“Yes, Mr. Todd. Do you want to check the rooms on this floor?”
Harry looked at Miss Todd. Her green eyes were stormy with dread, the pupils dilated.
“Ain’t got time.” Todd’s voice bristled with impatience. “That’s your job, ain’t it?”
“Yes, sir. Beg pardon, sir.”
“Let’s get on with it.”
When the steps moved on, Harry released a breath. He did a quick survey of the hallway. Doors lined one side, a stairwell at the far end.
He said in a low voice, “Can you get us out of here?”
Miss Todd nodded shakily. “We’ll have to take the back stairs.”
One of the doors suddenly opened, voices floating out.
“Come again soon, gents,” a woman’s voice purred from within the room.
A chorus of male laughter. “With you, Sally, we always do.”
Two men emerged into the hallway.
Bloody hell.They would be in the men’s line of sight in an instant—nowhere, no time to hide. The best Harry could do was shield Miss Todd’s body with his own, try to keep her out of the newcomers’ view.
Before he could make the move, fingers slid into his hair. His head jerked, his startled gaze colliding with Miss Todd’s. He saw her determined expression the instant before she raised herself on tiptoe, crushing her mouth to his.
Kissing Bennett was a risky move.
Yet Tessa didn’t want to have to deal with her grandfather’s wrath if she was discovered here, and this stratagem was the best one to keep her identity concealed. The approaching men would pay no mind to an embracing couple. Bennett obviously agreed with her plan because he crowded her up against the wall, his big body shielding her from view, his mouth covering hers.
She’d seen people kissing, but she’d never done it for herself. She wasn’t certain exactlywhatshe was supposed to do beyond smooshing her lips against Bennett’s. The truth was, having him so close was affecting her ability to think. She was acutely aware of his rigid form pressing into her, his strength and heat, and it was…distracting.
She tried to say something, but his mouth suddenly slanted, and the kiss deepened. Her thoughts blurred to awakening sensations. Bennett kissed the way he seemed to do everything: with focus, intensity, and skill. His lips dragged against hers, firm and velvety, stoking a feverish heat beneath her skin.
He tastes of peppermint,came the nonsensical thought.
Her mind fogged with sultry heat. Of their own accord, her lips parted to take in more of him. He shuddered around her, and, an instant later, she felt a hot, thick invasion between her lips.
Zounds…his tongue was in hermouth.
She’d glimpsed others kissing this way, and she’d thought it absurd (and, frankly, unhygienic), but experiencing it for herself changed her perception altogether. Bennett’s kiss was delicious, thrilling,addictive. He licked inside her, and a spark danced along her spine, igniting a flare between her legs. Her hands clenching in his hair, she tipped her head back, a desperate, silent plea for more.
In the next instant, she was crushed against the wall. Sandwiched against wood and Bennett’s harder length. Her unfettered breasts surged against his granite-hard chest as the kiss caughtfire.His mouth consumed her, possessed her, laying claim with each bold thrust of his tongue. He’d taken control over the kiss, yet she felt strangely safe. Protected.
Andhot. Dear God, she was burning up inside. His big hands splayed over her bottom, yanking her closer. His thigh wedged between her legs, the intimate invasion lodging her breath.
He nudged deeper against her sex, hitting an exquisite peak, and her breath popped free, turning into a moan as it left her lips. Her woman’s place was throbbing, aching, shockingly wet. Delirious with need, she rocked against the hard trunk of Bennett’s thigh, gasping at the blissful friction.
“God, yes,” he rasped against her lips. “Ride me.”
She couldn’t stop if she tried. As she rode his sinewy appendage, she felt another one pressing into her thigh. His male member, she realized dizzily. It was as hard and heavy as a steel pike, and when she squirmed against it, he groaned, the rumble hitting the back of her throat. His tongue pushed even deeper into her mouth, and, on instinct, she sucked—
“Couldn’t make it to a bedchamber, eh?”
“Must be a tasty wench. Care to share?”
She jerked at the leering male voices, but Bennett kept her pressed against the wall, his body shielding her from view.
