Page 56 of Sinful Persuasion of a Lady in the Making
“It can’t be as bad as a magical horse,” he laughed.
“It’s not,” she agreed. “For me, it’s dogs. I’ve always wanted a dog, for as long as I can remember. Of course, being at Salsbury Manor, that was impossible and now—”
“Now what?”
“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t know how Luke would react to the idea of a dog. Especially with the baby.”
“A dog,” he repeated, looking into the distance and laughing.
“You’re laughing at me! Do you think it that silly?”
“No,” he said, turning to face her and taking both her hands in his. They stopped walking, stood together on the gravel path, he looking down into her eyes and she wanting to fall into his arms. “I am not laughing because it is silly. I think it’s adorable.”
“You do?” she asked, her voice lost in her desire.
“I do. I’ve always wanted dogs, too. We had one, when I was a small child, but he… well, Father said he was at a farm in heaven, running around with other dogs who had passed through this world and into the next. Of course, even as a six-year-old, I knew that was nonsense, but it made me feel better at the time.”
“It’s a sweet thought,” Jenny said, guiding Sebastian almost without thinking to the bench beneath the tree.
“Hmm,” Sebastian said, clearly still lost in the memory. “Mother never would let us have another. She said it was too painful when they left.”
“That’s because dogs are wonderful,” Jenny said as they sat. “And now you know it—my dreams. Dogs and the seaside.”
“Perfectly decent dreams to have,” he said, swiveling in his seat so he was better facing her.
She looked up into his face, the way his eyes sparkled, and she smiled.
“I have another dream,” she said with a coquettish smile.
“Oh, yes?”
Jenny licked her lips, her eyes stuck on him, her breath quickening.
“Yes,” she rasped. “It is that you will kiss me again today.”
Sebastian looked around quickly, and Jenny knew who he was looking for.
“We lost Fanny about ten minutes ago. I believe she was called into the house.”
“Oh,” he said, almost squeaking, “I didn’t notice.”
“I did,” she said, leaning into him. “And I have been waiting for the opportunity to take advantage of it for what seems like an age.”
“Well, in that case,” he began, but before he could say another word, he leaned forward and began to kiss her passionately.
She could taste him, sweet and real, as her tongue flicked out of her mouth and into his, and he responded in kind, putting an arm around her and pulling her in closer. Heat prickled all over her, from her belly to her chest to her cheeks, and she moaned softly into his mouth.
“Jenny,” he whispered.
And then his lips left hers, moving instead over her cheek and down, down to her neck where he kissed and nibbled, licking gently. The sensation sent shivers through her and he held her tight as the slight jolts of her body reacted to his touch.
He buried his face in her neck, kissing behind her ear, biting down on her earlobe until she moaned. And all the while, her hands searched his chest, his back, feeling for the tense, hard muscles she knew were there.
The feel of him, far from satisfying her, made her all the more hungry, and she felt herself rise from the bench to move closer to him. She stood over him now, his face tilted up so he could kiss her deeply, his hands on her back and pulling her down.
He moaned softly, and she stopped kissing him to look at his face. His cheeks were red with passion, his moist lips hanging open as he looked up at her with pleading in his eyes.
She giggled, bit her lip, but then he put both hands out, one on each of her arms, and he pushed her away. She pouted her bottom lip in a sulk, but he shook his head, still open mouthed, as though in a daze of desire and need.
