I had seen a maid and footman kiss at a house party once, when they thought no one else around. The maid had been wrapped around the footman, and he had pressed her against the wall. I thought that was most likely what Noble meant byrealkissing. It had looked rather real.
“Yes.”
He smiled slowly. “Good. We’ll start with the basics.”
My mind went blank. “Basics?”
“Of kissing. Most people aren’t good at kissing right from the start.” He looked me over. “Unless you are a natural.”
I blinked stupidly.
His hand touched my cheek, gently tilting my head. “It’s like connecting puzzle pieces when you kiss. Or when you do anything else of a sexual nature.” The parts of my brain notalready blank blessedly went dark. “You don’t want to purse your lips, you don’t want to keep them too slack.”
He lifted my markless wrist and turned it underside up so it hung just below his lips. His other hand slowly peeled off my glove. Contact sparked in overwhelming directions as my skin and magic immediately reached to catalog his.
“A firm gentle pressure…” His lips touched my wrist, the pulse point beating wildly beneath. My breath caught in my throat. His magic was banked, hidden, as only the most powerful could achieve, but there was heat there, like a cauldron bubbling below. His eyes kept a steady hold on mine, watching. “A light teasing…”
A tongue traced my pulse. Heat followed the path. What would it feel like for him to sweep across the marks on my other wrist? Sin. Pure sin.
“An all-encompassing domination.” His warm breath tickled my skin every time he spoke, and then he encased the fire with his mouth. My head tilted back as he drew me closer and I fell under his will. “A sweet submission.” His lips sucked gently and then released. “Those all work well depending on the mood and heat.”
The kitchen was rather warm.
“Open your lips, Marietta.”
My mouth parted without my express permission.
“I don’t think we need to explore the perfunctory types of kisses first, do we?”
“N-No.”
“No.” He shook his head slowly, and I couldn’t look away. The same spellbound haze swept through me again, just as it had on the street. Scorching heat crawling my cheeks and a strange throb tightening down low.
His head lowered, his eyes fixed on mine. I didn’t know what to do, so I stood motionless. Lips brushed mine and a tingling sensation shot down my spine. My first kiss felt rather nice.
He repeated the motion, and I tentatively brushed my lips across his, but instead of continuing the feathery caresses, his mouth closed over mine. An entirely different kind of sensation followed. He had said not to stay still or limp, but also not to exert too much pressure, and I had no idea what to do. Doing nothing felt odd, though. His hand curled around the back of my neck, urging me closer, and I followed, his lips opening mine. The motion gently rocked into a rhythm.
I opened and closed my lips with his, and it was awkward. I started to feel light-headed.
He pulled back, a single breath away, and I saw the amusement in his eyes. “Remember to breathe, Marietta.”
“How can I breathe when your lips are covering mine?”
He brushed my nose with his, an entirely inappropriate gesture, as was all of this. “Through your nose. Or take in a little air with your mouth when we separate.”
Separate? When had that happened?
“Let’s try it again.”
“I dislike you,” I blurted as his lips reached for mine again.
“I know.” His gaze said he didn’t believe my words—eyes twinkled in challenge, the darkness lurking just behind. “Put that to use in kissing me. Try to get your revenge.”
He lowered his head again. When his lips met mine, I wasn’t shocked this time—and it felt evenbetter. More natural. I attempted breathing through my nose and wanted to kick him in the shin when his laughter ghosted against my mouth.
He hummed against my lips. “I can’t remember the last time teaching someone to kiss was this fun.”
The tremors from the words, from his mouth, vibrated against mine.
