Free Kiss of Steel by Bec McMaster

I’m told.”
    “That’s very kind of you, but I assure you I’m not.” As if to defy her, her stomach gave an audible growl. She flushed. “You shouldn’t have.”
    “Tea?” Blade offered.
    Honoria stilled his hand with a touch of her fingers. “Allow me.” She reached for the pair of cups and elegantly handled the tea service, her gaze darting between it and the plate of kidney pie.
    Blade smuggled a smile.
    “Anythin’ else?” Lark asked, waggling her eyebrows at him.
    “Get to bed,” he muttered.
    Lark left them alone with a sigh of relief. The drone bobbed up and down, occasionally erupting with an almost flatulent gasp of steam.
    “I’m not some starving kitten you’ve fetched off your doorstep,” Honoria said briskly, gesturing toward the lumped sugar and pitcher of cream. “You’re utterly transparent, you know?”
    He shook his head to the condiments and accepted the teacup and saucer. “I ain’t the foggiest clue what you’re referrin’ to.”
    “Fattening me up,” she snapped. “Like a Christmas goose. I’m not eating it.”
    “Let it go cold then. I don’t give a damn, but me ’ousekeeper might think it rude.”
    Her mouth opened. Then closed. “You’re incorrigible. I shan’t enjoy a bite, knowing my brother and sister are at home without—”
    “Take some cake ’ome then,” he suggested, “if that’ll ease your guilt.”
    She still looked cross. But she shot the pie a longing look. If only she’d look at me like that , he thought and rubbed at his jaw.
    Still, it gave him an odd sort of pleasure to see her accept the plate and dissect the meat with the small fork. The urge to protect her was suddenly overwhelming. Honoria was not the sort of woman to welcome such attentions, and he wasn’t sure why he felt such a strong inclination. After their first meeting, he was fairly certain she’d spit in the eye of the devil himself. She needed someone to watch over her, but she’d be damned if she’d admit it.
    As she took a delicate bite, her eyes softened with pleasure. “Delicious.”
    A flake of pastry clung to her lips. He shifted uncomfortably as her tongue darted out and swept it away. “Aye,” he muttered. He liked seeing the visible enjoyment on her face. A simple moment of sensory delight that he was privy to.
    Imagine what other delights he could show her. Imagine her reaction, as delicious and uncensored as it was now, while she closed her lips over another bite.
    Her gaze flickered his way. “You’re staring.”
    “Can’t ’elp meself,” he replied. “You were made to be stared at.”
    A flicker of consternation crossed her face. She toyed with the fork. “As far as compliments go, it is crude but sufficient. But we shall cover that later, after we have begun the rudimentary matters.”
    “I were merely statin’ the truth,” he replied. “Can’t take me eyes off you. Does it bother you?”
    Another slant of those wide, almond eyes. “It’s disconcerting,” she admitted. “How should you like it if I stared so at you?”
    Blade spread his arms wide. “Look all you want, luv.”
    Honoria stabbed the last of the pie, delicately sweeping it off the tip of the fork with her cherry-colored lips. Her gaze settled on his with a challenging gleam. Then slowly it started wandering down his body, cataloging each inch of flesh as though she were ruthlessly looking to find fault with it. An uncomfortable feeling.
    “A woman is not encouraged to…to leer at a man,” she said with a troubled look pinching her brows. She paused, seemingly quite taken with his thighs.
    His cock stirred. Thank the lord for tight leather , he thought, feeling her piercing gaze upon that area of his anatomy. “Ain’t you ever looked at a man, then?”
    “Of course not.”
    Relief swelled in his chest.
    Honoria shook her head as though clearing it. “How do you distract me so easily?” She put the empty plate aside and tugged a sheet of paper out of her sheaf. “This is