“You cannot force this, my lord.”
“No?”
“Very well, youwillnot. It would be the action of a knave.”
He was watching her in a way that would send a sensible woman screaming into the night. “I grant you a counterforfeit, then.”
“What?”
“You may choose something for which I must pay a forfeit in turn.”
“Youaredrunk.”
At last she stood, but too late. He caught her wrist and tugged her back down, closer on the seat. Shetried to pull free, but he tightened his grip. She didn’t fight very hard. Her blood was singing in mad delight.
“You’re cold,” he said, sounding surprised.
Of course the man who’d voluntarily ridden outside all day did not feel the cold like a normal person. He let her go and clasped her hands in wonderfully warm ones, gently massaging them. She suppressed a groan at the pleasure of it.
“Come, Genova,” he murmured, “I propose a game, no more. Christmas is time for games, and it will help us play our parts.”
“Your game seems more like a challenge to me.” But she was melting so much under his warm touch that she was surprised she wasn’t sliding off the seat into a puddle.
“An easy challenge.” He raised her hands to blow first into one palm, then into the other. “To avoid penalty, you have only to avoid giving me orders. And, of course, you have only to command me if you want a kiss.”
The confident glint in his eyes should have given her strength to resist, but instead it made her want this game more. “What if I make your forfeit for you kissing me?”
“Somewhat circular, but why not? What shall I pay? More kisses? A circle of delights. No, a spiral, like a whirlpool…”
Alarmed by that image, she pulled free. “Guineas.”
He stared, all humor wiped away. “I did not think you mercenary.”
She put distance and cool air between them. “I see no reason why I shouldn’t be, but as it happens, the guineas won’t be for me, but for the baby.”
She saw him react with sharp impatience, and her shiver was not of pleasure this time.
She raised her chin. “I may not be able to force you to admit your responsibility and provide for Charlie, my lord, but now I can compel you to provide the funds. Anytime Imust.”
After a moment he laughed. “Very well, my Amazon.A guinea a kiss. How many guineas, I wonder, are needed to support a child for life? A hundred? A thousand?” His voice mellowed into a seductive purr. “In how many days?”
Her mouth and throat dried.
No wonder he’d laughed.
“We have an agreement, Miss Smith?”
Kisses were only kisses. It rang hollow in her mind, but she would not, could not, back down. This would all be under her control.
She stirred moisture in her mouth and swallowed. “Yes, my lord.”
He captured her hand again, sliding closer. “Then come let us start our account.”
Every scrap of sense screamed a warnings but the rest of Genova sank willingly into the whirlpool so that his last word was murmured against her lips and sealed them. Need for this had been building since their morning kiss, had been mounting to fiery heat during their debate, and was crowned by his mastery now.
His hands, clever hands, traveled over her, and hers were doing the same. She slid one beneath his jacket, savoring the hot, hard lines of ribs and hip and spine. Another cradled his head, holding him close, as if he might try to escape before she’d had her fill.
It had been so long, too long, since she’d kissed a man like this.
