Page 10 of Undercover Duke
And when his response was to groan and press into her, she exulted in it. The very weight of him turned her to jelly as the kiss went on and on. . . .
Hedidcare. At last.
Chapter Three
Sheridan knew he was making a mistake. He shouldn’t be touching her, let alone kissing her. But their first two pecks on the lips had whetted his appetite for a real kiss. To make her think twice about Juncker and his damned roguish ways. To show her that every man had needs and that trying to tempt a fellow like Juncker into expressing them was asking for trouble.
Kissingherwas asking for trouble. God save him, he was sailing in uncharted waters, an adventurer heading for foreign climes. Her lips were soft and her body warm, yielding to his. She tasted like lemon drops and sunshine, and the more he thrust his tongue inside her mouth, the more he ached to have it inside other places. Sheer insanity. Especially since she wasn’t exactly stopping him. And why?
Because she was a flirt. He could possibly steal her away from Juncker if he so desired. But of course he didn’t want that. Should not want that.
He definitely shouldn’t keep standing here kissing her in a corridor where anyone might easily see them! Regretfully he broke off the kiss and stepped back to give her room to move.
There was no shove this time. She merely stared up at him with her crystalline blue eyes as if seeing him in a new light. That wouldn’t do either. It tempted him to let her in, and he’d already vowed never to do so, even though she looked fetching in her fashionable turban and her costly gown, with its décolletage that showed far too much of her breasts for his peace of mind.
Why, Vanessa wasn’t even the sort of woman he usually desired. Helene had been precisely that sort—tall and willowy and elegant. Vanessa was a short, voluptuous vixen, the sort of fresh-faced, flirtatious female any man wanted to tumble in a haymow somewhere.
He drove that observation ruthlessly from his thoughts. She would break his heart—this he already knew. And one heart-breaking was more than enough for him.
Besides, his life was too complicated right now. The last thing he needed was a woman like Vanessa muddying the waters even more.
He drew in a deep breath. “Now you know how easy it is for a man to play the rogue. Even me.”
“I do indeed,” she said, her tone wary. “I confess I’m surprised. You don’t seem the sort.”
“The sort to do what?”
“Kiss a woman passionately.”
That stung. But he mustn’t let it. Instead he forced coldness into his tone. “That’s because I’m not. I merely thought you could use the lesson. It might save you from ruin one day down the line.”
“So your kiss was a lesson?” she said skeptically. “If so, it was certainly a convincing one.”
“What good is a lesson if it’s not convincing?”
“True.” Her gaze turned frosty before she dropped it to her gloves, which had slipped down her forearms, exposing her elbows.
As she pulled them up, he felt a stab of disappointment. She actually had very pretty elbows. Why hadn’t he noticed that before?
“In any case, it doesn’t change a thing,” she added. “I still mean to catch Mr. Juncker if I can.”
The sudden roaring in his ears caught him off guard.Over my dead body.Only with an effort did he not say the words aloud. She might not be the woman for him, but Juncker would never be the man for her. Somehow he had to keep her out of that scoundrel’s arms.
Besides, he did have to spend more time with her mother. Lady Eustace hadn’t yet told him what he needed to know. “Well, if you’re determined on that score,” Sheridan said, “I can help you with that.”
She looked up at him and raised one silky black eyebrow. “Why on earth would you? You went to great lengths to hide me during our first kiss, when I tried to make him jealous.”
“Because I thought that would be the end of it. You’ve made it clear I was wrong. So if you still mean to pursue him, I will help you, if only to demonstrate he’s not the man you think.”
“But why do you even care about that? For that matter, why care if he ruins me? Or I marry him and he gains my dowry? Or whatever you think will happen if I keep going after him?”
Her expectant gaze sent him scrambling for a convincing answer. He could hardly say it was because he needed to interrogate her mother. “I consider us friends.” Yes, that was the way to go. “Don’t you?”
She laughed hollowly. “You barely talk to me at balls. You avoid me when you encounter me with Grey and Beatrice. You certainly don’t seek me out in public. What exactly makes us friends?”
“Our connection to Grey, for one thing. Think of me as an older brother.”
“Yes,” she snapped, “I could tell how brotherly you were when you were kissing me.”
