Page 13 of To Steal a Kiss

Gosh.

“Y-You would?”

His hands left the railing and covered hers, so warm, his touch sending heat coursing over her. She watched, mesmerised as they slid up her arms. Alice closed her eyes as they continued back down, but along a new path as they followed the contours of her ribcage, settling on her waist.

“Turn around, Alice.”

Chapter 5

If only life could be like the stories you write, Prue. If only I could ask you to write a husband for me. Created to order. I would ask you for a man who was strong and kind and never treated me like a child.

A man with a devilish smile.

A man who was just the right amount of wicked.

―Excerpt of a letter from Miss Alice Dowding to Prunella Adolphus. Duchess of Bedminster.

Midnight. A moonlit balcony. 14th June 1814. The Ransoms’ Ball, London.

Alice’s breath caught in her throat, but she could no more have not turned around than she could have found the will to move away. She was alive with sensation, with anticipation. His hands remained in place as she turned within them, tightening a little as she faced him at last.

The moon cast his face into silver and dark shadow and Alice gasped.

Oh, thank you, thank you, Matilda.

He was… gorgeous.

It was hard to tell, but she thought his hair was blonde, certainly a light shade, glinting in the moonlight.

“Hello, Alice.”

Alice shivered and a smile tugged at his mouth. It was a lovely mouth, with a full lower lip and a surprisingly feminine cupid’s bow. It was the only soft thing about him. A square chin and firm jaw hinted at a stubborn nature, and his eyes… his eyes. Alice sighed. She couldn’t help it. They glittered under the moon, dark and mysterious and full of promise. Yet she could not see what colour they were. She longed to know.

One of those big hands that had held her waist moved now, and he reached out, tugging at one of the loose curls that framed her face. It had been Matilda’s idea. She said the severe style with tight little ringlets made Alice look like a child. Alice could believe it; that was how most people treated her.

She wasn’t a child, though. She was two–and-twenty and soon to be married. Whether it was to be to the odious Mr Bindley or another man, a man of her choosing, a man like—

“Well, Alice? It’s your move.”

Alice blinked, shaken from her reverie by those words. Did he really expect her to kiss him? Judging by the sparkle of amusement in his eyes, he did.

“C-Couldn’t you kiss me first?” she asked, hardly able to force the words out as she was breathing so hard. Here she was, Alice Dowding, alone on a balcony in the moonlight, with a strange man, begging to be kissed. The world had turned on its head, or perhaps she’d been dropped on hers. That might account for it. “Just to get used to the idea,” she added hopefully. “Then I’ll kiss you, b-but you go first.”

He shook his head, a slow back and forth as his smile widened.

Alice sighed.

“That’s not very gallant,” she said with a little huff. “Are you sure you even want to kiss me?”

There was rather too much of a quaver in the question; her vulnerability was showing.

He touched her cheek with the back of his hand, so tenderly it made her heart ache with longing. If only he meant it. If only he wasn’t just being kind to a timid wallflower.

“I’ll kiss you back,” he promised, with such a tenor to the vow her knees wobbled a little. She reached out and clutched at his lapels to keep herself upright. His grasp on her waist grew firmer and he tugged her closer, causing the air to rush from her lungs. “I’m looking forward to it,” he added, that tempting mouth quirking a little. “More than you can imagine, but I can’t if you don’t kiss me first.”

Drat it.

“I won’t tell,” Alice squeaked, and he laughed, a lovely, genuine sound that made her smile in response. “And surely you’re too much of a gentleman to tattle on me?” she added, wanting to hear him do it again.