would I do that?”
She blinked. “Of course, you’re correct. I don’t think you would wish to kiss a girl like me.”
“A girl like you?” He arched a dark brow. “A girl like you shouldn’t be kissing anyone. A girl like you should be waiting for a shining moment with a husband who loves her.”
Anger coiled deep within her. A hissing serpent, hungry to unleash itself.
“Does such a thing exist?” she spat out. “I think it only exists in fairy tales and novels.”
“Let’s cling to the hope,” he said.
She gaped before she replied, “You are far more hopeful than I.”
“You’d be surprised what I am,” he said gently. “But I do wish you to be. . . Dare I say, happy.”
That anger flared anew. “Mr. Heath, happiness is not something to which I wish to ascribe. I have doubts such a thing truly exists. I wish to be a capable young woman who is at the behest of no one.”
His brow furrowed. “And you think kissing me will help you do such a thing?”
She licked her lips, her breath growing shallow. “I think that kissing you could be. . .”
“What?” he dared.
Goodness. Her entire body felt as if it was vibrating in his presence. She was alive with him. Utterly alive. “A revelation.”
“And you wish to have such a revelation?” he rumbled, drawing in a deep breath. “Well, then, let’s not leave it a mystery. You can kiss me, and then you’ll know I’m not the man for you.”
“How will I know such a thing?” she challenged.
“Because I will not be sweet and gentle, Lady Mary,” he warned. “If I kiss you, I will kiss you with every ounce of passion and body that I have, for I want you to understand you do not wish me.”
That warning chimed through her, and rather than back away, she wanted to go forward. Toward him. She couldn’t understand it, but she did.
And so, she tilted her head again and said, “Show me, then. Show me that I don’t desire you and that this isn’t the answer and that kissing you will not teach me anything.”
“After I kiss you,” he whispered, his fingers raising to skim her cheek. “You’ll know that when you come back to this place, you are not here for a kiss. You are here for something else. You are here for power.”
Then he cupped the nape of her neck with his broad hand, angling her head, and he lowered his mouth to hers.
His lips were warm, strong.
And he was right.
There was nothing tentative about him.
He took her mouth like she thought a general might take a battlefield. His mouth worked over hers, taking, taking, until suddenly, she parted her lips, and she realized she was taking too.
Drowning in heady sensation, she could not reason nor breathe. But it was a tide that swept her up, and oh!, all she longed to do was yield to it.
It was a part of her she didn’t even know existed. She allowed herself to hold onto him. She gave into that kiss, breathing with him, allowing his hot mouth to caress hers. The kiss tangled, their tongues touching. Their bodies pressing into each other. Fire crackled between them.
And suddenly, he pulled back.
“Bloody ’ell,” he said. “Oi never would ’ave expected that.”
The tripping Cockney fell off his mouth in rugged tongues as he struggled to regain his composure.
“Expected what?” she said.
His broad, hard chest expanded as he sucked in a breath. “For ye to. . .”
“For me to what?” she gasped, barely able to draw cohesive thought.
“For ye to give as well as to take. Go,” he barked. “I ’ope you understand that if you want kisses from me, more might follow, for I am not a gentleman. And you’re not a bleedin’ ’igh kick. You’re a lady.”
“I know you’re not a gentleman,” she said. “And I think it’s what I’m growing to like about you. I’ve known a good many gentlemen, and none of them have been as kind as you have been to me.”
“I am sorry for it, my girl, but make no mistake, you do not wish to climb into my bed.” His eyes positively glowed with darkness, like two burning embers in a dying fire. “’Tis no easy place to be.”
She gave a nod then. “I wish what you offer me. Power,” she said. “You promised me power.”
He tugged his waistcoat down, his hands at his breeches for a quick moment, before he pressed a hand to his cravat. “And Oi