The Earl Claims a Bride (12 page)

He lifted his hand and skimmed the backs of his fingers down her soft cheek, brushing aside a wispy strand of hair that hadn’t been caught back by her hat. She didn’t flinch from his touch. He took that as a good sign, but asked, “Will you slap me if I kiss you?”

Astonishment flickered in her eyes but there was no panic. Another good sign that there was a possibility this conversation would end in a kiss. “What? No. I mean, I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it.”

“You’ve never thought about being kissed?” he asked, deliberately misunderstanding her.

She hesitated, seeming to study what to say. “No, of course, I have,” she conceded. “I meant I’ve never thought about the possibility of slapping a gentleman for kissing me.”

“So you’ve been kissed?”

“Definitely not,” she assured him and wrapped her shawl tighter about her arms as if the woolen garment would protect her from his probing words.

It was another good sign that she hadn’t moved away from him. If she hadn’t been considering letting him kiss her she would have already been backing up, showing him the door, or calling Sam over to intimidate him.

“Not even by the captain?” Harrison asked.

She looked aghast. “He is a gentleman, my lord. I haven’t even seen him in over a year. Besides, I wasn’t old enough to be kissed the last I saw him.”

Never been kissed.

That pleased Harrison and motivated him.

He wanted to be the first to kiss her. He would be. Why should the captain have that right just because she’d given her heart to him? She wouldn’t be the first young miss to receive her first kiss from Harrison, but he couldn’t remember wanting to kiss one more than he wanted to kiss her right now.

The sun was warm, the breeze was cool, and the garden was empty of chaperones save Sam—and he couldn’t talk. The timing was perfect. Yes, the more he thought about it the more he wanted to do it. He wanted to feel her in his arms. He wanted to know how those pink-tinted lips would feel beneath his.

“You are of age now,” he said in a low tone as he inched even closer to her.

“Yes, I’ll be nineteen by early summer.”

Oh, yes, plenty old enough for a first kiss.

He noticed the words in her last sentence were softer and she sounded breathless. She was already contemplating his kiss. That made his breathing a little ragged, too.

Maybe, just maybe he did want to pursue her and win her from the captain.

“Kissing is against the rules of Society for young ladies,” she warned him.

He moved closer to her. Again she didn’t flinch. Did she know that was as good as an invitation for him to continue? “But surely you know that some rules are made to be broken.”

She remained quiet. Pensive.

“And this is one of them,” he added. “So don’t blink.”

“Don’t blink,” she questioned with an uncertain expression on her face. “Why?”

I want you to see me and no one else.

“Because I’m going to kiss you and you’ll want to witness your first kiss.”

“Telling me not to blink makes me want to.”

He gave her a hint of a smile, thinking how much he would like to do more to her than just kiss her tempting lips. “Then it will be your fault if you miss this.”

He lowered his head to hers and let his lips graze across hers with the merest amount of pressure. The contact was sweet, enticing, and undemanding. It sent a quick, hard throb of pulsating heat directly to his manhood, causing an unexpected rush of intense desire to shudder through him.

Harrison only meant to give her a proper, innocent first kiss but his body was demanding much more. He hesitated before deepening the kiss, slanting his lips seductively over hers, seeking more of a response from her until he realized she was too in awe of the kiss to answer the instant passion that had erupted in him.

He hadn’t expected the kiss to be so powerful, or to feel such satisfaction that she’d obeyed. To her credit, her wide-eyed blue gaze stayed on his eyes for the entire kiss. He wanted to abandon his reserve and show her just how quickly she’d made him want her, but not wanting to frighten her he refrained.

When he heard a soft sigh from her, he lifted his mouth an inch or two and whispered, “You just witnessed your first kiss.”

Chapter 9

Careless lust stirs up a desperate courage.

Venus and Adonis
556–57

Angelina blinked and bobbed her head slightly.

“You’re blinking,” he said huskily.

Of course she was, and her stomach felt like it had a thousand butterflies in it, too. He was so close she felt his breath on her cheek, the heat radiating from his body. A shivery prickle of something wonderful sailed across her breasts, tightening them before it raced to the deepest of her most womanly part and settled there. Lord Thornwick was a scandalously presumptuous man and for reasons she didn’t want to think about, it thrilled her.

As much as she wanted to speak, she was too stunned to say a word. She was still reeling from the fact that she’d just received her first kiss and the new marvelous awareness it had created inside her. The only thing she could do was moisten her lips and swallow.

“I’ll take that as an invitation for another kiss,” the earl said.

Was it?

No. No.

Yet the word wouldn’t form on her tongue.

“Close your eyes this time,” he whispered, and without giving her a moment to object, his head dipped low and his lips found hers once again.

God help her, her lids fluttered down. She obeyed him without a hint of reluctance and closed her eyes.

Angelina felt his strong hands circle her waist and slide to her back. She knew she should spin, shove, or twist away from him but she had no desire to miss what his touch was promising. Instead, she went willingly into his embrace and was caught up in his powerful arms and pressed to his hard chest. Something compelling stirred inside her and despite a lone stray thought to recoil, she melted against him. The strength behind his hold on her was exhilarating. Warmth from his body was more pleasing than sunshine on a bitter-cold day. She had no idea just how heavenly it would feel to be engulfed in such muscular arms and have a man’s lips moving so sensuously over hers.

She gave herself over to the undeniably pleasurable sensations and without forethought lifted her arms and wound them around his neck. Her action made him hug her tighter, press her closer. His hands tangled in the length of her hair. Her shawl fell away from her shoulders. A shiver made her tremble but she’d never felt warmer in her life.

His lips were soft and moist. The kiss was long and generous. Instinctively, her lips parted, her mouth opened. His tongue slipped inside with a warm, slow probing. She trembled and swallowed a gasp of wonder. He made a languorous exploration of her mouth. Their tongues touched, played, and explored. Their breaths mingled. Her hands skimmed down his wide shoulders to examine the broad width of his firm, muscular back before sliding down to his tapered waist, leaving no doubt there was a fine cut of a man beneath the clothing.

He broke the kiss and lifted his head. Her eyes opened to stare into his. She felt weightless, breathless, and wonderful.

“I’ve wanted to know how you would taste since I saw you standing at the entrance to the ballroom,” he said.

“Tea,” she said without thinking and without blinking.

He quirked his head a bit to question her.

“I had tea a little while ago,” she explained. “Do I taste of tea?”

A soft chuckle whispered from his throat, and he said, “Very sweet tea,” before his lips came down to hers again with confident, commanding pressure that made her body eager for more of his touch.

He kissed her deeply, hungrily, and she didn’t resist. To her amazement, she kissed him back with equal fervor. His lips were lush, his embrace was powerful. He kissed his way over her chin and down her neck to the braided piping trim on her bodice and then started back up again. Her hands slipped into the back of his hair and she crushed its softness between her fingers.

A small sigh escaped her lips. She wanted to enjoy the luxury of all the new sensations that rippled, drifted, and curled throughout her body before settling in intimate places.

It was a heady experience, but all too soon his lips left hers again. He lifted his head and his arms relaxed around her. He let her go and slowly stepped away. To her chagrin, she was disappointed by his withdrawal. She inhaled a deep breath and backed away, putting even more distance between them. Her gaze flew to the back of the house to see if Mrs. Bickmore might have been watching from the window or the door, but Angelina saw no one.

When their gazes met again, he said, “Now it’s your turn to tell me what you’re thinking.”

There was no command in his voice. There didn’t have to be. His intent showed in the way his eyes took in every detail of her face. He knew she enjoyed the kiss but he wanted to hear her say it. It seemed his breathing was a little unsteady, too, and she wondered if he had felt all the amazing things that had swirled inside her.

“That it was inevitable I would eventually have my first kiss.”

He nodded. “Was it pleasurable?”

Oh, yes!

The intensity of his gaze continued to do confounding things to her heart rate. She thought about evading the truth, possibly even prevaricating, but knowing she’d never been any good at hiding her true emotions in the end she simply said, “Yes, and for you?”

His brow rose as if her question surprised him. “Very much.”

“Tell me, my lord, did you come here today just to kiss me?”

“No.”

“Then why did you kiss me?”’

“You asked me to.”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous,” she said firmly. “You know I did no such thing.”

“I beg to differ, Miss Rule. When I looked at you, your eyes were asking me to kiss you. They were saying,
Kiss me, Harrison
.”

The glowing light of humor shone in his eyes and she realized he was teasing her. That helped her relax. It was best to make light of the kiss since it never should have happened. And maybe that would make it seem less powerful than it actually was.

She brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “That’s the oddest thing I’ve heard you say,” she replied pleasantly. “Besides the fact that it’s not true.”

“How do you know? You can’t see your eyes.”

“But they are my eyes, and I know because they wouldn’t have called you Harrison. They would have said
my lord
.”

The corner of one side of his mouth lifted attractively. “Your eyes know me better than your mind. They call me Harrison.”

She appreciated that he was still trying to put her at ease about the very intimate kiss. Even so, she said, “I can’t believe we are having this conversation.”

“I can. We also had one about a horse a few nights ago. I believe I won that round as well.”

That made her smile. “We will not revisit the discussion of me and the horse.”

“I agree, and just in case you want to know, I’m reading your eyes again right now, Miss Rule, and right now they are saying,
Kiss me again, Harrison
.”

His confidence, his audacity amazed her. The low husky way he said the words made her abdomen tighten, and she wanted to step back into the circle of his arms.

“No,” she said, putting more distance between them for fear her resolve not to kiss him again might weaken. “No, they are saying it’s time for you to go. I understand that you haven’t decided whether you will help me save my father from prison. That’s fine. The kiss is the only other thing you have accomplished since arriving and my education in that area is now completed. I need no further instruction.”

A hint of a smile curved the corner of his mouth again. “Then perhaps I should put your mind at ease, Miss Rule. As far as your father is concerned, I will pretend that we will be wed at the end of the Season, and your father can lead his creditors to believe the same. You will have the time you asked for to come up with another way to keep your father out of prison.”

On a rush of excited breath, she whispered, “Thank you, Lord Thornwick. Though I’m sure you don’t want my gratitude, I give it. This indeed puts my mind to rest.”

He reached down, picked up her shawl, and held it out for her. This time instead of turning so he could place it on her shoulders, she pulled it from his grasp.

He gave her a roguish grin and asked, “Aren’t you going to ask me what I want from you for doing this noble deed?”

Oh, my. She should have known there would be something.

“Yes, of course.” She looked at the tall, broad-shouldered man poised commandingly in front of her and asked, “Do you want more kisses from me?”

He laughed and folded his arms across his chest in a casual manner. “As tempting an offer as that is, kisses are not something I have ever had to bargain for.”

Angelina cringed inside over that mistake. “Of course you haven’t. I don’t know what I was thinking. Surely a man like you doesn’t actually need anything and that includes kisses.”

“But I do occasionally want things. I’m sure I will come up with something, and I’ll let you know when I do.”

“Something reasonable,” she added.

He lifted a brow. “That I can’t promise. Tell me, did you and the officer you mentioned have an understanding that you would wait for him and marry him when he returned?”

“No. We never spoke of marriage. It was, it was—”

“What?”

She felt her eyes and face soften. Her shoulders relaxed. “More in the way we looked at each other.”

“Ah,” he said.

“Ah? What does that mean?” she asked.

“It means I understand it was a feeling that happened between the two of you rather than a promise given.”

“Yes, that’s right,” she agreed. “I told you, we only spoke briefly for a few times. It wouldn’t have been proper for us to spend any time together. The last time I saw him, he asked me to save him a dance and I told him I would.”

Lord Thornwick seemed to study on that for a moment and then nodded. “Will you be attending the parties tonight?”