Kissed; Christian by Tanya Anne Crosby Page B

to find that his heart hammered fiercely, too. It was more than evident to her that Lord Christian had kissed many a woman in his life, and Jessie had been afraid he would find her wanting. And yet... if she wasn’t mistaken... if she wasn’t imagining, he was trembling, as well...
    Or rather... it was his coat that trembled...
    Her brows drew together, for the movement seemed to commence... She groped downward. At his coattail? Her curious fingers moved downward and encountered a warm, fuzzy face.
    Mrs. Brown!
    Understanding dawned, though even as she acknowledged the sloppy sound of Mrs. Brown chewing Lord Christian’s frock coat, there was a sudden tug. It happened so quickly. Unwilling to take Jessie down with him, he released her at once and went flying backward.
    With wide, incredulous eyes, Jessie watched as he tumbled into the enclosure at her feet. Startled, the goat bleated and leapt away, a small morsel of Lord Christian’s coattail still caught within her twitching mouth.
    Lord Christian remained sprawled before her as dust settled upon his dark coat and breeches.
    Prompted by his stillness, Mrs. Brown ventured back to glare down into his dazed face. He recoiled as she lowered her nose to sniff indignantly at him.
    Jessie couldn’t help it; his dumbfounded expression brought a peal of laughter to her lips. All the tension of the past weeks dissolved at the sight before her.
    “What is that ?”
    “That!” she told him, her voice strangled with giggles. “That—” Lord help her, but she could not quite manage her hilarity, his expression was so comical. “That,” she tried again, “is Mrs. Brown!”
    “Mrs. Brown?” He eyed the goat balefully, and Mrs. Brown scurried away, decidedly uneasy with the look he gave her.
    Jessie was teary-eyed with laughter when next he spoke.
    “A bloody goat!”
    “Yes, my lord!”
    Jessie managed an appropriately sober nod, and reached up to dab her misty eyes with a finger, only to burst out laughing once more.
    To his credit, he managed a chuckle as he admonished her, “If you’d not wished to kiss me, m’mselle , you might simply have said no.” He arched a plaintive brow.
    “But, oh,” Jessie cried, her merriment rekindled. “It was so much more effective this way! Do you not think so, my lord?” She burst out laughing and Christian’s hand darted out to catch her ankle. With very little effort, he snatched her down into his embrace.
    Laughing, she tumbled down atop him. “My lord!” she shrieked, scandalized.
    “What?” he asked much too innocently.
    Her laughter ended abruptly as his hand slid about her waist, securing her where she sat.
    She had no idea what a tempting morsel she made, Christian decided.
    Supporting their combined weight with one arm, he slowly drew her toward him.
    Her intake of breath was audible, and her breast rose enticingly with the effort, tempting him beyond reason, bewildering him so that he momentarily forgot his resolve merely to kiss her.
    His breath caught as he found his mouth at the level of her breast, a blatant invitation to his parted lips. He was so close now...
    So many times he’d fantasized about loving her this way...
    He closed his eyes, commanding what was left of his self-control. All he needed to do was move a fraction forward. Only a fraction... and then suckle...
    But it would frighten her, he knew.
    As much as he wished to believe she was wise to his needs, that she shared them—that she knew where this petting and fondling would lead—he recognized innocence when faced with it. She was too bloody naive to even know how to restrain her newly awakened passions.
    Damn, but he wanted this.
    Closing his eyes in an attempt to regain his composure, he caught the heady scent of lilacs—perhaps from a sachet secreted beneath her undergarments—and he was at once thankful for his tight breeches to conceal the evidence upon which she was so innocently perched.
    Seeming to recover her senses, and squirmed,