“Shut up and kiss me again, please.”
He hesitated at her command, but she didn’t. Her hands clasped his cheeks, and thenshewas pulling his lips down to meet hers, and by Neptune’s Trident, this kiss was—was…
This kiss waseverything.
She was clearly untutored, but her enthusiasm more than made up for it. When he teased the seam of her lips, and they parted enough to let him in, her tongue tentatively touched his, and Phin groaned. Her fingers dug into his faint stubble, as if trying to anchor him in place, although he had no intentions of leaving her.
Ever.
The thought gave him pause. Surely he wasn’t thinking about aforeverwith a woman he’d only danced with once?
Well, why no’? Yer tongue is in her mouth right now, or have ye no’ noticed?
Oh, he noticed, alright.
She was on her toes, pushing against him, making the most arousing little mewing noises, her tongue mimicking his actions closely enough to make him groan aloud again.
Patience, laddie.
With a gasp, he broke the contact, but wasn’t strong enough to lose her altogether, so he pressed his forehead against hers. She was breathing as heavily as he was, great heaving gasps, which mingled their breaths between them.
Heknewshe could feel his cock, swollen under his kilt and pressing against her belly, but she didn’t shy away. For that matter, she hadn’t shied away from meeting him here, and she certainly hadn’t shied away from his kisses.
“If you apologize for that, Phineas Oliphant, I will kick you in the shin.”
It was such an unexpected threat, it caused Phin to burst into laughter. Her smile bloomed in response, and he tugged her against him, tucking her head under his chin.
“By Zeus, lass, ye are a treasure.”
“Because I kissed you?”
“Because ye kissed me, and ye offered to help me, and ye have enough knowledge in yer beautiful head that I ken yecanhelp me, and because I like?—”
She pinched him. “You are giving me a big head.”
Still grinning, he dropped a kiss to the top of her perfectly sized head. “More space to store knowledge. Ye’re really willing to help me?”
“Yes, but…” She shifted, and he could imagine her chewing on that delectable bottom lip. “I do not know how much help I will be.”
“Ye’ll be all the help I need.” Thinking about that lip, and how perfect she felt in his arms, wasn’t helping his resolve. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to ruin Olive L’arbre right here in their hostess’s study.
So he set her away from him, brushing a brief kiss across her lips, and pretended not to see the disappointment which flashed across her expression when she realized it wasn’t going to last any longer.
“Phineas—”
“Meet me in the library after breakfast tomorrow, aye? Most of this lot will still be asleep, and we can go over the maps in peace.”
“You—you really want my help?”
Pluto’s scepter, she really didn’t realize how incredible she was, did she?
“Ye submitted an article on Roman rooflines to the Journal of the Society of Archaeology,” he reminded her drily. “Ye’re brilliant. Aye, I need yer help.”
When he planted his hands on her shoulders and turned her gently toward the door, she appeared in a sort of daze. From his compliment? Or from the kisses?
He hoped both.
A little nudge from him was all it took to send her to the door, but she turned once she reached it and glanced back at him.
“Tomorrow, Olive,” he reminded her. “And bring a copy of yer paper so I can read it, aye?”
Mutely, she nodded, then took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and exited.
It felt as if some of the light left with her.
Exhaling, Phin stalked toward his host’s drinks cabinet, knowing he wasn’t going back to the party again this evening. As he sank down on the settee with a glass of brandy in hand, he admitted the truth.
He didn’t just need Olive L’arbre for her architectural expertise, he needed her in hislife.
Possibly forever.
