She bit down on her lip.
“I can also imagine, Madeleine, that your desires transcend proving your mother wrong.”
“H-how would you know what I desire, Sebastian?” It was the first time she used his given name. And just like that, his heart sank with the realization of why it bothered him so that she asked about the duke.
He wished she’d ask about him.
But he was no duke. She couldn’t use him to prove her mother wrong.
Unless…
“Perhaps I could help you.”
“Maddie, for my friends.”
“I am your friend now?” His stomach leapt with joy, but it was also a shortcoming, for he wanted more than mere friendship with thisbeauty.
She bit her lip and gave a sweet frown. “You’d help me?”
“Always.” His cold gone and the fog lifted from his head, he only had one thought on his mind. “Have you ever thought about your first kiss?”
She jerked back, her eyes wide.
“Excuse me?”
“To know what you truly desire, and whether it’s worth proving your mother wrong, perhaps your first kiss shall reveal more of your desires than you imagine.”
She arched a brow and swallowed visibly.
“Thus,” Sebastian pressed on, “it’s not merely the rank of a man or his ability to make you a duchess that should factor in the triumph over your mother.” Sebastian tried to look away and looked back at the estate. They were truly alone. And he was absolutely incapable of resisting the urge to look deeply at her eyes. “Take me, for instance. All I could offer a woman would be the title of marchioness. But there are other factors, such as a proper kiss, that I am sure to add to the weighing scale in my favor as opposed to anyone else in the race.”
What are you doing? Stop. Before there is no return.
Maddie’s mouth fell open and there was the faintest gasp.
It was lovely.
The sort of angelic shock of a virgin that Sebastian would love to hear more often.
In even more secluded places.
She blinked up at him, and in her eyes he glimpsed the intrigue, the hesitation, and all the questions left unasked.
“Maddie?”
“I never thought about being kissed before.” Sebastian stilled. She sounded too bloody intrigued. “Say, can a woman initiate a kiss?”
“I-Initiate.” He tasted the words as realization washed over him. “Not good. A woman should neverinitiate a kiss.”
“Never?”
Sebastian cleared his throat and amended, “Not if she’s a lady. An unattached woman should never initiate a kiss.”
“I see,” she said, and a dark curl fell from her coiffure and hung over her cheek from under the ermine hat. Sebastian hesitated at first but then he reached for the delicate strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear.
“However, I hope your first kiss will be perfection.”
“Why?”
