someday. He stifled a groan. “Let me assure you, Miss Farnsworth, you’re in far less danger from me than I obviously am from you.”
“But you kissed me.”
“And you liked it.”
Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried several retorts on her tongue and discarded them unspoken. Finally one corner of her mouth turned up. “Yes, I suppose I did.”
“You have an odd way of showing it.” Devon winced as another twinge of discomfort coursed through his groin. At least she was honest. A woman who could admit to enjoying physical pleasure was an oddity in a land where brides were admonished to grip the bed frame securely on their wedding night and “think of England.”
“I apologize for having discomfited you,” she said. “But you surprised me, milord.”
“The feeling is mutual.” Few men had ever blindsided him so. Certainly no woman.
“However, we ought not wonder at the fact that we enjoyed the kiss,” she said. “You’re a man and I’m a woman. It’s human nature to take pleasure in such things.”
“Indeed.” Amazingly enough, his traitorous cock stiffened at her words despite his still aching balls.
“However, it is of no significance. While we humans share animal passions, unlike lower creatures, we do not have to be governed by them,” she said, careful to keep beyond his reach. Her breathing was shallow and hitched uncertainly at times. “As soon as I collected my wits, I realized that however much I enjoyed your kiss, it was wrong, in the worst possible way. And it had to be stopped.”
“Also in the worst possible way,” he grumbled.
She crossed her arms over her chest. He knew she was continuing to talk because her lips moved and he heard the flatly accented sound of her Yankee voice, but no meaning registered in his brain.
Devon was distracted by the top two buttons of her bodice. They were still unhooked and the white expanse of her throat beckoned so loudly that her words faded to unintelligible noise. Despite everything, Devon’s mouth watered to suckle that tender skin, to make her cry out his name, to make her ache so that she wouldn’t fight him, wouldn’t order him to stop. Instead she’d beg him not to . . .
“. . . and so it makes no sense whatever to burden Theodore with this,” she was saying.
He refocused on her words in time to realize she wasn’t going to tell his brother that he’d kissed her. He had to admit that was damned decent. The true account would only make Devon look like a scoundrel for trying to encroach on his brother’s would-be fiancée.
“From the time we passed Gibraltar, all I heard from Theodore was how wonderful his brother Devon was and how he couldn’t wait to see you again,” she said. “It would devastate him to hear of this.”
“Agreed,” Devon said, shoving his hands into his pockets to disguise his semi-roused state. “Of course, you realize why I kissed you, don’t you?”
“I don’t believe that reason has changed much since our first parents were driven from Eden.”
He shook his head. “The only reason I kissed you was to test your regard for my brother.”
Her mouth formed a silent “oh.” The skin of her neck flushed to the peachy color of the tea roses in his garden. Then the blush rushed upward to paint her cheeks with a most beguiling stain.
“It didn’t feel like a test,” she said, one hand straying to stroke her kiss-swollen bottom lip.
The simple gesture rendered Devon rock hard again. He looked away. “Well, it was.”
“Then since I rejected your advances, I assume I passed,” she said after a few heartbeats. “I have no wish to hurt your brother.”
“Which is not to say you love him.”
The words had tumbled out of Devon’s mouth before he could stop them. He was not one for sentiment. The idea that Miss Farnsworth had fallen in love with his brother after such a short acquaintance sounded ridiculously soppy, even to his own ears. He had no idea why he’d even
“But you kissed me.”
“And you liked it.”
Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried several retorts on her tongue and discarded them unspoken. Finally one corner of her mouth turned up. “Yes, I suppose I did.”
“You have an odd way of showing it.” Devon winced as another twinge of discomfort coursed through his groin. At least she was honest. A woman who could admit to enjoying physical pleasure was an oddity in a land where brides were admonished to grip the bed frame securely on their wedding night and “think of England.”
“I apologize for having discomfited you,” she said. “But you surprised me, milord.”
“The feeling is mutual.” Few men had ever blindsided him so. Certainly no woman.
“However, we ought not wonder at the fact that we enjoyed the kiss,” she said. “You’re a man and I’m a woman. It’s human nature to take pleasure in such things.”
“Indeed.” Amazingly enough, his traitorous cock stiffened at her words despite his still aching balls.
“However, it is of no significance. While we humans share animal passions, unlike lower creatures, we do not have to be governed by them,” she said, careful to keep beyond his reach. Her breathing was shallow and hitched uncertainly at times. “As soon as I collected my wits, I realized that however much I enjoyed your kiss, it was wrong, in the worst possible way. And it had to be stopped.”
“Also in the worst possible way,” he grumbled.
She crossed her arms over her chest. He knew she was continuing to talk because her lips moved and he heard the flatly accented sound of her Yankee voice, but no meaning registered in his brain.
Devon was distracted by the top two buttons of her bodice. They were still unhooked and the white expanse of her throat beckoned so loudly that her words faded to unintelligible noise. Despite everything, Devon’s mouth watered to suckle that tender skin, to make her cry out his name, to make her ache so that she wouldn’t fight him, wouldn’t order him to stop. Instead she’d beg him not to . . .
“. . . and so it makes no sense whatever to burden Theodore with this,” she was saying.
He refocused on her words in time to realize she wasn’t going to tell his brother that he’d kissed her. He had to admit that was damned decent. The true account would only make Devon look like a scoundrel for trying to encroach on his brother’s would-be fiancée.
“From the time we passed Gibraltar, all I heard from Theodore was how wonderful his brother Devon was and how he couldn’t wait to see you again,” she said. “It would devastate him to hear of this.”
“Agreed,” Devon said, shoving his hands into his pockets to disguise his semi-roused state. “Of course, you realize why I kissed you, don’t you?”
“I don’t believe that reason has changed much since our first parents were driven from Eden.”
He shook his head. “The only reason I kissed you was to test your regard for my brother.”
Her mouth formed a silent “oh.” The skin of her neck flushed to the peachy color of the tea roses in his garden. Then the blush rushed upward to paint her cheeks with a most beguiling stain.
“It didn’t feel like a test,” she said, one hand straying to stroke her kiss-swollen bottom lip.
The simple gesture rendered Devon rock hard again. He looked away. “Well, it was.”
“Then since I rejected your advances, I assume I passed,” she said after a few heartbeats. “I have no wish to hurt your brother.”
“Which is not to say you love him.”
The words had tumbled out of Devon’s mouth before he could stop them. He was not one for sentiment. The idea that Miss Farnsworth had fallen in love with his brother after such a short acquaintance sounded ridiculously soppy, even to his own ears. He had no idea why he’d even
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