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“Indeed. He wanted to be certain I realized how special you are, how well you should be treated. He grilled me thoroughly on my feelings for you and my intentions with regard to your future. The whole conversation was very enlightening.”
Nicole wanted to drop through the floor—almost as much as she wanted to know what Dustin’s answers to Sully had been.
“Then again, that’s how I knew to bring you here,” Dustin added, lifting her chin with his forefinger. “Sullivan told me how much you love stargazing. Stargazing and twilight.” He caressed her cheek. “Next time we’ll share twilight, but tonight I wanted you to see where I do my stargazing. I hoped you’d savor it as much as I do.” His gaze fell to her mouth. “Tell me, Derby, is that what you were doing the night we met? Sitting along the Thames and stargazing?”
“Star wishing,” Nicole breathed. She brought up her hand, fingers enveloping the locket that dangled about her throat. Solemnly, she held it out for Dustin to see.
“It’s lovely,” he murmured, leaning forward to inspect the delicate piece of silver.
“My mother gave it to me when I was five. According to her, it’s a wishing locket.”
“Is it?” Rather than amused, Dustin looked intrigued. “In what way?”
“Mama had a wondrous, fanciful mind. She believed that all the wishes I ever made would be stored inside this locket. After which, fate would decide when to make each wish a reality.”
“What a remarkable thought.” Dustin touched the clasp but made no move to open it. “Your mother sounds like an extraordinary woman.”
“She was.” Nicole’s voice quavered. “That’s who I was thinking of when you came upon me that night along the Thames. She gave me so much, and I miss her every day.”
Dustin’s fingers sifted through Nicole’s hair, caressed her nape in warm, comforting strokes. “How long has she been gone?”
“Seven years.” A sigh. “When you were describing Ariana’s effect on Trenton, I couldn’t help but think of Mama’s effect on Papa. The way he tells it, he never did much wishing before she came into his life. Racing was his only passion and his only dream. He says Mama was his own priceless miracle.” Teardrops glistened on Nicole’s lashes. “I suppose once you’ve been given a miracle, it’s far easier to believe they exist.”
“That’s true,” Dustin concurred softly. “I’m discovering as much myself. Right here, right now.”
Their gazes locked.
“My beautiful miracle.” Dustin drew her against him, his muscles taut with emotion. “Let me hold you. Let me feel you in my arms.” He covered her mouth with his. “God, how could anything be more right?”
Nothing could, Nicole thought silently, entwining her arms about his neck. She leaned into him, meeting his kiss with her own, parting her lips in silent invitation. Apprehension vanished, reservations scattered like leaves in the wind. At that instant, Dustin ceased to be a nobleman and she a commoner. He was a man, and for the first time in her life, Nicole felt very much a woman.
Whispering Dustin’s name, she pressed closer, immersing herself deeper in his sensual spell. She shivered as his tongue possessed her mouth, swept her into a world of heady sensation and drugged desire. He lifted her off the floor, molded her body to his, and devoured her with a passion that was as tangible as it was consuming.
“Nicole …” He raised his head, his breath coming as hard and fast as hers, his magnificent eyes smoky with desire—a desire rooted in something far more profound than lust. His lips traced her neck, the curve of her shoulder, the pulse at her throat. When he seized her mouth
again, there was a new urgency in his kiss, one he tried valiantly to control, but which Nicole felt nonetheless.
“Dustin, I want this,” she breathed fervently. “I …” She struggled to form a coherent sentence. “I’m not afraid.”
A harsh groan ripped from his chest, and he dragged his mouth away, shaking his head. “Nicole, this is not what I had planned. I didn’t bring you here to seduce you.”
“We’re only kissing. You’re not seducing me.”
“Aren’t I?” He set her feet on the floor, his expression stark with self-censure. “I want you so much I can’t think. And, despite my best intentions, I seem to be using every technique I know to make you want me just as much.”
“Is this wanting?” Nicole murmured, light-headed with sensation. “It feels wonderful.” She drew his mouth back down to hers.
“Nicole, listen to me.” Dustin buried his hands in her hair, tugged her head back to meet his gaze. “I meant what I said yesterday. I want more than tonight, more than this. I want you. All of you. Today. Tomorrow … and after.”
“So do I,” she said dreamily. “But right now I want to savor the dizziness that besieges me when you hold me, the ache I feel when we kiss.” She gave him a quizzical look. “Is that wrong?”
“No, darling, it’s not wrong. It’s very, very right.”
“When we touch, it’s like there’s a tiny flame inside me that flares higher with each passing moment. Is that a result of the technique you just described?”
An agonized sound. “God, I hope not.” Instinctively, he bent to resume the kiss, then checked himself.
Nicole caressed his nape, realizing in some distant part of her mind that he was trying to protect her, flagrantly aware that at this precise minute, she wanted no part of that protection. Her fingers crept around to his jaw, caressed the warmth of his skin, feathered down his neck.
