“Not so very much. Just a little. Forcourage.” She emphasized the word so he wouldn’t think she was in the habit of drinking too much. “Do you know?”
“Idoknow,” he replied dryly, and it seemed as though he was attempting not to laugh. How colossally ill-mannered of him! “You should learn some different interrogation techniques, I think, miss fledgling.”
The amusement fled from his face when she brought her hand to the strong line of his jaw. Her fingertips trailed across his skin as she explored his cheekbones, the proud line of his nose, and the unexpected softness of his lips. What a handsome man he truly was… and he washers. Hers for the taking…
“Sebastian,” she whispered in awe, trying his name out in her mouth. She rather liked it. Yes, she liked many things about being married to him. “In truth, when I heard you wished to marry me, I thought you were an ugly old ogre in search of a young wife.”
His mouth parted under her fingers, and she felt his damp, hot exhale. The motion made her stomach clench, and there was a slick kind of warmth between her thighs she had never experienced before.
“Is that… so?” he asked, but this time, his voice rumbled.
“And you thought I was haggard and plain,” she said, half-laughing at the idea. To be sure, she was not the prettiest young lady in London, but she was certainly pretty enough to be groped by repulsive young men.
Whatthatsaid about her, she had no idea.
“I have never been kissed before…” she mumbled, watching his mouth assiduously. “I should like, very much, to know how it feels…”
“Is the interrogation over, then? Am I to breathe easily?”
She looked up at him in surprise. She’d quite forgotten she’d intended to ask him questions, but although she had a feeling the questions were important, she couldn’t for the life of her think what they might be! Nothing seemed more pressing presently than being kissed.
He took hold of her wrist and wrapped his fingers around it. “You are happier being married to me than otherwise?”
“Oh yes.” That she was sure of. There was no room for doubt, no competition in the slightest. “I am very glad you made me your duchess, Sebastian.” A memory occurred to her, and she tilted her head. “Did you have something to tell me?”
He shook his head, cursed, and kissed her.
His mouth was warm and soft against hers, and utterly disarmed her. If she had something else she wanted to say to him, she couldn’t recall. All she knew was the press of his lips, the way they opened, parting her mouth with them. The tilt of his head, the graze of his hands. He kissed her slowly,thoroughly, as though he might never quench the thirst that was her. As he deepened the kiss, she took hold of his shoulders to anchor herself before she lost herself entirely.
It seemed all too easy to lose herself as of late…
This was not, strictly, her first kiss. But her first kiss had been a boy named Julian, who had cornered her one day and informed her, in a self-important way, that all young ladies ought to know how to kiss, and he would show her.
That had been a rather truncated affair, largely because she had raised her hand and struck him across the face for his audacity.
She had no desire to strike Sebastian now…
In fact, her body and blood hummed as his tongue slid slowly, luxuriously, across her bottom lip. He tasted of sea salt, wine,and something else that was entirelymale—and that made her think of silken sheets and grasping hands. How a man could taste of—well, of nighttime activities—she didn’t know. But this man managed it.
His hand slid into her hair, and she accidentally let out a sigh against his lips. When his tongue swept into her mouth, she matched it with her own. Presumably, this was what he wanted. If not, the way he gripped her hip and pulled her even closer was wildly misleading.
She was not an expert, but all evidence pointed to the fact that he wanted this. More than wanted it—hecravedit.Neededit.
She knew how that felt.
His teeth scraped against her bottom lip then, making a bolt of lightning pass through her, right to her core. Heat bloomed between her legs, messy need, and she squirmed to get more comfortable.
“Aurelia…” he groaned against her mouth, “you will be the utter death of me.”
“Is that a compliment?”
He scraped a laugh, though it sounded more like a grunt. “I suppose for the sake of this, yes. But we shouldn’t go any further.”
She pouted at him, leaning back slightly so she might see his eyes. “Why not?”
“Because you’ve had more wine than is good for you. And when I take you for the first time, I would like you to be far more present.” He toyed with one of her sleek curls, his expression turning contemplative. “If you are still amenable to things progressing… then we can discuss thatasandwhenwe reach that moment.”
Aurelia felt as though she would nevernotbe amenable to things progressing. She felt pleasantly dizzy, as though he had spun her around on a silver platter until the world spun. And underneath it all, right in the very center of her body, she felt oddly hollow, as though she needed something more.
