Free Never Trust a Scoundrel by Gayle Callen Page B

you hurt her.”
    â€œI didn’t want to.”
    So perhaps she had meant more to him than he’d realized. But he hadn’t loved her .
    She changed the subject. “It seems you are better at scandal, like the rest of your family, than you are at a serious relationship.”
    â€œMy family is actually capable of serious relationships,” he said, smiling. “The scandal part just keeps…happening.”
    Like the jungle animal she’d imagined, he suddenly pounced, pulling her onto the bed, his upper body looming above to hold her down. Chest to chest, breath to breath, they stared at one another. He’d left her legs free, and she could have kicked him, but instead she watched his taunting smile fade, replaced by a look of hunger that called to her at a very deep, primitive level.
    â€œI’ve waited to kiss you all night,” he whispered, his face just above hers.
    His chest against hers was a pressure and a promise. She wanted to squirm, but not to get away—to pull him closer, to have him truly on top of her. He moved his chest against hers in a slow, circular motion, and without a corset, she felt each of his buttons like an intimate caress. One tugged at her nipple, and she shuddered. Resisting her own longings was even more difficult than resisting him. Why was this happening to her all over again, when she thought she’d learned her lesson?
    â€œI watched you dance with those other men—”
    â€œYou did not. You were playing cards.”
    He leaned closer, and at the last moment, he pressed a soft kiss against her cheek. His lips, moist and warm, lingered, and she struggled not to turn her head to him.
    â€œI saw enough,” he said.
    She didn’t know whose heart was thundering so loudly, hers or his. For the first time she wondered if she would be truly strong enough to resist him. As it was, her hands were fisted in the coverlet. She struggled neither to touch him, nor to push back the lock of hair that fell over his eyes.
    â€œWhen I had you alone on the terrace,” he said, touching his nose to hers, “I thought I’d found my chance for a stolen kiss, but then your gallant brother interrupted.”
    â€œHe could be home any minute. You should leave.”
    â€œThen I had better not waste this chance.”
    He lowered his head and kissed her, and though she’d braced herself to reject such an intimate invasion, his lips gently explored hers in a slow, sweet seduction, kiss upon kiss, warm, moist heat of desire that simmered quietly, deceptively.
    With a moan she gave in, forgetting the mistakes of her past, thinking of nothing but mind-altering pleasure. She slid her hands over his shoulders and up into his hair, holding him to her, feeling the warm, silky thickness of it. It was as if the touch of her hands unleashed something inside him, because he turned his head and deepened the kiss, parting her lips with a thrust of histongue. She’d been kissed before, but it had never set her afire with such masterful skill. His tongue explored the inside of her mouth, rasping against hers, taking possession. She pushed up against him, trying to get closer, and he pushed back.
    She closed her eyes as he continued to nuzzle behind her ear, licking and nipping, and finally her brain seemed to function again.
    â€œYou must stop,” she whispered.
    He spoke against her skin. “This is a seduction. I don’t want to stop.”
    â€œBut it’s not a seduction if I don’t want it to go further.”
    He lifted his head and studied her. His wet mouth made her shudder.
    â€œSo I’m not seducing you tonight?” he asked.
    â€œYou think I’d let you win so easily, so quickly?”
    He smiled wryly. “No. I knew you would be a challenge.”
    She stared at him. “Sadly, it seems I like challenges.”
    â€œWhy is that sad?”
    But she’d said too much. She liked being with him,