Page 29 of A Baron's Scandalous Quill
“You are mischievous.” He chuckled, leaning on the table and staring at the papers she had amassed. “I do not have to tell you all my thoughts, Becca.” Yet there was a deepness in his tone which suggested he might have liked to.
“You could tell me some of them?” She sat on the table beside him, her arm brushing his.
“Do not tempt me,” he warned her, that deep tone remaining. “Let us talk of something more…”
“Innocuous?” she offered.
“You are a wordsmith. The Bard himself would be jealous, I do not doubt.”
“Pah! Hardly. Do you have a favorite, by the way?” she asked, nudging him for an answer. “I already know you are fond of Shakespeare from how often you quote him, but do you have a favorite play?”
“It depends on my mood.” He stood tall, tipping his head back in deep thought. “Macbethis captivating. I think it’s the justice I like in that one so much, to see a man tormented by his misdeeds and sins, to then lose all he strove for. A good man turned bad and brought low from it.”
“You have dark tastes,” she observed.
“Not all the time.” He smiled a little. “A Midsummer Night’s Dreamis one I could always watch. The madness of it, the humor, the lightness. Who could not love it?”
“It’s my favorite, too.” She stood off the table in surprise, holding a hand to her chest.
“You meant to tell me the implication that a fairy has fallen in love with a man who has a donkey’s head for his own, or an ass, doesn’t horrify you?” He pretended horror, holding a hand over his mouth.
“Far from it,” she giggled.
“Or the inference that she may have, in fact, shared her bed with the same man bearing the donkey’s head?”
She laughed again, covering her mouth to try and stifle the sound.
“See?” He pointed at her. “Who could not find happiness when faced with such a mad play? Though I have to say, I always find something to admire in Titania.”
“What is that? Is it the fairy Titania’s illicit behavior that you find so admirable? Or her actions?” she teased him as he nudged her with his arm, as if shocked she had spoken so easily about Titania sharing her bed with another. The touch merely excited her, and she hoped he’d done it as an excuse to be nearer to her.
“Her confidence, perhaps. Her determination to not be cowed when she found someone she liked, but to take what she wanted. Now, who couldn’t admire her for that?” he asked. As he said the words, his eyes flicked down to her lips, and Becca’s laughter halted.
He was thinking of it again, clearly. He thought back to the moment they had nearly kissed the day before.
“Perhaps we should all take lessons from Titania?” she murmured. “Have the confidence to take what we want?” She mirrored his action, also looking at his lips.
“Don’t draw me in, Becca,” he said, his voice deepening to such a tone that a tremble of excitement passed up his spine. He nodded at the open door to the room. “What would my staff say if you and I were…were…”
“To cross a line?” she suggested.
“Just so.”
“I do not know.” She shook her head. “I tend not to concern myself with what others think. I believe we should act as our own heart’s desire. To make ourselves happy. We have just one life in which to do so, do we not?”
She spoke the truth of what she felt, her eyes now repeatedly looking down at his lips as she bit her own bottom lip. He groaned aloud, tipping his head back a little. “What did that sound mean, my lord?”
“William,” he pleaded.
“William.” When she gave in, saying his name, something broke between them.
Becca didn’t move, but he did. The baron shifted toward her so fast, she was startled but made no move to inch back. His lips found hers in a sudden kiss, and her breath was stolen from her body. As he reached for her, one hand resting gently on the side of her arm, her hands went firmer for his chest.
He kissed her with such passion, so firm that she quivered with pleasure in his grasp.
Do not let this moment end.
Chapter 11
