“Yes, but I was expecting to have my first kiss this evening. I wanted to feel the frissons to describe them in my novel.”
“You’re not kissing anyone tonight. You’re begging a headache and going straight home.”
“Or perhaps I’ll take a detour first. I’ll allow Lord Somersby to lure me behind a curtain for my very first kiss.”
“I forbid it.”
She stuck out her chin. “What would happen if I defied you?”
“You don’t want to find out,” he growled.
“Lock me up in the tower of your castle? Feed me bread and water?”
“You’re provoking me deliberately.”
“Is it working? I love to see you lose your temper. It’s such fun.”
“You haven’t seen me lose control because I never do.”
“Never?”
“Even if I provoked you further?”
“You’re playing with fire, Ana. Tempting the devil.”
“Do you find me tempting?” She drew closer. “Do you find this provoking?” She touched her chest to his, standing on her tiptoes. “What if I kissed Lord Somersby? What if I slipped into the garden with him. What if it was dark and shadows striped his face and he had a hunger in his eyes that was thrilling. What if I wanted a handsome, dangerous man to kiss me in the garden of my very first society ball?”
He had to admire her bravery. She was a guileless novice, yet single-minded in her seduction, willing to explore whole new worlds in pursuit of artistic truth. She had no idea how effective the combination was. She wanted him to lose control, and he was precariously close.
“I forbid you to dance with him, tryst with him, and most especially to kiss him.”
“You’re always barking orders at me.”
“I was an army commander.”
“One could interpret your short sentences to mean any number of things. And the looks you give me. Something so wild and unbridled, the way you look at me something so fierce in your eyes. It’s giving me the frissons, I do believe.”
“I look at you protectively.” And lustfully if he was being honest. “I promised to protect your honor, not sully it.”
She moved closer. “Do you want to kiss me?”
Don’t answer that, just leave. March out of this library and fix this tangle.
“I’ll only ask someone else to kiss me if you don’t. It’s for my book. I’ve never been kissed and I want to experience it.”
“No.” He was fighting a losing battle. How did she have all the right words to say, the right way to look at him, to touch him?
She cocked her head, examining his face. “I want to savor this. I want to provoke you into losing that famous control of yours. The way you’re staring at me. You’re angry but there’s something else there. Desire. Desire flickering in your eyes, turning them from gray to glittering silver.”
He backed up until he hit the wall and still she advanced with that fire burning in her eyes. “I want to write the best kiss ever. I want my readers to feel the frissons, too. I want them turning pages, feeling as I’m feeling right now. This breathlessness.”
She rose onto her tiptoes, steadied herself with a palm against his chest. “If you won’t kiss me...” She kissed his lips and twined her small hands around his neck. He stayed absolutely still. Set her away from him. Jump on his horse and ride away fast, anywherefar away from this enchantment. Anywhere but here in this firelit room with this tempting innocent.
“You’re made of granite, just like the walls of this room. Nothing moves you. Nothing sways you. You’re immovable.”
He was made of granite. Yes. His body, his cock so hard she couldn’t fail to feel it.
“Enough.”