“Afraid you’ll never want me to stop?”
God, yes.That was exactly what she was afraid of. She pursed her lips and adopted a faintly bored expression. “Those legions of women panting after you must have warped your brain, William Ravenwood. Contrary to popular belief, you are not irresistible.”
“That’s true. You’ve resisted me for years. Why is that?”
She fought the seductive pull of him. “Because unlike so many of your conquests, I possess a working brain?”
He chuckled.
“I don’t know why you’re bothering to flirt with me,” she said irritably. “You don’t want me. You just can’t resist a challenge.”
“Is that what you are?”
“Of course. It’s human nature to want what you can’t have.”
He raised a brow and pressed closer, full length against her, chest to chest, thigh to thigh. Her heart stuttered. “You think I can’t have you?”
Her stomach knotted with a strange, curling tension and she laughed to cover her nerves, suddenly acutely aware of the fact that they were alone. In the dark. Far from the house. “Of course not. My brothers would kill you.”
“Do you honestly think that would deter me?”
Everything inside her stilled at the predatory intensity of his look.
“If I truly wanted you, Hellcat, nothing—not your brothers, not your father, not Napoleon himself—would stop me.”
Chapter 5
Ah, there it was, Heloise thought with a bittersweet pang. That big, modifyingIf.She pushed ineffectively against his chest. “I don’t want you to lay a finger on me.”
He didn’t move. “Don’t lie. You’ve been watching me for years. I feel your gaze on the side of my face. It makes the hairs on my arms prickle.”
She shook her head.
“Deny it all you want, but deep down you know it. You want me.”
“No!”
He crowded her back against the sarcophagus, stealing the air from her lungs. “Yes.”
Heloise stiffened in shock as he bent and pressed his lips to her throat, just below her ear.
“This is the real you,” he whispered against her skin. “This wildness. Let it out. Embrace it.”
Oh, he was a devil. Taunting her with possibilities she hadn’t dared voice, only dream. She’d spent years suppressing her hoydenish ways, avoiding moats and fires. She no longer shinned up trees, rode bareback, stole pistols. Letting go would be the height of folly. But dear God, it was tempting.
She drew in a shuddering breath and stared blindly at the ceiling as he kissed a trail of fire down the side of her neck.He didn’t want her. He was only doing this to prove a point.Although it was becoming difficult to imagine what his point was, exactly. He pushed aside the beaded choker at her collarbone and pressed his mouth there, too. Butterflies somersaulted in her stomach.
She was unmoved. As stony as that marbled athlete. She was absolutelynotgoing to grab hold of his head to hold him in place. This wasn’t why she’d come out here. She needed to tell him about the message. But as soon as she did that he’d leave, and the selfish part of her wanted to steal just a little more time with him.
Raven kissed the top swell of her breast and Heloise nearly passed out. She clutched the edge of the sarcophagus, a solid anchor when the rest of the world was rapidly spinning out of control.That’s quite enough.And yet her treacherous chin tilted upward to give him more room to maneuver.
She almost jumped out of her skin when the first firework screamed through the sky, illuminating the interior of the orangery like midday. She caught a brief, clear glimpse of Raven’s face as he straightened, all sharp angles and harsh planes, before the room was plunged into darkness again. She opened her mouth to say something—anything—but his lips found hers. And stayed.
Heloise closed her eyes in stunned disbelief. She’d kissed William Ravenwood a thousand times in her mind, caressed every last inch of his body in her dreams. Reality—the lush, wicked feel of his lips on hers—was infinitely better. His tongue stroked the corner of her mouth and when she gave a startled gasp he slid inside, taking full advantage. Heat bloomed in her veins as everything inside her went on a slow boil.
He didn’t give her chance to pull away. His hands cupped her face and he kissed her with thrilling urgency, as if she was as vital to him as oxygen.
Heloise had no intention of pulling back. She let go of the stone, grabbed hold of his lapels, and returned the kiss with equal fervor, instinctively mimicking his movements.