But why her assuming he wanted money angered him more than her thinking he was bargaining with her virtue he didn’t know.
He never should have touched her, and he especially never should have brought her body against his. The feel of her breasts crushed against his chest, the dart of her nipples, the flush of desire on her cheeks, and the sweet gasp and parting of her lips drove him out of his mind with lust. It took him to a place that was dark and deep and impossible to find his way out of. It was the place of erotic dreams and fantasies. The place where he finally tasted her. Finally touched her. Finally had her flush with desire and weak with surrender.
“You aren’t serious,” she managed nervously. “I know you, Thom. You don’t mean it.”
Her certainty only fueled the flames hotter. She didn’t know him at all. “You knew a boy who knew his place. A boy who only let you see what he wanted you to see. A village lad who wouldn’t dare to touch the perfect little princess for fear that he might sully her.”
Her eyes widened and flickered with what looked like fear. He didn’t know whom he hated more at that moment. He let her go and set her away from him, needing to put distance between her and his surging body. His fists clenched and re-clenched at his sides as he fought for control. “Is the thought of having my hands on you so offensive?”
She blinked. “No! I mean yes... I mean no, of course not! Why are you trying to confuse me?”
His mouth set in a hard, unforgiving line. “Is that what I’m doing? I thought we were bargaining. But since my terms didn’t appeal to you—”
“A kiss,” she said, cutting him off.
His heart might have stopped beating. His breath, however, had definitely stopped. All he could do was stare at her and wait for her to explain.
“I will let you kiss me, and then you will agree to help rescue Archie.”
Let you. His jaw clenched. “How gracious of you, but I’m afraid that isn’t good enough.”
She flushed, obviously surprised by his rejection of her terms. Did she think him that desperate for a taste of her?
So what if he was, damn it!
“Whatdoyou want, then?” she demanded, her own temper flaring.
“I will let you kiss me,” he said.
Her brows drew together. “That’s what I said.”
He didn’t correct her. “Andwe will see if you can persuade me that it is worth the risk.”
The furrow between her brows deepened. “How am I to do that?”
“Make it good.” His voice gave no hint of the rapid heating of his blood. “I’m sure you’ve been kissed before?”
Her eyes narrowed, as if she suspected there was more behind the question than there first appeared. She was right.
“Once or twice.”
The rage that rose inside him was so fast and furious it could only be bloodlust. His muscles flared. The thought of someone else touching her drove him to the very edge of his restraint. Who? When?Kill.
Somehow he managed to respond without growling. “Good. Then you will know what to do.”
Elizabeth had no idea what to do. Thom—the person she thought she knew most in the world who it turned out she didn’t know at all—was standing there obviously waiting for her to begin.
She eyed him warily, sensing that there was far more to this conversation than she was hearing.
It had seemed like a good idea, but now that she was actually looking at him, knowing what she had to do, it felt... bigger.Muchbigger. And daunting. And somehow important—as if she were about to do something that she knew could never be undone.
She licked her suddenly dry lips and took a small step forward. But her entire body seemed to shake. Her knees were wobbling, her legs had turned to jelly, and her stomach seemed to be flipping around inside like a fish out of water.
That’s what she was. She had no idea what she was doing. She had been kissed before—twice, actually—but somehow she sensed a kiss like the quick pecks stolen by a particularly bold French suitor was not going to suffice.
Make it good.
She looked up at him, feeling her heart rise to her throat.
