He’d never thought to touch her this way. When a man had no money, he didn’t trifle with a penniless woman, no matter how… or what… or who. But he was a rake on a mission with a soft, lovely woman beneath him.
So he kissed her.
Through the wine and brandy she tasted like chocolate.And peppermint. Both of which she kept nearby while painting. Familiar.
And not.
Because he’d not known how soft her lips were, how delicious it was to sink into their plumpness. He never would have guessed that a little squeak of a sound could taste so good, or that an exhalation could flutter a soul.
Flutter a soul?
Hewasdrunk, wasn’t he. He’d taken this too far. Time to pull away. He’d made his point, so he lifted his hands from her thigh, her shoulder.
But then her lips parted.
And she kissed him back, her mouth opening with a warm breath of surrender and moving against his own with inexpert and inquisitive eagerness. Tessa. Tessa King. Her name cracked him open and replaced the pounding of his pulse. She’d killed him swiftly without even knowing, but her sweet, eager kiss could bring him back to life just as surely.
He broke away, held still as a deer in the wood who’d heard an unfamiliar sound. He couldn’t bolt, couldn’t push as far from her as possible. He didn’tneedto. That would suggest that kiss had scared him.
It hadn’t.
“Re-Remmy…” she whispered. Her mouth twisted with horror. “Why did you?—”
“Now you know.” He backed off her, pulling her skirts down over her legs. “I’m as bad as the Belle says.”
She shot upright, pulling her legs beneath her, touching her fingertips to her lips. Her eyes were wide and full of fire. She swung down off the rock and smoothed her skirts with rough, agitated gestures.
Straightening her shoulders, she met his gaze as if he hadn’t just had the entire needy length of his body pressed against hers. “That was a terribly silly thing to do.”
“Silly?” He jumped off the rock to stand tall before her, hands on hips. “You’re not scared of me?”
“Scared? Of you?” She stilled, shook her head slowly. “You’re Remmy. No matter what, you’d never hurt me. But you’d irritate me. Wouldn’t hesitate to do that. I’ll forgive you, though.” She patted his shoulder, all friendly like. “And forget what you’ve done.” She picked her way carefully back toward the path, then up it. Soon, she was entirely out of sight.
He leaned over the rock, pressing both palms into its time-smoothed top while trying to tame his erection.
Forget? She’d be able to forgetthat? He dropped his head, and the wind whipped up, whistling through the trees, low and mournful. She really didn’t feel a damn thing for him, did she.
Chapter Four
The morning mist dissipated as Tessa brought to life the bug-bitten leaf of a dying rose. It drooped heavy from a branch that brushed against the stone bench where she sat in the garden near the house. The bench had bruised the petals. The bug had nibbled its leaves. But there was moreinterestin its flaws than in another bloom’s perfection. She could give nothing to a perfectly beautiful rose. But a flawed one… She could give a dying leaf a second life with a bit of charcoal and paper.
If only she could forget yesterday as easily.
Remmy hadkissedher.
No.
He’d tried to seduce her.
Reduced her to a melted, pulsing pile of… of…
Obsession.
Her hand shook, and she dropped the charcoal in her lap, stretched her fingers.
Last night, in bed, she’d thought about him all night long.
His long finger tracing up her thigh.
