He takes a deep breath as if bracing himself for pain. “I had never been more terrified.”
My heart thumps. It takes up a strange rhythm. Wild and unpredictable. I’m still a long way from words.
“I knew how wonderful receiving your love was,” Selwyn says. “But none of my foresight showed me how I won it. I had no clue how to achieve it.”
He breathes deeply again. “I still don’t.”
My stomach is doing strange things. I feel lightheaded and dizzy. It is quite possible that I am swooning again. Whatever is happening to me, I am still incapable of speech. My body is reacting to the things Selwyn is saying, but my mind is frozen in shock.
He wraps his arms around me and presses me against his chest. Holding me as if he is worried I’m about to disappear in a puff of smoke.
“I don’t know how to make you love me,” he says. “But I have learnt that it doesn’t matter. You are here, and I get to know you.Iget to loveyou. That is the blessing.”
A soft noise whooshes out of my lungs. It is part squeak, part sigh. But at least it is something. It is a sign of progress. I don’t want to sit here frozen, silent and unresponsive while Selwyn bares his soul to me.
“If one day I earn your love, I will be the proudest man alive. If that never happens, the privilege of loving you and keeping you safe and happy, is more than enough.”
My body moves. It pulls away from Selwyn’s chest. His arms fall away slowly, as if he doesn’t want to release me.
I twist a little, so I can look up at him. His eyes are glowing. Burning with intensity. He is hiding nothing, and I can see all of him.
My body takes charge again. I think it is fed up with waiting for my mind to do something, and it has decided to take action. I’m glad.
My head leans forward, and my lips smash against his. I feel his surprise almost as starkly as I feel my own.
Then the kiss takes over and consumes everything. Honey and spice and lightning. A feeling I feel down to my toes. He isn’t merely kissing my lips, he is caressing my soul. Our souls are entwining. Heating one another. Melding and sparking. Forming something new and wonderful.
I shift my body even more, never breaking away from his lips. Now I am facing him and the angle is much better. I can wrap my arms around his neck.
A soft moan flutters through me. His arms tighten around my back. My hunger grows. I still don’t understand how I know how to kiss, but I am very glad that I do.
My lips move over his with passion. My tongue slips into his mouth, and he groans in response. His tongue slides along mine, and I see stars.
His kiss deepens, and I whimper from the intensity. So many sensations are burning through me, I cannot contain them all.
I moan again, and my body moves once more. Now I am facing him fully and straddling his lap wantonly.
His scorching hands blaze a trail down my back, all the way to my ass cheeks where they rest, one on each cheek. He squeezes and lifts my ass and I make a filthy noise and press myself so close to his chest, it is as if I wish to climb inside of him.
His hands stop moving. His tongue leaves my mouth. His lips try to leave mine, but I chase him. I chase and chase. Why is he trying to leave? Does he need to breathe? Who needs oxygen in a time like this?
Reluctantly, I relent and allow his lips to leave mine. As soon as I stop attacking him, he stops kissing me.
My lungs heave in a breath. I open my eyes.
His eyes are glowing with a smouldering heat. Intense and ready to ignite.
“If you keep kissing me, Little Lamb, I won’t be able to control myself.”
“I don’t want you to,” I pout.
His eyes widen and his eyebrows lift.
“Make love to me!” I demand.
Then I kiss him again.
Chapter thirty-five
