happened in the blink of an eye, but from that moment on, Larken knew he’d be marked by this troublesome bit of velvet, this woman who confounded him at every turn.
In the soft moonlight, he gazed up at her, struck to his very heart by the unlikely hold she cast over him.
Everything around them faded into the background. There was only them. It was a magical sortof thing, one that left a practical man like Larken utterly confounded.
And when she looked back at him, her fingers still clinging to his jacket, her eyes widened with the same passion, he’d wager, that was enveloping him. Her lips opened to say something, but the words escaped her and instead, they parted only enough to form the sort of invitation that needed no explanation.
She glanced at him warily, but the curious desire in her eyes caught him, lured him closer. Made him forget that he was supposed to be Hollindrake’s eunuch of a cousin, not the rake this lady brought out in him.
Kiss me , her half-parted lips seemed to whisper. Kiss me now before this moment ends.
Against every bit of sense he possessed, which quite frankly, most would argue wasn’t much, he pulled her closer and caught her lips with his, tasting the sweet softness she offered.
It was like something so ethereal, so heavenly, he almost stopped—for the purity and innocence of her response was in such contrast to her glances and gown. Then those first tentative moments melted away as she opened up to him, letting him explore her lips and then more so…as his tongue swept them open further and a heady, earthy sigh arose uninhibited from within her. That sigh, that sweet sound was like a siren call, and he deepened the kiss, exploring her, tasting her, going quickly mad with desire. He caught hold of her, rolling the two of them over so he covered her, so he could feel her beneath him.
Instead of maidenly protests, she sallied back, arching her hips to meet his, her body coming alive beneath him, her fingers going from their tight grip on his lapels to fanning over his chest, one of them twining into his shirt right over his pounding heart, where something else was awakening inside him.
Something so deep, so primal, it made him all the more hungry for her—like a man starved, he wanted to devour her.
He’d never been so rash, so reckless. Larken, the spy who never needed a map, who could find his way out of the most artful of traps, was utterly lost in her kiss.
Tally had no idea how this all had happened. One moment she was racing through the hedges in search of Brutus, and the next she was in his arms, in his embrace, tangled up with the man she’d never thought to find.
Oh, not Mr. Ryder, but him . The one she’d spent countless hours imagining.
The rakish sort of devil who wouldn’t stand on ceremony, who wouldn’t wait until they stood on the parson’s front steps to take what he desired.
A man who would catch hold of her and make her his without any hesitation.
Without so much as a “by your leave, milady.”
And no matter, that she’d imagined this moment more times than she’d be willing to admit, she’d never in her innocent thoughts envisioned it like this .
Oh, heavens, but when he’d looked into her eyes, and she’d seen the stormy desire afire there, the conflict in those dark, dark eyes of his, she’d wanted only to discover every secret he possessed.
He’d gone from being her brother-in-law’s stuffy, ridiculous cousin to the most desirable man in England.
Ever imagined.
Kiss me , she’d silently willed him. Kiss me now before this moment ends.
And he had, much to her delight, to her thrill, to her absolute panic, which then gave way to a passionate fire the moment his lips touched hers.
She was lost and nothing else mattered.
Not Felicity and her relentless matchmaking. Nor Pippin and “Aunt Minty” and all their problems.
There was only this man and she never wanted his kiss to end, for it awakened her to a new world of unknown
In the soft moonlight, he gazed up at her, struck to his very heart by the unlikely hold she cast over him.
Everything around them faded into the background. There was only them. It was a magical sortof thing, one that left a practical man like Larken utterly confounded.
And when she looked back at him, her fingers still clinging to his jacket, her eyes widened with the same passion, he’d wager, that was enveloping him. Her lips opened to say something, but the words escaped her and instead, they parted only enough to form the sort of invitation that needed no explanation.
She glanced at him warily, but the curious desire in her eyes caught him, lured him closer. Made him forget that he was supposed to be Hollindrake’s eunuch of a cousin, not the rake this lady brought out in him.
Kiss me , her half-parted lips seemed to whisper. Kiss me now before this moment ends.
Against every bit of sense he possessed, which quite frankly, most would argue wasn’t much, he pulled her closer and caught her lips with his, tasting the sweet softness she offered.
It was like something so ethereal, so heavenly, he almost stopped—for the purity and innocence of her response was in such contrast to her glances and gown. Then those first tentative moments melted away as she opened up to him, letting him explore her lips and then more so…as his tongue swept them open further and a heady, earthy sigh arose uninhibited from within her. That sigh, that sweet sound was like a siren call, and he deepened the kiss, exploring her, tasting her, going quickly mad with desire. He caught hold of her, rolling the two of them over so he covered her, so he could feel her beneath him.
Instead of maidenly protests, she sallied back, arching her hips to meet his, her body coming alive beneath him, her fingers going from their tight grip on his lapels to fanning over his chest, one of them twining into his shirt right over his pounding heart, where something else was awakening inside him.
Something so deep, so primal, it made him all the more hungry for her—like a man starved, he wanted to devour her.
He’d never been so rash, so reckless. Larken, the spy who never needed a map, who could find his way out of the most artful of traps, was utterly lost in her kiss.
Tally had no idea how this all had happened. One moment she was racing through the hedges in search of Brutus, and the next she was in his arms, in his embrace, tangled up with the man she’d never thought to find.
Oh, not Mr. Ryder, but him . The one she’d spent countless hours imagining.
The rakish sort of devil who wouldn’t stand on ceremony, who wouldn’t wait until they stood on the parson’s front steps to take what he desired.
A man who would catch hold of her and make her his without any hesitation.
Without so much as a “by your leave, milady.”
And no matter, that she’d imagined this moment more times than she’d be willing to admit, she’d never in her innocent thoughts envisioned it like this .
Oh, heavens, but when he’d looked into her eyes, and she’d seen the stormy desire afire there, the conflict in those dark, dark eyes of his, she’d wanted only to discover every secret he possessed.
He’d gone from being her brother-in-law’s stuffy, ridiculous cousin to the most desirable man in England.
Ever imagined.
Kiss me , she’d silently willed him. Kiss me now before this moment ends.
And he had, much to her delight, to her thrill, to her absolute panic, which then gave way to a passionate fire the moment his lips touched hers.
She was lost and nothing else mattered.
Not Felicity and her relentless matchmaking. Nor Pippin and “Aunt Minty” and all their problems.
There was only this man and she never wanted his kiss to end, for it awakened her to a new world of unknown
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