Page 39 of Would I Lie to the Duke
“Oh, but it’s charming.” Jess pressed her fingertips to her mouth as she took in the enchanted scene. She glanced down and saw a strip of shiny fabric near the toe of her shoe. She used a fallen twig to pick up the object.
It was a garter.
She lifted one of her brows. “Is this why you brought me here?”
“You’ve found me out,” he said drily. “I’m a trophy hunter, collecting garters and drawers. I keep them in a locked cabinet beside my bed, and late at night, I take them out and groan delightedly as I throw them into the air like raked leaves.”
She snorted, then, with a flick of the twig, sent the garter spinning off into the darkness. “I’ve little desire to touch a stranger’s underclothes.”
“Then you deny yourself one of life’s greatest enjoyments.” He rested his hands on her shoulders, and her heart leapt like it had been let out of a cage. Instead of pulling her closer, he turned her so that her back was to his front.
“What are you— Ah!” The first burst of fireworks exploded. He had positioned her so that she’d see the pyrotechnic display.
Yet she’d seen such things before. Granted, the fireworks that a traveling circus troupe had used had been on a much smaller scale, but they’d impressed her. Now she had to force herself to look up at the sky and the adorning bursts of light and color. The noise was terrific, jolting her down to her marrow.
It was Noel, however, that captivated her. She tilted her head back to see him. She could watch the colors sculpt the angles of his face for hours. No doubt he’d seen the Vauxhall fireworks many times, but his expression was one of appreciation—even joy. He had every reason to be jaded by life. In some ways, he was. And yet he allowed himself the simple delight that came from watching pyrotechnics. As though hestill held out hope that the world contained delightful surprises.
“Noel,” she whispered urgently.
Despite the noise from the fireworks, he seemed to hear her. “Jess?”
“I said I wanted to move slowly.”
“I remember.”
She took a breath. “I very much want to kiss you. And I hope you very much want to kiss me.”
He moved to face her, his expression intent on her alone. “I do notvery muchwant to kiss you.”
“Oh.” She didn’t often give in to tears, but at that moment, as his rejection cut deeply, her vision swam. Embarrassment choked her as she tried to calculate how to escape the group and get herself home immediately, without money or a carriage.
“Ineedto kiss you.”
Chapter 12
Noel looked down at Jess, her face illuminated by the fireworks. Sharp hunger tore into him, the desire in her eyes stoking his need higher, until he was certain he could flare like one of the rockets overhead—exploding into light and color.
“You do?” She didn’t speak above a whisper, yet even with the noise of the fireworks so terrific, he heard her.
He stepped closer, so that there was barely any space between them. Her warmth encircled him.
“It’s all I think about,” he growled. “Going slowly has been an exercise in exquisite torture.” His voice was rough as gravel as he spoke. “I keep looking at your mouth and wondering if your taste will be sweet or spiced, or perhaps a bit of both.”
“I don’t know how I taste,” she breathed. “I want you to find out.”
She tipped her face up as he stroked his thumb along her cheek. Her gaze went heavy lidded as he swept his thumb across her lips. He caught the floral scentof arrack on her breath, heard how her breath came in shallow rasps, saw the desire cut into her features.
They swayed into each other, until they pressed close. He growled at the feel of her, soft and feminine, against his taut body.
He cupped the back of her head with his hand, overwhelmed with a heady mixture of desire and tenderness—the need to claim, the need to protect.
He angled her so that their lips aligned. Her breath came faster, and faster still.
“Tell me you want this,” he rumbled. “Tell me you want this as much as I do.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll stop.”
