Then he slid her boot on and began to wrap his cravat tightly—but not too tightly—about her ankle, starting at the bottom near her foot and working his way up to beneath the leather cuff, where he tied it off.
Dear Lord. Lifting her gaze to his face, she colored as she saw him watching her.
“See something you like?” he asked in a low rumble.
And as usual when she was taken off guard, she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. “Why? Do you?”
She’d intended it to come out as cold and sarcastic, but instead it sounded like a throaty invitation, even to her ears.
And she knew he’d heard it when his eyes darkened, then dropped to fix on her lips. “Yes. Definitely yes.”
Devil take it, she should never have said such a thing. What must he think of her? What would he—
Her thoughts shattered as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.
Lord save her, he was kissing her. The Duke of blasted Greycourt himself was kissing her! And it wasn’t like anything she’d have expected. His kiss was light, tentative, as if he waited for her to push him away.
But she was incapable of that. Oh, heavens, the feel of his mouth covering hers, tasting and testing as if to determine how soft were her lips, was a heady sensation unlike any other.
And who could have known that a kiss one actually desired could be so . . . intoxicating? That smelling his spicy cologne would make her heart flip over? That feeling his hand slide behind her neck to hold her still would not only not alarm her but spur a wild need to rise through her body and clamor for more?
Half in a trance, she let the dogs’ leashes slip from her fingers so she could place her hand on Grey’s shoulder, accidentally knocking off his hat. He didn’t seem to notice. With a guttural moan, he pulled her forward a little, forcing her foot to fall off his knee. Then his lips were coaxing hers open, and his tongue was sliding into her mouth.
This joining of lips and mouths and tongues was amazing—unfamiliar and a bit unusual, but enjoyable nonetheless. Her hand slipped down to his chest, and the feel of his heart pounding through the fabric beneath her fingers incited her to be bold, to twirl her tongue with his and throw herself into the conflagration he’d ignited in her body.
So this was what it was like to be kissed, truly kissed.
Suddenly, she felt something tugging her arm away. At first, she thought it was Grey, but when she then felt another something snuffling her hand, she realized what it was.
The dogs. They were jealous or bored or wanted attention.
Whatever the case, it meant this delicious interval was over. And judging from how the duke pulled away and muttered a curse under his breath, it was over for good.
He rose and took a step back, raking his fingers through his hair. “Forgive me, Miss Wolfe. That was most rude of me, and I swear it will never happen again.”
The way he loomed over her made her self-conscious—that, and the fact that he was calling her Miss Wolfe again and behaving as if the kiss was a mistake. It hadn’t felt like a mistake. Perhaps if she’d thought of it as a prelude to something else, she would realize how unwise it had been, but she’d been thinking of it more as a delightful experiment. One she wouldn’t mind repeating.
Which apparently was never going to happen.
With a word to the dogs to stop their grousing, she grabbed their leashes and stood, smoothing her skirts as she struggled to keep her thoughts to herself. “I thought you and I agreed never to apologize to each other, Your Grace.”
“For what we say, not what we do,” he bit out. “I’m not the sort of man to kiss a woman I’ve only known for two days.”
“I understand,” she said, desperate to halt the insulting flow of his words before the wounds he was casually inflicting succeeded in reaching her heart.
“No, I don’t think you do. I’d never intentionally take advantage of—”
“Was it that awful?” she snapped, unable to contain herself any longer. “Am I that incapable of pleasing a man like you?”
He blinked at her, then swore under his breath. “It wasn’t remotely awful. You far exceeded my expectations in that respect, trust me.”
Well. That eased the pressure in her chest. A little.