After her unacceptable dream, nobody knew that better than Serena. “I know.”
“In that case, I shouldn’t tempt fate.” He caught her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. A thrill jolted her, even as he released her and crossed to shut and bolt the door to the outside.
Good heavens, he looked like he meant business. How daunting. How…intriguing.
She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Had his walk always been a tiger’s prowl? How had she missed that Giles Farraday oozed sexual confidence?
“What if someone wants to use the church?” she asked shakily.
“They can come back later.”
Serena wanted to ask how much later, but her courage failed. In fact, fears the size of monster frogs performed acrobatics in her stomach. As if observing herself from a distance, she wondered why she didn’t run away shrieking. But however frightened and unsure she was, an army couldn’t drag her away.
He returned to stand before her, cradling her head between his hands. “Are you ready for your lesson?”
His hands were warm and gentle against her hair. She gulped for air, but it did nothing to soothe her nervousness. “I…I think so.”
“I have a feeling you’re going to prove an excellent student.”
“I wish I did,” she admitted.
His laugh was soft. “Don’t worry. You’re in safe hands.”
And the lunatic truth was she absolutely believed that.
Giles leaned in slowly, she suspected to give her time to back out of their arrangement. But curiosity remained her most powerful reaction. She was desperate to discover what a kiss was like.
No, it was worse than that. She was desperate for Giles Farraday to kiss her.
His breath brushed across her lips, awakening tingling sensations all over her body.
When still she didn’t shift away, his lips skimmed hers with an inquiry that shuddered through her like cannon fire. She closed her eyes, and a hum of welcome escaped her.
Giles’s lips settled and moved on hers. Gradually the shock faded, and Serena became aware of details beyond his overwhelming nearness.
His scent. Fresh as snow, although no snow had yet fallen. The touch of his hands on her head. The strength he held in check. His beckoning warmth.
That intimate, unforgettable contact of mouth on mouth.
She started to sway, and the world turned red at the edges. But when Giles withdrew at last, she ached to call him back. Her hands fisted in her skirts as she fought the urge to grab him and haul him close. She prayed that her rubbery legs would hold her up.
“Breathe, Serena,” he murmured. “For God’s sake, breathe.”
She opened dazed eyes to find him regarding her with a quizzical expression. Through her giddiness, she realized she hadn’t drawn a breath since the kiss began. When she inhaled, the pain in her lungs and the thickness in her head eased.
“That was…interesting,” she stammered.
“Only interesting?” He released her and stepped back. “I must be losing my touch.”
“Nice,” she said quickly, although that was an inadequate description of those turbulent seconds when his lips met hers.
He burst out laughing. “Is that the best you can do?”
She’d imagined thunder and lightning, something to change her life forever. Kissing Giles had made her blood swirl with muddled longing, but it hadn’t set her world alight. “Enlightening?”
“Hmm.”
“Inoffensive.”