Ariadne straightened her spine and flexed her fist on her side. “It’s a wife’s duty.”
His eyes narrowed, “You want to consummate the marriage when you have not even been kissed before? Don’t make me laugh, pet.”
She flushed. “How do you know I haven’t been kissed before?”
Holding back another derisive snort, he said. “It’s written all over you. You display all the naiveté and hopeless ideals of a virginal girl with ideals gained from those damned books. If you were ever kissed, I will eat my boots.”
Her lips fell open in shock before she shook her head in disbelief. Crossing her arms, she glared, “And you’re scared!”
Brows flying to his hairline, he demanded, “Scared? Of what?”
“Of people judging you, so you make sure to shut yourself off first,” Ariadne said. “You throw up walls to keep people away in the preemptive chance they will hurt you.” She had the audacity to jab a finger at him. “What you are, Your Grace, is terrified.”
His fingers curled as invisible threads of energy spun tautly around them. “You’re dreaming, sweetling, because it’s past your bedtime,” he bit out.
Her eyes flashed. “Do not treat me like I’m a child, youbounder!”
“You wish to be treated as a woman? I’ll give you what you want then.” In a reflex, swift and fierce, Cedric’s hand shot out, grasping her wrist firmly. Before he could stop himself, he yanked her into his arms and slammed his mouth over hers.
Startled at being kissed, she brought her arms up and pushed him away, but not too far. “Is this how you respond to me not being kissed before? To kiss methatway? With no preamble or warning?”
“You didn’t like it.”
Ariadne pinked. “Well…no…”
“Let’s try that again.”
He lowered his mouth to hers again. Much to her astonishment, the touch of his lips was the most remarkable thing she’d ever experienced in the entirety of her life.
Their lips crashed together with a passion only hindered by his restraint, overwhelmed by the taste of her, the urge to deepen the kiss consuming him.
Cedric’s lips roamed over hers with masterful intensity, and her heart thumped recklessly and uncontrollably. She could not think, she could barely breathe; her lips clung to his desperately as his kiss grew more potent.
His kiss weakened her knees, and he caught her against the wall; Ariadne shivered when his tongue swept across her bottom lip. Amid their intense embrace, Ariadne’s hand drifted up to his face again, and again, her slender fingers sank into his hair.
His body angled her back, seemingly overpowering her, but she did not feel overwhelmed. The breadth of his hard chest pressed against her breasts, and she let out a little shiver of delight at the sensation.
One of his hands cupped the nape of her neck, angling her head so that he could kiss her deeper. Her entire body felt off balance, utterly alert to the room, to the world, to him.
His mouth opened wider, and he seemed to be stealing the breath from her very lungs, but it was not an unpleasant thing. In fact, every moment tossed her from cloud to cloud, making her feel completely alive.
Was such a thing possible? It certainly seemed so.
She’d never been touched like this before, and pressed up against the wall, her breathing was ragged as something thick was digging into her lower belly.
She pulled her head away, blinking with the certain realization that… for her first kiss, that was not what she had expected.
Did he have something in his pocket?
Expecting his face to reflect the same riotous feeling inside her heart, Ariadne was taken aback—another time—when she saw his eyes were lowered and his expression closed off.
Did he feel nothing? How was that possible?
The darkness around him mingled with his hair as he took another step away. “You should go, Ariadne. You’re not ready for what you think you want.”
He was right.
“I apologize, Your Gr— Cedric” she managed to correct herself. “I never should have come. It was a mistake.”
