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‘Damning with faint praise...’ The top half of his body swayed forward. ‘In that case, maybe you’d let me try to persuade you again?’
He brought his face slowly to hers and she moved to greet him until they met somewhere in the middle. It wasn’t that she’d intended to move, she thought with a vague sense of surprise, just that she couldn’t help it, as if there were an invisible rope tied around them, drawing her closer and binding them together. It was a perfect moment, tender and serene and somehow just right, lasting for several heart-stopping seconds before something seemed to catch fire between them and she found herself moving again, trying to press even closer towards him.
Sebastian gave a low, surprised-sounding murmur before curling his arms around her waist, his lips clinging to hers as if he felt the same fire, too. She reached her own arms around his neck, absorbing the heat of his chest with her breasts in a way that made her stomach clench and contract with tingles of pleasure. She felt as though she had one of his knots inside her, being pulled tighter and tighter, although surely it had to stop at some point? If you pulled on a knot hard enough, then eventually, surely eventually it had to unravel. Or the string would snap. Or...well, something would happen! Only she had no idea what.
‘I must be mad, too.’ She panted as they came apart finally, foreheads pressed together as they each struggled to regain their breath.
‘Does that mean you’re considering my proposal?’ He laughed huskily, one of his hands sliding across the small of her back and up to her shoulder blades.
‘No.’ She shook her head, smiling back. ‘I’ve already considered. Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you. I still think it’s madness, but I—’
She didn’t get any further as his lips seized upon hers again, kissing her so deeply that she felt a wave of heat rush all the way from the top of her head to the tips of her toes in a cascade of sensation. If this was madness, she decided in the split second before coherent thought abandoned her, then sanity was vastly overrated.
* * *
Sebastian had always thought of kissing with ambivalence. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy it, just that there were other, similar and yet slightly more energetic activities that he preferred. Kissing Henrietta, however, was different. Words like ‘new’ and ‘exciting’ were far too mild to describe what they were doing. It was an utterly engrossing, nerve-tinglingly heady sensation, unlike any kiss he’d ever experienced before. It was, quite simply, bliss. He could have happily done it all day. Two days. A whole week if he could have gone that long without food and water. Her lips were the smoothest he’d ever felt, the sweetest he’d ever tasted, the most exquisitely shaped...
‘Wait!’ She pulled back abruptly. ‘The boys! They’re next door.’
‘No, they’re not.’ He trailed his mouth over her cheek, across her jaw and down the delicate column of her throat. ‘I sent them to the kitchens.’
‘They might come back.’
‘We’ll hear them coming, believe me.’
‘But I might not have time to straighten up.’ She lifted her hands to his chest. ‘You’ve unfastened my hair.’
‘Have I?’ He lifted his head, surprised to find that she was right. Somehow he’d managed to unpin and unravel her hair without even noticing. Now it was lying over her shoulders in a pale golden torrent. And if she thought that drawing attention to it was the way to convince him to let her go then she was extremely deluded... He gave a low moan and buried his face in the tresses.
‘Mmm.’
‘What are you doing?’
‘Breathing you in.’ He inhaled deeply as her body sagged against him. ‘It smells different from usual.’
‘It does?’ Her voice sounded breathless.
‘Just a little. Usually it smells of sugar and baking. Now it smells of...’ He drew in another deep breath. ‘Apricots?’
‘The maids gave me a soap.’
‘I like it. I like both. Have you ever considered making an apricot-flavoured Belle?’
‘I think we have enough to deal with at the moment.’ She laughed huskily. ‘But we really should stop.’
‘All right.’ He pressed one last kiss to the tip of her nose before moving away. Truth be told, it would look somewhat incriminating if they were disturbed now and not just by the boys. Both his uncle and grandmother had paid visits to the nursery over the past couple of days and if they discovered him and Henrietta together like this...well, it wasn’t just her loose hair that would give them away. He was going to need a few minutes to recover himself.
Henrietta pressed her lips together, watching him through her lashes as she coiled her hair up and then looked around for the pins.
‘Here.’ He reached down, picking a handful off the floor.
‘Thank you.’ She fixed the roll into place and folded her hands in her lap. ‘Just so you know, it wasn’t that I didn’t like it. Kissing you, I mean.’
‘Glad to hear it.’ He grinned. Her pose reminded him of the first time they’d met, when she’d clasped her hands so primly in front of her. ‘Because if you didn’t, then I’m afraid you’ll find marriage to me somewhat tedious.’
‘Really?’ Her eyelashes fluttered. ‘Do you intend to kiss me a lot, then?’
‘If you mean do I intend to wake you up with kisses every morning then, yes, yes, I do. For the record, I also intend to lull you to sleep the same way.’
