that’ll do it, elbow to elbow as well, and now you study the play.’
‘It’s not an easy shot,’ she said.
‘I know. How about you offer me a little wager against sinking it?’
‘Ten dollars says you won’t.’
‘A kiss from you says I will.’
Poppy drew back, just a little, just to see if he was serious.
‘Flirt,’ he reminded her with a trickster’s grin.
‘Done.’ What the hell had she done?
‘
Now
you can move out of the way,’ he said and turned around and sank the ball.
Silence would have reigned supreme except for the play of the music and the thumping of Poppy’s heart. ‘You’re not really expecting a kiss from me, are you?’ she asked warily. ‘In the here and now?’
‘Depends on just how far you want this flirting lesson to go,’ he countered easily. ‘You could always offer to clean my bathroom instead.’
‘I’ll take the kiss. It’ll be over faster.’
‘That’s one way of looking at it.’
There were other ways to look at a kiss from this man, however, and Poppy was fully aware of them. Call it research or call it practice. Call it whatever she wanted, she wanted to feel Sebastian’s mouth on hers. Courage in hand, Poppy set her hands to Seb’s chest, leaned forward on her tippy toes and kissed him.
Sebastian didn’t know what to expect from the touch of Poppy’s lips on his, but it wasn’t this. He meant to pull away, put a stop to the flirting and the kissing and turn the conversation to safer topics, like the weather, or when she might conceivably get her work done so that they could both get off this rock and back to civilisation, so that he could take care of a few things—like the taming of his libido.
But meaning to do something and actually doing it were two different actions altogether.
Ophelia West’s lips were full and soft and no power on earth could have stopped Seb from coaxing them open. Slowly. Gently. One tiny stroke of tongue at a time, and her taste when finally he tasted her made him groan on account of the sweetness. He gripped the edge of the billiard table with his hands, no pressure on her to continue this, no pressureat all. Just in case she
was
an innocent. He had a feeling….
He couldn’t tell.
When her tongue tentatively met his he let her play and he played with her in turn. Encouraging it. Half wild for it.
Poppy’s hands crept up to his shoulders and then to the hair at the back of his neck.
He didn’t mind.
Seb closed his eyes, opened his mouth and feasted. Slow and languid when he remembered to be. Hungrily demanding when he forgot.
He forgot a lot.
She edged closer, and with one hand still clinging to stability he put his other hand to her waist and drew her closer still. Gentle, until he forgot and hauled her against his rampant, rigid hardness with a groan.
Her indrawn breath came quick and shaky. Absolute stillness came moments after that.
Seb kept his eyes closed and his curses to himself as Poppy’s hands left the back of his neck and her lips left his.
He drew his hand back from her hip, took a death grip on the table behind him and opened his eyes. Remembered to breathe.
Cornflower-blue eyes stared back at him, stunned.
Silent apology soon followed, although what she thought she had to apologise for was anyone’s guess.
‘I, ah…probably shouldn’t have done that,’ she said faintly, and pushed off him completely and there was space between them now. ‘You’re very kind.’
He had occasional, brief moments of kindness. Not sure this was one of them.
‘To humour me and let me practise on you. Like that.’ A fluttering wave of her hand supposedly told him what she meant by
that.
‘It wasn’t a hardship.’ Damned if he had the concentration for playing games now, not with desire riding him this hard. ‘Please tell me you’re not a complete innocent. That you’ve had at least
some
experience when it comes to kissing and all the rest.’
They stared at one another for what seemed like
‘It’s not an easy shot,’ she said.
‘I know. How about you offer me a little wager against sinking it?’
‘Ten dollars says you won’t.’
‘A kiss from you says I will.’
Poppy drew back, just a little, just to see if he was serious.
‘Flirt,’ he reminded her with a trickster’s grin.
‘Done.’ What the hell had she done?
‘
Now
you can move out of the way,’ he said and turned around and sank the ball.
Silence would have reigned supreme except for the play of the music and the thumping of Poppy’s heart. ‘You’re not really expecting a kiss from me, are you?’ she asked warily. ‘In the here and now?’
‘Depends on just how far you want this flirting lesson to go,’ he countered easily. ‘You could always offer to clean my bathroom instead.’
‘I’ll take the kiss. It’ll be over faster.’
‘That’s one way of looking at it.’
There were other ways to look at a kiss from this man, however, and Poppy was fully aware of them. Call it research or call it practice. Call it whatever she wanted, she wanted to feel Sebastian’s mouth on hers. Courage in hand, Poppy set her hands to Seb’s chest, leaned forward on her tippy toes and kissed him.
Sebastian didn’t know what to expect from the touch of Poppy’s lips on his, but it wasn’t this. He meant to pull away, put a stop to the flirting and the kissing and turn the conversation to safer topics, like the weather, or when she might conceivably get her work done so that they could both get off this rock and back to civilisation, so that he could take care of a few things—like the taming of his libido.
But meaning to do something and actually doing it were two different actions altogether.
Ophelia West’s lips were full and soft and no power on earth could have stopped Seb from coaxing them open. Slowly. Gently. One tiny stroke of tongue at a time, and her taste when finally he tasted her made him groan on account of the sweetness. He gripped the edge of the billiard table with his hands, no pressure on her to continue this, no pressureat all. Just in case she
was
an innocent. He had a feeling….
He couldn’t tell.
When her tongue tentatively met his he let her play and he played with her in turn. Encouraging it. Half wild for it.
Poppy’s hands crept up to his shoulders and then to the hair at the back of his neck.
He didn’t mind.
Seb closed his eyes, opened his mouth and feasted. Slow and languid when he remembered to be. Hungrily demanding when he forgot.
He forgot a lot.
She edged closer, and with one hand still clinging to stability he put his other hand to her waist and drew her closer still. Gentle, until he forgot and hauled her against his rampant, rigid hardness with a groan.
Her indrawn breath came quick and shaky. Absolute stillness came moments after that.
Seb kept his eyes closed and his curses to himself as Poppy’s hands left the back of his neck and her lips left his.
He drew his hand back from her hip, took a death grip on the table behind him and opened his eyes. Remembered to breathe.
Cornflower-blue eyes stared back at him, stunned.
Silent apology soon followed, although what she thought she had to apologise for was anyone’s guess.
‘I, ah…probably shouldn’t have done that,’ she said faintly, and pushed off him completely and there was space between them now. ‘You’re very kind.’
He had occasional, brief moments of kindness. Not sure this was one of them.
‘To humour me and let me practise on you. Like that.’ A fluttering wave of her hand supposedly told him what she meant by
that.
‘It wasn’t a hardship.’ Damned if he had the concentration for playing games now, not with desire riding him this hard. ‘Please tell me you’re not a complete innocent. That you’ve had at least
some
experience when it comes to kissing and all the rest.’
They stared at one another for what seemed like
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