Sandra Madden Read Online Free PDF Page B

she would remember the taste of his kiss for as long as she lived.
    "Aiye!" Kate shrieked.
    "Kate, what is it?"
    "Ants!"
    Ants were everywhere. Absorbed in each other, Kate and Edmund hadn't noticed the quiet assault. The ants had attacked the bread, covered the cheese, and those with a failed sense of direction were marching up Kate's legs.
    She jumped up, swatting her skirts, ignoring the fine show of ankles Edmund must be viewing. All she cared about at the moment was removing the silent army of ants from her person.
    Edmund pushed himself up. From the corner of her eye, from the edge of Kate's hysteria, she saw the earl observing in silent fascination. She knew he was unable to help, for fear of touching an inappropriate part of Kate's anatomy.
    "By your leave, Kate, is there anything I can do?"
    Tears of humiliation burned behind her eyes. She bore a lump on her head larger than a goose egg, an unsightly black-and-blue eye that gave her a blurry view, and now... ants.
    What type of impression had she made on her old friend?
    "I should, should like to return to Rose Hall," she stammered.
    * * * *
    An hour later Edmund made determined strides toward his steward's office in the west wing of Rose Hall. His steps echoed in the large marble hall, as did the click click of Percy, who trotted at his side.
    Before she had been assaulted by the ants, Edmund had prepared to whisk Kate from his boyhood castle. He feared he might ravish her if they lingered, so powerful was the impact of their kiss.
    The sweet, soft lips of his childhood friend had sent him into a tailspin. A rare heat had rushed through his veins like a firestorm until it lodged deep in his loins, simmering there... to this moment.
    At the time he could think of only one way to rid her of the ants, and that was to rip off Kate's garments. Highly unsuitable, so he stood by helplessly, afraid to touch her.
    On the ride back to Rose Hall, the heavens unleashed a torrent of rain, but he dared not stop and wait for the storm to abate. 'Twas in Kate's best interest to ride through the rain. He surely would have taken her right there on the sodden meadow, unmindful of the storm, of anything but his heat and her bruised beauty. Even a black eye could not diminish Kate's allure.
    When Edmund and Kate arrived back at the stables, they were soaked to the skin and she appeared slightly dazed.
    He prayed she would not take ill.
    Bloody hell, he'd acted the fool.
    He'd taken his leave of Kate with an abrupt fare-thee-well. And when her amber eyes dulled, Edmund had experienced a loathsome sinking in the pit of his stomach. What could he do but put distance between them immediately? 'Twas for her own good.
     

Chapter Three
     
    A great calm shall come over you and serve you well while the moon is in the seventh house.
     
    Kate was torn. Irritable and confused. Other than that, she might have taken pleasure, as she normally did, in the half-mile walk from her papa's cottage to the main house. Ever since Lady Cordelia's gentlewoman had run away with a traveling jester, it had been Kate's habit to visit her in the afternoon.
    The disturbing interlude with Edmund on the previous day still preyed on her mind. Kate could not imagine what had come over him. Although it was she who had asked to return to Rose Hall—overcome by a throbbing headache and a legion of ants—it had been Edmund who insisted they ride through the rain. He could not wait to be rid of her company.
    Was it the kiss that put him off?
    She was not experienced in the art and feared she had disappointed him. But Kate had not been disappointed. Not at all. The memory of Edmund's lips on hers still lingered. The initial shock, the heart-pounding thrill of his eagerness... or was it a fierce hunger? A demand? Whatever he'd had in mind at the start, Edmund's bruising kiss gave way to a soft and tender caress. And oh, how she'd savored the deep masculine heat of him that filled her being. She'd reveled in the warmth