‘I know.’
The depth of grief in his words cracked open something in her heart. Because while she didn’t really think he was a bad man, he certainly did. It was his flash of soul-clenching honesty that undid her. She closed the distance between them, pressing her lips against his, tasting mint and surprisingly… pepper.
She didn’t think his body could get any harder, but everything did. His chest. His thighs. His arms. His fingers. And his mouth became ravenous.
He released his grip around her only to plunge his fingers into her hair. She had lost her hat somewhere. She would have to return to Viscount Beachley’s house to retrieve it. Later.
His strong grip at the base of her neck was the only thing tethering her to the world.
‘Tell me to stop. Tell me and I will.’ His words were as fierce as his gaze.
She bit her lip and slowly shook her head. A girl born of fire couldn’t possibly douse this blaze.
‘Damn you,’ he growled before pulling her face closer, pressing his lips against the sensitive flesh where her jaw met her neck and sucking hard, nipping in sharp, sweet bites that nearly stole Clio’s sanity. Sparks were igniting all over her skin. Lights flickered behind her closed eyes, but when he caught her earlobe between his teeth, biting hard enough to have her gasping, she didn’t care if the carriage became engulfed. She wanted more. Pressing her thighs together, she savoured the delicious ache at her apex. A pulsing need demanded friction.
Grey tugged on her hair, the pain creating heat. He kissed along her cheekbone, over one eye, then the other. His hand slipped down to cup her breast, testing her shape against his palm. Her nipples hardened instantly, greedy little things needing more pressure. She desperately wished for fewer layers.
The carriage hit a rut in the road, and Clio was weightless for a moment before bouncing back onto his lap. She could feel the hard ridge of his erection even through the volumes of silk and lace separating them.
Oh my.
This could so easily burn out of control. That realisation was enough to crack the haze of lust infusing her.
The air inside the carriage had grown heavy and hot. Like being trapped in a greenhouse or orangery. Pulling back from his drugging kisses, amber clashed with emerald as she held his gaze. His lips were red from her teeth scraping them. His pupils blown wide with untamed need. She knew her face would carry the marks of his shadow beard where he’d scraped his rough cheek against her smooth one, and it created a strange sense of satisfaction to know they had marked each other in such a primitive way.
The carriage pulled to a stop, and Clio didn’t miss the slight singe on the edge of the curtain closest to her.
Blasted damnation. Perhaps he won’t notice.
Of course he would notice. He noticed far too much. This was lunacy of the highest order.
Grey seemed to come out of a trance as the carriage stilled. His eyes shifted from wild passion to bitter regret. ‘I should not have… that is. Please forgive me for taking such unforgivable liberties.’
Something about his immediate shame rankled her. ‘You didn’t take them. I gave them.’ Was his attraction to her so disgusting because of her station in life, or her general person? And why was she offended? She didn’t want this to happen again. His disgustshould be a welcome reason to avoid ever repeating this most obvious mistake. ‘And there is nothing to forgive. No crime has been committed.’
‘You are at least ten years my junior. And my best friend’s niece. An innocent who doesn’t deserve to be toyed with by someone like me.’
Ah. Well. He is trying to be honourable. How damnably lovely.
But it didn’t take the sting out of his rejection. ‘I am also a woman well into my adult years and able to make my own choices. Trust me, I have no illusions of a future with you, nor do I want one. This was a moment of madness we shall never repeat.’
That certainly shocked him.
He gritted his teeth. ‘Indeed?’
She raised her brows and lifted her chin. ‘Indeed.’
Exhaling through his nose, he flexed the hand still wrapped around her waist. She resisted the urge to arch her back in offering. Because she would give nothing to this man. Not her body. Not her heart. Certainly not her magic.
‘Good. Because I have no intentions of courting you, Clio.’ He spoke her name like a prayer. Or a curse. The intensity of his dark voice wrapping around the syllables nearly drew her back to him, like a moth to a candle. If only the rest of what he said wasn’t so insulting.
The irony of him taking offence at her rejection of his rejection was not lost on Clio. She laughed, though it was a sharp sound devoid of mirth. ‘And I certainly have no wish to be courted by you, as I just said. Really, Grey. For an investigator, you are terrible at paying attention.’ She slipped off his lap and twisted towards the door. Gripping the handle, she glanced over her shoulder. He was ridiculously handsome with his tousled black hair, piercing green eyes, shadowed jaw, and sinful lips, pressed into a hard, disapproving line. He could have been the Devil himself, stern anddetermined to drag her soul with him into the fiery pit. Something about his dark beauty fuelled her simmering anger. ‘Fear not, Grey. I am in no danger of falling in love with you. I would rather burn forever than suffer such a fate.’ She smiled at him, a baring of teeth that intensified her cutting words. She pushed open the door and jumped from the cab to the cobblestone street in a splash of muddy water.
Marvellous.
Hoping for a dramatic exit, this fell somewhat short. Her boots were already soaked through.
Grey leaned out of the hansom, the wind playing with his hair. ‘This will not happen again, Miss Blair.’
