Love Drives In by Barbara Cartland

not cease, and comforting her became the most important thing in the world.
    Forgetting everything except the bewildering sensation in his heart, he reached out to put his arms round her, pulling her against him.
    The next moment his lips found hers.

 CHAPTER SIX
    Dorina was stunned. At one moment she was in the depths of despair. The next she seemed to be transported into a new realm, full of starlight.
    A number of men had kissed her cheek after they had had an enjoyable dance. But she had never been kissed on the lips before.
    As the Earl's lips held hers captive, she felt something very strange within her heart, something different from anything she had ever felt before.
    She wondered how such a sensation could exist without her discovering it until now. It seemed to fill all the world.
    She was possessed by a strange sweet feeling, warm and exciting. She wanted this closeness to go on forever. She longed to be even closer to him, lips to lips and heart to heart.
    She began to reach for him, meaning to put her arms about him.
    But something stopped her.
    It was as though a cold hand had descended on her shoulder, warning her to pull back, reminding her how easily he did this, how practised he seemed.
    At all costs she must stop now, this minute.
    Images of the Alhambra swirled through her head. Those young women she had seen tonight, with careless manners and fashionable clothes so like her own!
    Why had he taken her to that risqué place? Was it to break down her defences and create the right mood for seduction?
    "No," she cried, struggling free. "No, let me go."
    "I'll never let you go," he said hoarsely. "Please Dorina, let's put this behind us. There's so much I – "
    But she freed herself and ran to the door.
    "Don't talk to me," she cried. "Don't try to find me. Don't even think of me again."
    In her mind was the torturing memory of how nearly she had succumbed to his embrace only a few moments ago. She hated and despised him, yet his kiss – cynical though she knew it to be – had sent her into ecstasies.
    She was horrified at herself. After this she would go right away and never again think of anything but piston engines. At least in them she would find safety.
    The Earl watched her in despair. Just at the moment when he had begun to understand how vital she was to him, he was losing her forever. He reached for her again, but she thrust him away.
    Her arms were made strong by desperation and her push was hard enough to send him back hard against the door jamb. He let out a groan as the wood struck his head at exactly the same point where he'd received the earlier blow.
    "Ouch!" he cried.
    Dorina froze.
    "What is it?" she asked, trying not to sound as anxious as she felt.
    "Nothing, I – "
    Suddenly the Earl fell silent as he realised how close he had come to throwing away his best chance.
    "It – it's nothing," he said quickly. "Just my head."
    "You hardly banged your head at all," she said, suspicious, but not moving away from him.
    "Not this time, but before – when you punched me to the floor at the Alhambra. I hit my head on the pillar and it knocked me out for a moment. But it's all right now."
    He finished with a melancholy groan and sat down, holding his head.
    "I didn't mean to hurt you," she said in a faltering voice. "Besides, I didn't punch you to the floor. You slipped. You said so."
    "That's right, I did. It was my own fault. Don't worry about me."
    She dropped down beside him, frowning and saying uneasily,
    "I don't like to think of you being really hurt."
    "I thought that was what you wanted."
    "Of course not. I just – I'm sending for the doctor."
    "I don't want to trouble him," he said bravely.
    "But you can't take any chances," Dorina cried. "You might have a terrible injury to your head. I didn't mean any of those things I said – well, I did, but – oh, I don't know what I'm saying."
    "It doesn't matter now. I'm sorry about everything. I'll just go up to bed. Perhaps – perhaps you