His head moved closer. “Kissing you.”
His lips brushed hers. The hand on her chin moved to the side of her head and into her hair. Then he drew away, looking down at her. Was that it?
Her world blurred as he bent again, his mouth firmer, and Daisy had to move with him, their lips molding to each other, caressing. Another short breath and he was back, more assertive, his mouth teasing her lips apart and his tongue slipping inside. The hot velvet sensation of his tongue against hers made her toes curl. Daisy whimpered, but didn’t break away. She reached for him to steady herself, her hands curling into the embroidered lapels of his robe.
He took her wrists and brought her hands to the back of his neck. Daisy speared her fingers into the hair at his nape. He put his arms around her and pulled her against him. All the air left her body, and she was floating in bliss. The world outside his embrace did not exist anymore. There was only Alston, and Alston was kissing the wits out of her.
She never imagined a kiss involved one’s whole body.
But Alston’s kiss touched her everywhere. He teased her tongue with licks and flicks until Daisy responded. Then he rewarded her with a squeeze of his arms. Her breasts pressed against his hard chest, and that, too, was a new and invigorating sensation. Her fingers sifted through his hair like they’d known all along that was their purpose in life. Her body was hungry for more touch, for every brush and scrape of clothing across her skin. She pushed up on her toes and locked her arms tighter around his neck. She couldn’t get enough.
His hands roved over her back and Daisy arched into him, drawing out a groan she could feel through his chest.
He brought his hands back to her face, and Daisy wilted against him without the support of his arms. He held her face, slowly easing back, and she fought it. She wanted more—needed more—but she could not keep him, she knew that. Their lips broke apart and Daisy buried her face in his chest. She could not look him in the eye after that wanton display.
He stroked a hand over her hair, one hand returning to her back and stroking up and down her spine. Daisy could have purred like a cat, but she found some reserves of her dignity and let go of her hold on his neck.
She lifted her forehead off him, dragging her greedy hands down over his chest. “I’m—”
“If you’re going to apologize don’t. That probably falls to me as a gentleman, but I’m not going to either.”
It was hard to hear over the drumming of her heart. “Then what do I say after... after a kiss?”
He lifted her chin, his blue eyes duskier than before. He searched her face, coming to some sort of decision she didn’t understand.
“If it’s done right, there isn’t any talking, but that’s a lesson for another time.”
The flame inside her stoked brighter.Another time?
“I like kissing you,” he said
Heat and giddiness washed over her. “Oh?”
“Dangerously so.” His deep voice reverberated between them. “We have a conundrum it seems.” Daisy frowned. “I want to kiss you again.” She brightened. “But I won’t.”
Her hopes sank like a stone in a murky pond. Never to be seen again.
He chuckled. “Such disappointment. Don’t make this any more difficult than it is.”
She blinked at him. “I don’t understand. If we both liked it, then—” She swallowed the words. She was not going to beg for another kiss.
He eased his hold on her, and Daisy stepped back, her legs less sturdy than when they began. His hands slid from her body, and she missed them instantly.
“When you came in that first evening, in your robe and nightgown, ruby hair disheveled...”
Daisy remembered it well. The sight of him had struck her like a bolt of lightning.
“You stunned me,” he said, his voice dropping. “I’m crossing so many lines by saying this, but Daisy, you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever set eyes on. Your smile, your blush, the way you tuck your hair behind your ear and look away when you get shy. They way the green of your eyes fragments with light when you laugh... I never get tired of looking at you, talking to you.
“You’ve made this unbearable situation tolerable,” he continued. “You agreed to help me, knowing it would risk the wrath of your brother. I’ve already asked too much of you. I’ve already shattered every rule in the book. And yet I cannot find the will to deny myself your company. But Blakewood would gut me if he knew about this. If one of us is to be the reasonable one, it cannot be me. I’ve met death, and perhaps that is why I didn’t have the will to resist you, to deny myself something so lovely as you. I shouldn’t have kissed you, but I’ll be damned if I’ll regret it. However, I’m intelligent enough to know it should not happen again.”
He thought she could be reasonable. But Daisy was weak with the need to touch him. She had no will resist him, either, but what could she do? Or say? He was right. They’d done something disastrous, though Daisy couldn’t summon any shame or regret either. Everything about Alston was perfect and right. How could kissing him be wrong?
He closed his eyes. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I should have—I’m sorry. It isn’t right I put the responsibly of maintaining propriety on you. I am older and expected to be the wiser one. This is my fault. Not yours.”
Her heart split right down the middle. “Alston...” Just saying his name hurt. Heat flooded her, not the delicious kind like before. Humiliation scalded her insides. Daisy nodded,hoping to extricate herself from this horrible moment with a shred of her dignity intact. “I understand,” she said.
“The sorrow on your face indicates otherwise.”
