Now, her other senses were experiencing Douglas in a way her eyes couldn’t.
Mira felt like flotsam in the sea, being pushed around by wave after wave of Douglas’ strength. He suckled her lips, first the top, then the bottom, and managed to pull her mouth open when he did that so his tongue could stage an invasion. Mira’s arms were around his neck, holding him fast, as he tasted her deeply. She let him, experiencing every movement, every sensation, with the greatest of curiosity. When he finally pulled away, he was breathing as heavily as she was.
For a moment, they simply stared at one another until Mira broke the spell.
“What… what did you do?” she said breathlessly.
He grinned, his lips red from his onslaught. “I think that should be quite obvious.”
Mira struggled to regain her wits. “That… that was akiss?” she said. “I’ve never known a kiss like that before.”
He cocked a blond eyebrow. “Well and good that you haven’t,” he said. “Did you at least like it?”
She nodded eagerly. “Will you do it again?”
His mouth was on hers before she even got the last word out. His powerful arms went around her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him so tightly that she was nearly strangling him. His hair got wrapped up in her grip and he finally had to ease up because she had trapped him with her vise of an embrace. He started laughing, pulling his hair out from underneath her arms, from her hands, and even fromher mouth. It was everywhere. Mira laughed along with him, smoothing his hair down because she’d mussed it so badly.
“Are you done now?” she asked.
“Done with what?”
“Kissing me?”
His laughter grew. “Never,” he said. “But if I keep going, we may… Well, I do not want to be caught in a compromising position. Lady Isabel might box my ears.”
Mira grunted. “You’ll be fortunate if that is all she does,” she said. “But… it would be worth it, wouldn’t it?”
Grinning, he cupped he back of her head, leaning over to kiss her again in a most tender gesture. Mira groaned softly, throwing her arms around his head and knocking him sideways in the process. She ended up pushing him into her and his teeth cut her lip. He realized it almost immediately because he could taste blood.
“Christ,” he muttered, stopping his onslaught and holding her chin in his hand so he could get a look. “Let me see what I’ve done. I’m so sorry, love. I did not mean to.”
He was looking at her lower inside lip even as she answered. “It was my fault,” she said. “I’m not very good at this.”
There was only a tiny speck of blood where he’d shoved a tooth into her gum, and he leaned down to kiss it. “You are excellent,” he said. “But we will become more coordinated with practice. Enough so that I don’t bite your lip or knock you silly.”
Mira giggled. “I would not mind, I assure you,” she said. Reaching up, she stroked his beautiful hair again. “It would be pain most pleasurable.”
He chuckled, too. In fact, he couldn’t seem to stop smiling or laughing. Everything about this moment made him want to smile and shout it to the world, to experience a joy he’d never known before. He wanted more of it, but he was also very conscious of the fact that Mira was bruised and battered fromyesterday, so he didn’t want to pile onto that. Better to let the woman rest and heal before he ravaged her again.
But he honestly wasn’t sure he could wait that long.
“This is not supposed to be a game of pain or battering,” he said. “This is supposed to be something passionate and tender, as much as two people can be, but I appreciate your sentiment. And your confidence. In any case, I think we have pushed the limits of propriety as far as we can, because I keep waiting for the chamber door to open and Lady Isabel standing in the doorway with a club that has my name on it. Therefore, may I summon a servant to help you dress?”
Mira’s smile faded. “If I must.”
“What’s wrong?”
She shrugged, averting her gaze. “It is nothing, truly.”
“Do you not trust me enough to tell me?”
She looked at him. “Of course I do,” she said. “I simply do not want to sound silly with petty complaints.”
“Let me be the judge of whether or not they are petty,” he said. “I hope you feel that you can always tell me anything and I will never judge you. I will help you if I can.”
Her smile returned. “That is very kind,” she said. “I suppose… I suppose I was thinking that I do not want to leave this moment in time between us and face the world. When it is just the two of us, I feel very safe and happy. It’s something I’ve never felt before.”
“Nor I,” he said. “I should not like to leave this moment, either, but the truth is that we must for now. But moments like this will come again.”
