AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Confusion lined his face and shuttered his eyes. “I am… content but having you here at Worthington Hall has somehow improved things.”
“Oh!” She pressed a hand to her chest. “If I can do that for you, it’s even more of a motivation for me to succeed.”
His eyes twinkled with mischief. “And secure your freedom.”
“Yes, well, one step at a time, hmm?” She ignored the twinge in her belly. “I appreciate your support, Benedict.” A ball of emotion lodged in her throat. Unexpected tears filled her eyes. “I’m not accustomed to that, for support flew away when my brother died.” To her horror, a tear escaped to her cheek. It wouldn’t do at all for her to become the typical, female watering pot in front of him. She cleared his throat. “It means so much, especially in the absence of my parents.”
“What’s this? Tears again?” Concern entered his expression, but he handed over his handkerchief. “I swear, if you keep crying every time you reveal something personal when talking to me, I’ll seriously develop unhealthy worry.”
“It’s an emotional time, I suppose, and not every day a woman wagers up her future.” Seized with an impulse, Anne threw her arms around him to show her gratitude. She didn’t expect to be hit with such overwhelming need, for she simply didn’t want a man in her life—not for physical satisfaction or anything else.
Didn’t she?
Except, when his arms went around her, and he rested his hands on her hips, another string of doubts poured in different than before. Perhaps due to the emotions of the moment or because he smelled so delicious, but she went on impulse and instinct as she pressed her lips to the strong column of his throat above his cravat. When his fingers tightened, she trailed her mouth upward to tease him beneath his jaw. A moan escaped him. He eased a hand up her back to her nape, and as he cupped her skull, he drew her back slightly until their gazes connected.
“What are you doing?” The same desire lighting fires in her blood darkened his eyes. “This sort of gratitude isn’t needed or advised.”
Anne slipped her hands up his chest to curl into his lapels. “Oh, it’s not gratitude that’s driving me at the moment.” Then she apparently took leave of her senses, for she held his gaze a few seconds before she lifted on her toes and claimed his mouth with hers.
Like a match to dry tinder, wild sensation shot through her to land in every nerve ending. She moved over his lips in an effort to explore. The slightly bitter taste of tea came away on her palate, prompting further investigation. With a murmured moan, she again stood on her toes, and when he cupped her face between his hands, he deepened the kiss. She chased his tongue with hers while desire blanketed her mind, and all too soon she lost herself in the raw glide of silk against satin.
What would that talented tongue feel like if he employed it on other, more sensitive portions of her body? Gooseflesh broke out over her skin, and she moaned again, suddenly hoping for that eventuality.
As her pulse accelerated, he wrenched away, his breathing as labored as her own. They stared at each other, then she grinned. “It seems I wanted that second kiss much more than anticipated.”
His chuckle sent butterflies chasing through her lower belly. “So I can see.”
Anne nodded and forced moisture into her dry throat. “Yes, well, don’t expect another such aberration.” Merciful heavens, I need to sort myself else I’ll become shameless. She smoothed a hand down the front of her gown then scuttled back to her chair. “All my concentration and focus needs to be on my—our—test balloon flight. If we’re to beat Mr. Davies, we can have no distractions. Agreed?” Not even if he smelled delicious and was handsome enough to have his pick of any woman in Surrey. Unable to look at him for fear she’d melt into a puddle of need, she poured out a cup of tea with a shaking hand.
“Agreed.” Benedict took up his spot on the sofa while putting his partially steamed up spectacles back into place. He quickly laid his linen napkin on his lap but not before she spied the bulge at the front of his breeches. “No distractions.”
She bit her bottom lip to hide a grin. There was something so powerful in bringing a man to passion, especially this man who hadn’t a daring or adventurous bone in his body.
Perhaps I can teach him how to find his courage and push him beyond the risk.
