Page 84 of Miss Wylde and the Wynd

The corner of her mouth tipped. “Not before.”

“You were too much of a pain in the arse before” he grumbled. “But after we arrived in London, when we shared wine before dinner, that was when I started wanting you and I have since.”

“Are you telling me the truth?”

“I would never lie about an attraction, need, desire, or lust.”

“Then why did you not seduce me? You had plenty of opportunity.”

“I believed you to be an innocent miss.”

“But I am not.”

No, technically she was not. “You are still a respectable miss who trusted the wrong man, but your life should not be ruined because of it.”

“That is kind of you to say, but I am not ruined. Instead, I am quite independent.”

“Yes, I noticed.” He then studied her. “If you wanted a lover, if you are saying that I could be him, why did you not seduce me?”

Her face started to match the delicate shade of a spring rose. “I feared rejection, if you must know, and I hate to admit, and it would have made it awkward while we traveled.”

Damian wanted to laugh, but he would not because he was certain that she would interpret it as him making fun of her, which was absurd.

“If only I had known…”

“You do now.”

He stared into her brown eyes and noticed hesitation or perhaps fear. For all her bravado, Damian believed Georgie feared rejection.

“Are you certain?”

“Have I not already said so.”

“Yes, but I want you and I have wanted you, but if you have changed your mi—”

*

If he was going to keep talking, they would be in Greenock before she had a chance to enjoy intimacy with Damian so she did the first thing that she thought of and stepped forward, placed her palms on his cheeks, drew his head down, and kissed him.

Georgie had never been so bold and it was only after she had acted that she feared that he was only talking to get out of what she wanted to do without him having to reject her.

With that terrible thought, she broke the kiss and stepped away. “I apologi—”

This time she wasn’t given a chance to stop speaking because Damian had pulled her close and pressed his lips against hers. Except, he was more demanding and when his tongue touched her lips, Georgie opened and he swept in. In that instant, her knees nearly buckled so she grasped his shoulders so that she could remain standing. His hands swept up her sides and she expected him to caress her breasts. She wanted him to. They ached for attention. Except, his thumbs just caressed the sides before his hands glided down her back, stopping at her hips when she thought that he would grab her bottom. Those had been her past experiences, but she was beginning to think that Damian might be a slower and likely better lover. His kisses were certainly better, and with those thoughts, gave herself over to all the delicious sensations that swept through her body with each kiss and touch and tried not to anticipate what he might do next.

Her breasts grew achy as her nipples tightened and she hoped that his hands caressed up her sides again and that he would finally touch her there. Instead, he broke the kiss and stepped back.

Was he done? Had he changed his mind? Had her kissing been so horrible?

Damian looked into her eyes, his normally light-blue ones, dark and intense. “How do you get out of this dress? There are no buttons or ties.”

She nearly wanted to laugh when she realized that he wasn’t caressing her but looking for a way to unfasten her dress. “It is designed for convenience for a miss who does not have a maid. I simply pull it over my head.”

He nearly growled as he pulled her close again and lowered his mouth to hers. Their heated breaths were shared as their tongues mated. Georgie was certain that her body’s temperature had risen to a fever state and when Damian finally cupped one of her breasts, she let her head fall back and just enjoyed it. Her breaking of the kiss led him to place his lips against her cheek, jaw, neck, and then above the bodice as he grasped her skirt and began pulling it up. When the back of his knuckles caressed the inside of her thigh, Georgie could not hold back her groan of pleasure.

Except, Damian pulled away again.

He was the most frustrating man to be born. What question did he have now?