“All I ever did was love you,” he said in a low voice. “And you treated me like I wasn’t even worth it.”

Then she was in his arms and his mouth was on hers, bruising. She didn’t resist, didn’t protest, just let him walk her backward and put her up against the fence, his hands on her waist and his mouth crushing, crushing.

She opened beneath him and his tongue swept inside. She tasted ale and smoke. She tasted Connell, a flavor she’d never forgotten, and it made her gasp as she put her arms around his neck and clung to him.

He pushed hard against her, the way he used to when they were in her garden and desperate to steal one more kiss before she had to go inside. He bunched the fabric of her skirt in his hands and slid beneath it to the bare skin of her thighs atop her stockings. His hands cupped her rear and he lifted her, holding her so tight she had no fear of falling.

She tasted blood from the force of his kiss, from a spot where her teeth had caught the inside of her lip. The metallic, salty taste of it made her think of the way they’d been, and how she’d once taken him in her mouth while the ocean crashed so close to them the spray had wet their clothes.