An Unexpected Sin Read Online Free PDF

sister and his closest friend, but he made no acknowledgement. She knew of no real reason why Josiah should fear her reaction—whether related to Samuel or otherwise.
    She opened her mouth to inquire, but before words formed the cadence of hoof beats sounded farther down the road. Wordlessly, Josiah tugged her off the path, past a stand of heavy summer brush into a small clearing she knew well. Though they were close to town, the thick vegetation hid the road and any hint of the population nearby. Wild ginger grew robustly in the space, where to one side lay a gathering of tinder.
    Josiah must have noticed the slant of her attention, for he said, “Your mother has sent me to gather cooking wood.”
    She braced against the inclination of his words, barely glancing in the direction of the road as a wagon rumbled past. “Are you saying…?”
    “Indeed, I am. Your father hired me this morn.”
    Joyfully, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. The vast dismissal of propriety lashed at her conscience, but as quickly as he returned the embrace she found she cared not for the advisability of her actions. She was neither in her mother’s parlor nor a meeting house, but in a quiet place of seclusion where there were no witnesses to prattle their ill-gained gossip.
    Though, not even the threat of discovery could pry her from his arms. Her insides coiled and spun, never more so than when he lifted his hands to cradle her head. Then he claimed her mouth. Gone was the hesitance from the night before, and in its place was an urgency upon which she feasted. He didn’t need to press for entry, as her mouth opened on a gasp and he quickly found his way inside.
    Nothing had ever tasted sweeter. He must have intended to devour her, for he took her breath with his demanding exploration. He caressed her, gently and wholly, until she feared she might drop from the thrill. When he pulled away, it was just long enough for him to offer a smile before he again leaned close, teasing her swollen mouth with a gentle nip of his teeth.
    She scarcely felt his hand trail her spine but for the shivers he evoked, and when he found the small of her back he pressed until their bodies found flawless alignment. He was solid, warm, and unmistakable in his desire for her.
    “The years have been too long,” he whispered, his lips brushing hers as he spoke. “I have wanted for no one else.”
    His words wove beyond her defenses, if they were to be found at all. “I am the same,” she said shyly. “My affections have never been granted to another.”
    With her declaration, stiffness fled his limbs and he seemed to relax. “I feared…,” he said softly. “I expected you would move on. You were just a girl.”
    “But my feelings cared not for my years. I yearned for you then, as I have ever since.”
    He grinned, easing the lingering ache. “Yet, you did not recognize me.”
    Though he teased, she could not deny him an explanation. “I could only remember the boy I knew. I could not guess the man you have become.”
    He pressed a kiss to her mouth, smiling gently as he withdrew. “Time has forced change,” he said. The sudden hollowness of his expression led her to believe he spoke of Samuel, but Josiah did not mention her brother’s name. Long-suppressed questions ventured forth, and though the answers likely existed in the man before her, she did not want to taint their reunion with a piece of their past that could not be changed.
    “Yet,” she said, “our paths have once again crossed.”
    “No,” he said over a distant growl of thunder. Humidity soaked the summer sky, its promise of a storm as great as the rumbling. “Years ago, our paths crossed. It is my hope this time they will not merely intersect, but continue together along the road ahead.”
    The words were soft and sweet, but their meaning came at her with heft. Their meeting had not been by chance. He had come for her, and her chest threatened to burst with the pure