Her throat seemed inordinately dry. “Yes.”
His lips pressed just above the corner of her mouth, and she sucked in a shaky breath.
He tilted her jaw to expose the side of her neck. “What about here?”
“Y-yes.”
Her knees turned to water as his lips brushed the place just beneath her ear where her pulse pounded close to the surface of her skin. She reached up and caught his elbow to steady herself as his leather-covered thumb traced her bottom lip, snagging on it slightly.
“And what about here? Can I kiss you here?”
There was only one acceptable answer to that. Her head was swimming, her body swaying towards him. “Please.”
With his lips a hairs breadth away from hers, she could feel the warm heat of his exhale as he chuckled. “Is that a yes?”
The amusement in his tone pushed her over the edge. “Yes, it’s a yes, you idiot!”
She went up on her toes and pressed her lips to his.
Chapter Ten
She’d dreamed of kissing Devlin Hamilton on many, many occasions, but the reality was better than her most fevered imaginings.
Dev made a satisfying little grunt of surprise as her lips smashed against his, then slid his hand around the nape of her neck and took control. His fingers cupped her skull as he molded his lips to hers.
The fit was utter perfection.
Livvy closed her eyes, and her breath hitched as he gently nipped her lower lip before soothing it again with another soft kiss. And then another, grazing away the sting and making her stomach swoop and liquefy with pleasure.
When she let out a shaky gasp he took shameful advantage, sliding his tonguebetween her lipsto tangle with her own.
She almost swooned at the new sensation. Who knew kissing could be like this? Heat flashed through her, scalding like wildfire. He wastastingher, consuming her, and all she wanted to do was consume him right back. The scent of him was in her nose, the hardness of his chest against hers, and she tightenedher grip on his arm as she swayed against him, desperate to get closer still.
Her enthusiastic participation seemed to loosen something inside him. It became a never-ending string of kisses, each one hotter, deeper, more drugging than the last. With a guttural groan he tightened his fingers against her nape, tasting and teasing as if she were the most perfect thing he’d ever encountered. As if he never wanted to stop.
“Liv—God, I?—”
A water bird shrieked as it came into land, skidding inelegantly over the icy surface of the lake with a flurry of wings.
They jolted apart. Dev’s hand fell from her head as he took a step back and she shivered at the sudden, unwelcome blast of cold. They were both breathing heavily. Liv’s eyes were wide as she pressed her fingertips to her throbbing lips, half in shock, half to keep the feel of him trapped against her skin.
His cheeks were tinged faintly pink, his pupils blown so wide the black almost swallowed the brown of his irises.
He took another step back and cleared his throat. “We should go back inside. It’s too cold out here.”
Liv started to shake her head; she wasn’t cold. She was burning up. And all because of him. Dear God, he’d been right; therewaspassion between them, an infinite well of it, and he seemed to know exactly how to kindle it into a flame.
He turned and set off toward the house, and she stared at his retreating back and took a deep, freezing lungful of air. The cold made her chest hurt, her throat tingle, but it helped to clear her head. She followed him at a slower pace, trying to calm her racing heart.
Once they were back inside, he excused himself, saying he had business to attend to in his study.
“You’re welcome to inspect the library,” he said, as if nothing had happened out by the lake at all. “Daisy mentioned you liketo read; I’m sure you’ll find something to entertain you. Fletcher will bring you lunch at noon.”
Livvy nodded, scarcely able to look at him. He seemed completely unaffected, whereas her body was still pricklingly aware of his proximity.
“That would be lovely, thank you.”
“In that case, I’ll see you at dinner. At seven?”
