A Christmas Bride - By Susan Mallery Page 0,42
given me no reason to. My father and I are who we have always been.”
She nodded slowly. He’d grown up this way. It was impossible for him to grasp the incredibleness of the situation for her.
“I shouldn’t have made you take the girls,” she told him. “I didn’t think the whole thing through. How they would change things for you.”
He rose and walked around the desk until he was standing in front of her and she had to look way, way up to meet his gaze.
“You did not make me do anything.”
She waved that away. “You know what I mean.”
“Indeed, I do not. I was aware that adopting three American sisters would make things different and still I went forward.”
Which made her wonder why he hadn’t just dismissed her like an annoying gnat. Isn’t that what princes did?
“I don’t belong here,” she told him. “I’m not used to this sort of thing.”
He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “I say who belongs and who does not.”
“Off with my head?”
“That is not what I had in mind.”
She knew he was going to kiss her even before he bent toward her and brushed his mouth against hers. She couldn’t say how she knew, only that anticipation tightened her stomach and she forgot to breathe. Nothing else mattered but the feel of his lips on hers and the nearness of his body. He put his arms around her and drew her close.
It was like going home. The sense of belonging and safety. She’d never experienced that before and the sensation was so sweet, so perfect, she never wanted to be anywhere else. Then his mouth was moving on hers and she got lost in the kiss, the feel of his hands moving up and down her back. The heat of them. The way they pressed against each other, her body melting into his.
She put her hands on his upper arms and explored his muscled strength. When the pressure on her lips increased, she parted and was rewarded by the sensual sweep of his tongue across hers.
Somewhere along the way she must have remembered to breathe again because she moaned low in her throat. She felt tense and relaxed at the same time. She wanted this to never stop and she wanted more.
Without thinking, she rose on tiptoe, so she could press herself against him more fully. She tilted her head and kissed him back, teasing his tongue with hers.
His hands moved more urgently. One slipped to her rear, where he squeezed her curves. The contact shocked her, but excited her, too. Instinctively she arched forward, bringing her lower body in contact with his. He squeezed again, then moved his other hand to her waist before sliding it higher.
Anticipation chased away any hint of apprehension. His large hand settled on her breast with a confidence that allowed her not to be afraid. She broke the kiss so she could lean her forehead against his shoulder while he cupped her breast in his hand.
His touch was gentle and slow, but more wonderful than anything she’d ever experienced before. It was as if he knew the best way to touch her, to stroke her. When he moved his fingers across her nipple, she gasped and clung to him.
He moved his free hand to her chin, raised her head, then kissed her again. She held on to him as the room began to spin faster and faster. When he finally stepped back, she wasn’t sure she could stay standing.
His eyes were dark as night, but bright with a fire that burned as hot as the one flaring inside of her. She’d never seen sexual need on a man’s face before, but she recognized it now. Recognized it and knew that somehow she had caused it.
He wanted her. It was magic and filled her with delight and wonder and a sense of feminine power. Now if only she knew what to do with it.
“Kayleen.”
He’d spoken her name dozens of times before, but never with his voice so heavy and rumbling. She wanted this, she thought happily. She wanted this and so much more.
Somewhere in the distance she heard people talking. She remembered they were in his office and she had interrupted his day. The realization made her unsure of what to do next.
“I should, ah, probably go,” she told him, wondering if he would ask her to stay.
“Do not worry about the king,” he said instead. “My father is very pleased with you.”
“How do you