Her smile widened, and she grabbed the front of my tunic, yanked me down to her level, and kissed me again.
This time, she took control, her tongue sliding against mine with a boldness that made heat pool low in my belly. When the weather started going wild around us again, we both ignored it.
I lost myself in the taste of her mouth, the feel of her curves pressed against me, and the small sounds she made when I kissed a spot below her ear. My hands roamed her back, her waist, everywhere I could reach without being completely inappropriate.
Though at this point, appropriate had left the cave.
She pulled back enough to gasp for air, her chest heaving.
“Every word out of your mouth makes me want to kiss you until you forget about convection currents,” I said.
“I never forget about convection currents. They’re fundamental to understanding atmospheric pressure systems.”
I kissed her again because I couldn’t help myself, and she melted against me with a soft sigh that made me want to carry her into the bedroom and spend the rest of the day discovering what other sounds I could coax from her mouth.
Fletcher groaned and hopped off the sofa, trotting into the bedroom.
CHAPTER NINE
ADELE
The next morning, I woke with my arms and legs wrapped around Raoul’s pillow, my face buried in the fabric that smelled like him.
A smile tugged at my lips before I was fully conscious. Yesterday, we’d kissed. Multiple times. Until Fletcher groaned so loudly we’d pulled apart, both of us breathing hard, my magic had created what could only be described as a localized blizzard in the sitting room.
Raoul had retreated to the sofa with a mumbled excuse about propriety, and I’d come to bed alone, too overwhelmed to do anything but replay every one of those kisses until I’d finally fallen asleep.
I traced my lips, still tender from the intensity of it all. He’d kissed me like he never wanted to stop. Like I was the only person that mattered in the entire world.
He’d promised to take me to the archives today. Three centuries of daily records, waiting for me to explore them. The thought of what I might learn was almost as exciting as his kisses.
And wasn’t that a startling revelation?
I sat up, eager to get the day going. I’d finally get to see the data I’d been dreaming about since he’d first mentioned it.
And I’d be alone with Raoul. After yesterday’s kisses. After he’d admitted to wanting me and being terrified of it.
My belly fluttered in a way that had nothing to do with hunger.
I needed to bathe and dress before he woke. The thought of sharing the bathing pool this morning after the way he’d kissed me against the wall?—
No. I couldn’t think about that right now, or I’d accidentally create another snowstorm. A few flakes had already started falling.
I slipped from the bed, grabbing fresh clothes from the wardrobe where my belongings had been placed. The sitting room was quiet except for the sound of Fletcher’s snores coming from the direction of the sofa. I spotted a blanket-covered lump that had to be Raoul buried underneath, lying beside my companion.
I pushed the bathing chamber door open as quietly as possible and stepped inside, closing it behind me with a soft click.
Steam filled the room, thick and warm, curling through the air like silk. The pool was full, the water’s surface rippling slightly. I’d bathe and?—
A sound stopped me mid-thought.
A low groan, rough and masculine, came from somewhere beyond the heaviest curtain of steam.
My breath caught.
Another sound followed. A harsh exhale and my name, spoken in a voice so strained and desperate it sent heat flooding through my entire body.
Blessed moonbells.
