Was this something usually done?
He chuckled. “You will burst veins in your eyeballs if you do not ease up. Try to relax. And do not pinch your lips together so fiercely, either.”
He ran his thumb lightly along the line of her jaw, and then gently along her lower lip.
Oh, heavens.
“Breathe, Temple.”
She let out a gust of air.
“That’s better,” he murmured with a chuckle, leaning in closer so that she felt the heat of his body and the strength pulsating from it.
His breath was warm against her lips.
In the next moment, he captured her mouth in a scorching kiss, the pressure gloriously deep and fiery.
Heavens, heavens, heavens.
That man’s mouth was a dangerous weapon. Sinfully effective.
He drew her up against the hard wall of his chest and held her in his protective embrace, all the while careful to avoid knocking into her sling.
When she remained unsteady, her legs turning to water so they could no longer hold her up, he wrapped his big hands around her and drew her even closer.
She could no longer tell where her body ended and his began, for they were melting into each other.
She had never felt so secure, so safe in anyone’s arms, and yet still wildly out of balance because of their intimacy and the heat ignited between them.
This had nothing to do with her shoulder, still healing and tender. This was all about her heart.
Did the man have to kiss her with such exquisite ardor? Did he put such heat into all his kisses? Melt every woman he touched?
He was a rake, after all.
However, she was a novice and could not possibly hold any significance for him.
She accepted their blazing kiss for what it was, a torch that would quickly die out, and allowed herself to revel in the pleasure of the moment.
His tongue probed against the seam of her lips and nudged them apart.
She held on to him, closing her hand over the bulging muscle of his upper arm to steady herself, but she could not get her fingers even halfway around its circumference.
Oh, this is why he had been acclaimed as the next Silver Duke. His was a mature and manly body, all meat and muscle.
He held her with gentle strength and confidence, displaying utter perfection as he slowly ground his lips on hers and sank them deeper to plunder her soul.
And this was only kiss number three.
How was she ever to survive the next seven without falling in love with him?
“Open your eyes, Ailis,” he whispered against her ear, his lips still temptingly close.
It took her a moment to realize he had drawn his mouth off hers because her lips and even her tongue were tingling.
Dear heaven.
Their tongues had tangled.
