“Is that why you came to court?” he asked, knowing the answer she would give; what her brother had dared not say to him.
“Aye! I’m safe from this unknown, unwantedbetrothedof mine with the queen. When my parents return, the matter will then be settled for good and all.”
“Yet the gentleman is within his rights wanting the marriage now, Velvet.”
“I’ll wed no one until my parents return, and I’ll wed no man unless I love him!” she repeated firmly. Then she cocked her head and looked up at him. “Let us speak no longer about this unpleasant matter, but rather let us speak of how I may go about getting my first kiss. You are a man, Alex, and you are surely far more sophisticated than I am. Tell me, then, how does a maiden encourage a gentleman to kiss her?”
“Velvet, lass,” he protested, “ ’tis not a thing you should be discussing with a man.”
“Why not?” she demanded. “Every one of the queen’s maids has been kissed but me. Why does no one want to kiss me?” She stared up at him and he was hard put to answer her. It gave him secret pleasure to know that whether she realized it or not, she belonged to him. It delighted him to know that no man had yet tasted of her sweetness. But then, as he basked in his smugness, it occurred to him that she was suddenly very ripe for loving, and if he did not pluck her then someone else was going to brave Elizabeth Tudor, Walter Ralegh, and Robert Devereux to possess Velvet de Marisco.
“The first kiss is a very special one,” he said reflectively. “It should be given by someone of experience.”
“You are qualified, I am certain of it,” she said softly.
“Are you asking me to kiss you, Velvet?”
“Should I have to?” she countered, then blushed again.
He laughed low, suddenly realizing that their entire conversation had taken place while she stood within the protective circle of his arms. Drawing her closer with one hand, he gently raised her chin with the other so that she looked him full in the face. “No, Velvet lass, you don’t have to ask me to kiss you. ’Tis something I’ve been wanting to do ever since I first laid eyes upon you.”
He lowered his head, and Velvet’s heart seemed to leap from her chest as his golden gaze captured her emerald one. Slowly his mouth descended to meet with hers, and her stomach knotted and reknotted in a half-fearful, half-pleasured frenzy of excitement. Unbidden, her eyes closed, and she shivered with delight as his lips came down over hers in that first tender embrace. For a moment Velvet wasn’t sure that she was breathing, almost certain that she was perishing as the strength drained from her limbs. Her arms reached up to cling to him, and he pulled her closer against him.
Alex had never known a woman’s mouth to be so pliant, so tender. He had been gentle at first, but when she showed neither fright nor resistance his kiss deepened until finally her lips softened and parted beneath his. He shivered with his rising ardor and realized that it was his responsibility to cease their embrace now before it went any further. Reluctantly he drew his head back and looked down into her pale oval face. Slowly her eyes opened and she gazed up at him.
A smile lit his eyes, and he gently touched her cheek. “I hope it was a satisfactory first kiss, Velvet,” he said quietly.
Struggling to stand on her own again, she nodded silently at him. It was not necessary to say anything, for he could see her eyes had darkened with her awakening passion. She took several deep breaths that seemed to clear her befuddled brain.
Noting that she was regaining her equilibrium, Alex said calmly, “When you are ready, I shall escort you back to the festivities, Velvet.”
Finally she managed to find her voice again. “Is it always like that?” she asked.
“Like what?”
“So …” She struggled for the correct word. “So tempestuous!”
He was charmed by her honesty. “I cannot say what a female feels, Velvet, but for me our kiss was tempestuous also. You are a very sweet lass.” Then, taking her hand, he began to draw her back through the gardens to where the others were still dancing.
“Will you want to kiss me again?” she surprised him by asking.
He stopped and, taking her by the shoulders, looked down at her, somewhat concerned. “Yes, I will kiss you again, Velvet, but you must promise me something in return.”
“What?”
“I would prefer that you did not go about asking other gentlemen to kiss you also.”
“Do you fear for my reputation, my lord, or is it that I am not expert enough in kissing yet?” she demanded saucily.
“Both.” He grinned, amused by her pertness.
Velvet chuckled. “I like you, Alexander Gordon,” she said. “Will you be my friend as well as Robin’s?”
“Aye, lassie, I’ll be your friend.” He felt warmth suffuse through him at her words. Robin had been right in making him wait. Velvet liked him! Soon he would teach her to love him.
“I’ll kiss no one else but you, Alex,” she said softly. “At least not until I’m good at this kissing,” she amended with a laugh.
Alex noted that Robert Devereux eyed him somewhat jealously as they returned to the gathering. The Earl of Essex saw with rising irritation that Velvet’s cheeks were pinker than normal and that her mouth had a sudden lushness about it. Moving next to Lord Gordon, he murmured in a low voice, “You know that the queen frowns upon those who trifle with her ladies, my lord. Besides, the girl is betrothed.”
