Kit Black Read Online Free Page B

grin over white, even teeth. He reached for me again in sated, sleepy contentment, wrapping me in the luxury of his embrace.
    I pressed my lips to the scar above his heart, smelling myself on his skin. Our scents mingling like some exotic perfume.
    â€œThis is all I want,” I whispered. “This all I will ever want. This gift, this knowledge, this joy.”
    I love you, my Armand.
    Yet, I could not let the words past my lips.
    â€œWhere were you born?” I asked him.
    â€œMarseilles.”
    â€œWhy did you join the Navy?”
    â€œI’m the second son of a Marquis, so my older brother will inherit the title and the land. As the younger son, I was forced to find some way to make a living. And I like the sea.” He was playing with my hair as he spoke. His voice held a little regret.
    I didn’t quite understand the laws of inheritance, but I knew that was why my father went to sea. That’s what they had told me.
    â€œI’m glad you came here to Ajaccio, Armand Dupuis.”
    â€œI’m glad, too,” he sounded wistful. “I have to leave next week. We sail for about eight months, and then I go back to France.”
    â€œOh,” I said softly.
    â€œI’ll be married,” he continued, his voice almost sad this time. “To Sandrine. It was arranged when we were children.”
    â€œIs she pretty?”
    â€œI don’t know, I haven’t seen her since she was eight. She had very dark hair and black eyes. I imagine that she hasn’t changed too much. She was delicate. Dainty. She’s been in convent schools. She’s a little older than you.”
    I stared at him. He seemed resigned to his fate. “You don’t love her, then?”
    He smiled a little. “I don’t even know her, but that’s the way it is. She’s got a good dowry. I can leave the navy if I want. There’ll be plenty to live on. “
    â€œDo you want to?”
    â€œSometimes. At one time, I didn’t think there was anything better out there than the smell of the sea. I find it hard to get used to dry land.”
    â€œI can’t think of anything better than being on the sea.” I told him about my father, how he had been a pirate. He just gave me an indulgent smile like one gives a child. It irritated me a little.
    â€œI have a proposition for you. Will you hear me out? “He rose up on his elbow, tracing the freckles on my chest with one long finger.” I can give you carte blanche . Do you know what that is, Kita?”
    I shook my head. “No.”
    â€œFollow me to France next week. I’ll set you up in a house. You can have whatever you need. Dresses. A carriage. Servants. I can afford it.”
    I stared at him. “You’d keep me, you mean?” My heart was pounding. I’d heard of this practice before. Of the fine gentlemen who kept their mistresses with the permission of the wife who turned the other cheek.
    â€œUnder the nose of Sandrine.”
    He had the grace to look sheepish. “I told you that I have a duty to her. I am bound by my honor, but she’s a most understanding girl, I’m sure.”
    For one minute, I imagined it. Having him with me at least some of the time. And then, I thought about sharing him with someone else. “I’m not interested in being kept. I have no wish to be a whore.”
    His face darkened. “What are you doing here in my bed, then, Kit Black?”
    This time, I had the grace to blush.
    â€œI didn’t mean that you’re a whore. How can a bloody virgin be a whore,” he said, his brows knitting together. He appeared to be genuinely contrite. “And I know you are a virgin, because I felt it.”
    â€œWas a virgin.”
    â€œYes, was,” he said softly. “Still faultless.” He touched my breast. His fingers burned me.
    I jerked back. “You’re in the habit of despoiling virgins, are you?”
    â€œNo. Of course,