And now she was near him, her hand on his mouth. He had evoked something from her, finally. Not anger or jealousy, but anxiety or embarrassment. That desperate lunge to shut him up, to keep him from mentioning their coupling where the butler might hear.
He didn’t care what reaction he had produced. He had produced one. And now she was close to him. Her green eyes were on him and only him. He had her attention. Did he dare kiss her palm as she covered his mouth with it?
No. Instead, he reached out and rested his hand lightly on the same buttock he had stroked when he had first seen her by the side of his bed at Sudbury Manor.
“No,” she said.
The dog growled.
He dropped his hand. How could she have been so responsive to him that night and not want him now?
She took her hand from his mouth and stepped away from him.
“Caro,” he whispered, “darling, let Phin kiss you now, just a little kiss. Please, darling.”
He couldn’t believe himself, begging for a kiss. He had never done such a thing. Not even when he was fourteen and desperate for female attention, walking around with a half-hard cock every hour of the day it seemed.
But maybe he should beg more often. Because Caro came toward him and nodded and said, “A l-little one.”
Her pink tongue flashed to the front of her mouth and he was lost. Lost in thinking about that night. And the nights that might come. Hell, the days that might come.
He remembered in time she had saida little one. So he inched toward her and put his hand on the back of her neck and bent her head down and put his mouth on her warm lips and felt her quiver.
A little kiss. Not too short, not too long. He did not suck at her tongue as he longed to do. He kept his own tongue in his mouth.
He came away from her lips just a bit, and pressed his forehead to hers. Yes, she was trembling. Her breath was ragged.
“Maybe one more little one, darling?”
She nodded, her head going up and down only a fraction of an inch. Yes.
And this time, her lips parted slightly and he could feel the heat of her mouth. Oh, his cock was so stiff now with just two kisses. But he had said a little one and he kept his word. And it was just as delicious as the first little one. But now he was greedy.
“And darling, maybe, a bit bigger one?”
She nodded and parted her lips and he held her chin between his thumb and the knuckle of his forefinger and kissed her deeply, softly, his tongue tasting her gently, swirling over her tongue. He had not kissed her like this yet. This was a different kiss from the ones they had shared in Sudbury. Those kisses had been fervent, driven by their genitals. And yes, he was throbbing most painfully in his tight breeches right now. But despite that, this kiss was something else. This was a kiss for the sake of a kiss.
Yes, this kiss was bigger.
Quite a bit bigger.
Because it was in the middle of this kiss, he decided he had to marry her. He couldn’t imagine a life without this kiss. Without her. Without his tall, taciturn beauty with her dark hair, her smooth skin, her beautiful cunt. He wanted her by him all the time, for the rest of his life. And surely that was possible with a special license and some good behavior on his part.
In a way, it was idiotic he had not come to this realization earlier. He had decided he was willing to marry her back in September when he had seen her portrait and grasped that he had just deflowered his friend’s sister. But he had not made the leap from being willing to marry her to absolutely, without a doubt,needingto marry her.
What had he been thinking all these months? That somehow upon her arrival to London he would conduct a secret affair with her that would be satisfying to him? That a few clandestine afternoons would glut his desire for her?
No, no. He would have to make her his. Entirely. Forever. He had to have her. In his life, in his bed, all the time.
He ended the kiss. He released her neck and her chin and stepped back. Her eyes were far away. He felt sure if he put his hand under her dress, he would feel an aching, swollen slit there, as wet right now as he was hard. Ready for him.
“I would,” he said.
She blinked.
“I would like to take you to the exhibition to see the rest of the paintings. So I might get to know more about you, Caro, ask you questions, get you to talk to me.”
Her eyes opened wide.
