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“You forgot to add the loveable bit. They must always go hand in hand.”
Mina gazed at him with wide eyes and slightly parted lips. “So, you meant to seduce me.”
He touched the tip of her nose with a finger before spinning her out into another move. “I mean to marry you.”
She stumbled and stared up at him in astonishment. “Marry me?”
“Yes.”
Hermina started to laugh, and the mocking sound grated on his nerves.
“You do not need to ply me with false flattery and expectations,” she said, sobering. “I would not have expected it from you.”
“That is not what I am doing.”
“Earls do not marry ladies with little to no connections or one without a dowry,” she said simply. “You do not have to make false promises because you want to kiss me, Colin.”
Hermina stepped closer to him until he could feel the heat of her body.
“I am a lady of four and twenty,” she said softly. “I want to kiss you as well…and that is because, as a woman, I have desires, and I do not want to deny them any longer. I do not want to deny you.”
It felt like the earth shook beneath him. He was going to kiss her. I should not, he argued with himself, even as he slipped his hands around her waist and dragged her up against his body, moving with her until he pressed her back against the door and dipped his head to capture her mouth with his.
One kiss, and he would be satisfied this night, and then he was going to start wooing her. He would damn well convince her that they should belong to each other.
“Do you like me, Mina?”
Her expression softened. “Oh, yes, I do, very much. I admire your love and dedication to your family. I even like your charming flirtations.”
“I like you too. More than like you. My damn heart shakes whenever I see you. That has never happened to me before.” He touched her mouth. “I always want to see these lips smiling and not turned down with worry or pain. And that is why I punched that bounder and might very well do so again. You are a woman of strong character and not easily given to rattled nerves, yet he scared you tonight and brought tears and worry to you. Your strength also reminds me of my sisters.”
“I thank you for the compliment,” she said with a soft smile.
“Most would take it as an insult to be likened to my ‘no-good’ family,” he murmured drolly.
“I’ve only met Lizzy and Fanny, and they are wonderful.”
They stared at each other, and he noted the way her chest lifted with her ragged breathing and her eyes had taken on a heavy-lidded cast.
“You want to kiss me,” she said softly.
“So very damn much,” he growled.
“You are this lovely flame I want to dance close to, even though I know I will be burned.” She clutched at his shoulders, leaned in slightly and tenderly touched her lips to his.
Colin’s honorable intentions dissolved under a tide of longing and lust. Her wide, lush mouth fitted perfectly to his; and, by God, her lips were sweet, soft, warm, and pliable. Her taste fired his blood. A hungry groan escaped him, and he deepened the kiss, teasing her lips apart with his tongue. With a soft moan, she pulled away and brought her fingers to touch them.
Hell. He closed his eyes for a long moment. “Forgive me,” he said gruffly.
“A rake who apologizes for a kiss?” Her lips curled upward like unfurling rose petals, and the sight of it did odd things to his bloody heart. The tip of her tongue came out and touched her lips. A sweetly nervous habit he had observed. “I am impressed, Colin. But you forget that I badly want your kisses.”
“Say it again.” His voice was low and even, despite the rapid beating of his heart.
Her cheeks flushed, and her fine eyes glittered with her obvious pleasure. “Colin,” she whispered, leaning into him.
“Never again call me my lord.”
“In the morning, I shall use your lordship,” she murmured, her voice husky and warm like honey.
Bloody hell. A firm signal on her part that whatever was about to happen between them would be only for tonight. This time when he kissed her, it was with all the passion that he had kept a tight rein on since he had first met her. The rasping glide of her tongue against his nearly drove him to his knees. He was almost drunk on the enticing flavor of her kiss. Lifting her into his arms, he walked over to the chaise longue and bore her down on the soft cushions. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders, but she did not push him away or release him. Releasing her mouth, he kissed her throat and smiled again when another tremor went through her.
“You are sensitive.” God, how he would use that sensitivity and make her wild with desire. “Mina, I am going to strip you naked, kiss you all over, and then I am going to make love with you.”
She touched his lips with trembling fingers, the need naked in her eyes. “Yes,” she whispered, leaning forward, and setting her lips against his.
