Three Lessons in Seduction
Page 30
He pressed first one palm, then her other, to his mouth, sending tiny shocks of pleasure through her.
“I love you.”
All vestiges of the stubborn past fell away, leaving only her and him and but one response. The joy within her wouldn’t be contained. “And I love you.”
He closed the distance between them and touched his lips to hers. It was a tentative, almost reverent, kiss. It was the sort of first kiss young girls dreamt of, because they couldn’t envision how much more a kiss could be.
Mariana didn’t want a dreamy, girlish kiss. She wanted a kiss of flesh and blood and longing and need and raw, unfiltered desire.
She leaned into him and allowed the overcoat to fall off her shoulders. As the full length of her naked torso made contact against him, her hard nipples pressed into the fine lawn of his shirt.
She was a flesh and blood woman. She might be his wife, but she was his lover, too. This new marriage would begin as she meant it to go on.
Just as she moved to match action with intention, he moaned, grabbed her hips, and set her away from him. Her eyes flew open on a squeak of protest.
When he shot to his feet, it was next a gasp of shock that issued forth from the rounded “O” of her lips. Before she could formulate a thought, he was kicking off boots, pulling his shirt over his head, and discarding his trousers in an inelegant frenzy of movement uncharacteristic of the calm and collected Nick she knew. It was fascinating.
She reclined onto her elbows and took in the view of him standing utterly and completely naked, his body taut and magnificent. She didn’t know whether to feel aghast or amused.
Quite unexpectedly, she felt aroused.
“You’re wilder and braver than I ever had the courage to be,” he began, his words nearly tumbling over each other in a rush. “I vow to always stand naked and unafraid before you.”
“Oh dear, that might make for some uncomfortable dinner parties,” she couldn’t help quipping.
“Always, Mariana,” he continued, his eyes burning bright with love. “You are forever in my blood. You are forever in my heart.”
His vulnerable sincerity reached out and grabbed her heart. She suspected it would never let go. She rose to her feet and tipped her head back to meet his gaze. “We shall be wild and brave together.”
This time when his lips claimed hers, the kiss was everything a kiss should be.
And more.
It was everything.