moaned, lifting a lacy handkerchief to her lips in a moue of distress.

The older woman was so flustered that Kira took pity on her. “I won’t deny that such
tactics anger me, but they did not work. Everything else that happened between Gavin
and I—
”

“Was, at least in part, my doing. When you appeared unmotivated by either your conscience
or your purse strings, Gavin was determined to appease me, so he devised a scheme
to compromise you. And I see it worked all too well…”

“Compromise me?” Kira felt her stomach drop to her toes in a sickening rush. “He plotted
to—to ruin me?”

“He meant for my James to find you in some disreputable position and force an end
to your engagement. At the time, I thought it a splendid notion, but now I feel so
wretched. You did not love my son as I want him to be loved. Nor did I want to see
his new career end before it began. But you love Gavin, and my nephew has broken your
heart, I can see. I never imagined— I am sorry…”