Come Near Me by Kasey Michaels Page B

trip to our
estate in Jamaica, perhaps? You can sail on the next tide, if you
hurry,” Adam offered politely.
    Peeking out from beside Geoffrey, Sherry looked at
Adam and giggled. “Jamaica? You have no estate on the farside of
the moon, then, my lord?” she asked innocently, showing both men
that she was not quite so young or defenseless as either might have
believed.
    Geoffrey’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, then
he clapped Adam hard on the back and roared with laughter. “Well,”
he said at last, sobering, “I can see I’m not wanted here. Or
needed. Miss Victor,” he said, rising to his feet and bowing, “your
servant. And Adam? Someday you’re going to have to explain to me
why you get all the good luck in the family. And now I’ll be off to
the kennels again, probably to ruin my new shoes by stepping in
something.”
    As he walked away, Sherry said, “I like him.”
    “Most people do,” Adam agreed. “He’s quite good at
playing the fool. As a matter of fact, I’m giving serious thought
to getting him a belled cap.”
    “And a pair of those upturned, pointy shoes?” Sherry
asked, smiling. “I should think he’d want the shoes as well. Then
he could sit in the corner until he was called upon to juggle balls
or otherwise amuse you while you’re at table. Do you think he could
balance a broomstick on his nose?”
    “I believe he’s already done it or, if he hasn’t, an
offer of ten pounds for trying the trick would have him racing for
a broomstick,” Adam said, winking. “At last I believe someone has
found Geoffrey’s niche in life for him. But enough of foolish
brothers, all right? Now,” he said, then turned and took Sherry’s
face in his hands once more. “Where were we?”
    Her intelligent green eyes twinkled, they really
did. With mischief. With excitement. With a simple, uncomplicated
joy for life he’d forgotten to feel years ago. “Experimenting, my
lord?” she prompted politely, then smiled a smile that hit him
somewhere in the region of his solar plexus, robbing him of most of
his breath.
    “Ah, yes,” he said, using up what little oxygen
remained in his entire body as she once more closed her eyes, drew
up her full lips in a pucker that caught him halfway between desire
and amusement.
    He kissed her forehead. He kissed each of her closed
eyes. He kissed that most wonderful, most adorable nose. He watched
as her eyes opened in shock as his mouth brushed against her primly
pursed mouth. Once. Twice. A third time.
    Until that mouth softened under his gentle assault,
until a warm, nearly silent breath slipped between her lips and
caressed his skin.
    She sat very still, her eyes remaining open,
brimming with questions he knew he couldn’t even begin to answer.
At least not tonight.
    He tipped his head slightly, kissed her again.
Softly. Gently. Raised his head, tipped it again, kissed her again.
Butterfly kisses, each one a heartbeat longer than the last.
    He took her bottom lip between his teeth, tugging
gently. He ran the tip of his tongue over her full upper lip,
feeling her smile against his mouth, smiling against hers.
    And never did either of them close their eyes, not
when they were kissing each other, not in between those kisses,
when they sat back, looked at each other, smiled at each other,
spoke volumes without saying a single word.
    His fingers were buried in her hair even as it
released from its pins, tumbling down around her shoulders, a warm,
living curtain of fire. He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs,
dazzled by the smoothness of her skin beneath his touch, the warmth
of her, the vulnerability of her. The trust she invested in
him.
    “This...” Adam said between kisses, “this is...
quite... incredibly... wrong.”
    “Wrong...” Sherry echoed, raising her hands so that
she cupped his elbows in her palms. “Yes. Mrs. Forrest... Mrs.
Forrest would say it is unacceptable behavior.”
    “Definitely unacceptable...” Adam concurred, sliding
his hands