She should probably roll off and set him free.
Soon.
Any moment now.
Or not. Her limbs were frozen in place. All right, all right, her limbs were anything but frozen.Molten.Her limbs were molten. Her body had melted against him, molded itself to him, melded them into one.
She wasn’t even conscious of the weight of her limbs anymore. He was the life raft supporting her amidst an ocean of green grass and frothy flowers. Despite the danger inherent in pressing one’s curves against a man’s hard body, she felt oddly safe with him.
Perhaps it was more that shewantedto taste a little of this danger. Swordplay and combat practice with the other soldiers had never felt life-or-death, but this…thisfelt viscerally real. Graham had invited her onto the battlefield, where she had promptly engaged him in battle. What happened next would determine whether they—
He flipped her so swiftly and so easily she did not even register his movement until she found herself pinned beneath him, her spine against the soft grass, her breath vanishing from her lungs in a whoosh powerful enough to rustle the curly black tendrils tumbling over his forehead.
Now it was his body pressing into hers. Wide shoulders, slender hips, muscular thighs—and perhaps a hint of mutual interest pulsing between them.
A proper miss would be shocked right into a swoon.
It was a good thing Kuni wasn’t the least bit proper. Not only had shestartedthis, she intended to savor every second of it.
Quickly, she took mental inventory, just as she’d been taught to do before engaging in a skirmish or approaching enemy territory. Instead of scanning her environment for weapons and foxholes, she noted the angle of Graham’s cheekbones, the curling length of his eyelashes, the amused quirk of his firm mouth, the hardness of his muscles, the strong forearms not only trapping her in place, but propping his chest up slightly so that her bosom did not bear the full brunt of his weight.
A mistake, that. The battlefield was no place for chivalry. His gentlemanly gesture gave her more than enough space to flex out of his embrace and spring into fighting stance, a dagger in each fist, before he could even begin to scramble to his feet.
But why on earth would she want to interrupt a perfectly scandalous snuggle for that?
“A proposition,” he began softly.
She shut her mouth tight before she blurted out,Accepted!without any idea what she might be agreeing to.
Perhapsthatwas why missish young ladies swooned. It was not the rakes whose intentions they doubted, but their own will to resist seduction.
“You’re only in England for four more weeks, correct?” Graham asked.
Kuni nodded.
“And I have no intention of ever leaving London. So there. That’s our ending sorted. We’ve already had quite a memorable beginning. All that’s left to decide is our middle.”
“Middle?” The word made her think not of the midpoint of her mission, but rather the midsection of their bodies, which were still plastered together, hip to hip, belly to—ahem.
This wasnotwishful thinking. This gorgeous man with the ability to scale any heights and enter anyplace he pleased…wanted to be right here with her. And was leaving the choice in her hands.
“A temporary flirtation,” he said, his voice as smooth and intoxicating as a glass of sweet advocaat. “Only while you’re here. No expectations, no demands, no betrothal…just two people enjoying each other’s company. Wherever our togetherness might lead.”
“No courtship,” she managed.
“No wooing of any kind,” he agreed. “I will never abandon my family or our clients, and you would never defect from the Balcovian Royal Guard. An impasse…if we were worried about the future. But we already know we part ways in four weeks. The only question is how we spend the time that remains.”
“A temporary flirtation?” She echoed his earlier proposition, tasting it on her lips. A proposal as decadent and irresistible as fineboterkoek. Very tempting indeed.
“If you’re amenable.” His clear brown eyes were hot on hers. “If you would rather spend your time some other way, I shan’t bring it up again.”
“And…if Iwereinterested in such a development?”
He grinned at her. “I am shocked by your brazenness, Juffrouw de Heusch. If you hope to steal a kiss from this English gentleman, you’ll have to catch me first.”
Her mouth fell open. “IfI— Of all the presumptuous—”
But he had already sprung off her, as lightly as the wind whisking away the seeds of a dandelion.
