AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mmm. I think perhaps you fear the consequence of your wager.”
“Certainly not.” She wasn’tafraid,for God’s sake. But his sheer masculinity made her nervous. Aldabert had been less...virile.
“Well, then?”
It didn’t help that his smile was so alluring. She cleared her throat. She rubbed her cheek in the spot where her skin was tingling for no apparent reason. She clasped her hands behind her back and lifted her face. “All right. Carry on.”
He looked confused. “What are you doing?”
“Presenting my face.”
His brows sank. “I donna accept.”
She gaped at him. “I’m honoring my bet! Why would you not accept?”
“Because it isyourdebt to pay, no’ mine. And you’re stiff as a log. You donna present yourfacefor a kiss.”
“There are rules now?” Justine was many things, but she was notstiff.She stepped forward, put her hands on his arms, then rose up on her toes and touched her lips to his, lingering for a beat or two, then sinking back down on her heels.
The feel of his lips confirmed her expectations—they were soft and firm at once, and she wasn’t supposed to feel anything but apeck.And yet, she felt suddenly hot. But she’d done it. She all but dusted her hands of the task. “There you are. My debt is paid.”
William was staring at her quizzically. Then his hands found his hips. “Was that some sort of jest?”
“No!”
He scraped his fingers through his hair. “Thatwasn’t a kiss, Justine.”
She had the sudden fear that kissing in Scotland was something quite different than what she had experienced and no one had told her. It would be her second humiliation of the day if that was true. “It was!”
He shook his head. He reached up and touched her face, his fingers as light as air, and the tingling feeling in her cheek began to spread like liquid over her. He shifted forward. She felt his arm go around her waist. “That was no kiss,” he said quietly. He moved his hand, his palm against her neck, his thumb touching the corner of her mouth. His hand was warm against her skin, and the scent of him musk and clove. He looked at her lips, then at her eyes and then he lowered his head to hers.
Whatever Justine thought about kissing was drowned by William’s kiss. She opened her mouth to his, felt his tongue slide in between her teeth and tangle with hers. He cupped her face, angling her head slightly, nipping at her lips.
Her heart pounded a frantic rhythm—that kiss was full of pleasure, full of craving and anticipation, full of a thirst that could not be slaked in this park, on this day...but oh, how her thoughts raced ahead to when and where and how that thirst might be quenched. She was pressed against his hard chest, her breath and pulse dangerously erratic—
And then, William ended it. He let go of her waist and drew back from her. With the tip of his little finger he swiped his bottom lip, as if he’d had a nibble of a morsel. But his eyes said something different. His eyes were the gray of storm clouds. “Nowyour debt is paid, madam.”
Once, her father told her that she must always be careful to understand the stakes in any negotiation. She had clearly not understood the consequences of this wager—she felt as if she was bobbing along on a stream with no control over anything. “Very well, then. Good.” She touched her nape, uncertain how to proceed.
His smile suggested that he understood she had miscalculated, that he knew the effect he had on her and that he enjoyed it. “Shall we return to the hall?”
“Right. The hall and the disturbance there.”
William offered his arm.
She took it. They began to walk as if that kiss had not happened. From the corner of her eye, she stole a look at him. His smile had settled into a look of perfect satisfaction. “This doesn’t mean you may advise me. I will keep my own counsel.”
“I wouldna dream of it.”
“And you should not think it is an invitation to tell me what to do.”
“Never, as you will be queen, high priestess of all.”
She could feel a smile on her lips. “Exactly so. You were lucky this time.”
“Aye, sheer luck. So much luck, in fact, that I could have been blind and still known he was not for you.”
“Je,well, I would discourage you from assuming that you will be so lucky again.”
