Free The Seduction of an Earl by Linda Rae Sande Page A

about to claim them as they held one another. But he found she was gazing up at him rather expectantly, and he had to put the thought from his head. “I apologize ...”
    “You were woolgathering again, weren’t you?” Hannah accused with a teasing grin.
    Damn! So the chit had a sense of humor, too . “Guilty as charged, my lady. So...” And then he realized he’d forgotten the question he had just asked her only a moment ago.
    “I do miss my brother, although not because Will was particularly loving or a joy to be around,” she answered in a tone that suggested she had just said the very same words only a moment ago. But she was smiling as she said them, making Henry realize she had forgiven him.
    He frowned, wondering what kind of brother William Slater was to his sister. “It sounds as if there’s a story or two there,” he hinted. The path on which they walked suddenly split into two; Henry led them along the path to the right, thinking perhaps it circled around and would bring them back to the same place.
    Hannah dipped her head, the pink flush appearing where her bonnet didn’t hide her neck from view. “I will have to know you much better before I will tell those tales,” she countered lightly. She raised her head back up to find him looking down at her with a much more serious expression than she was expecting to see. “What is it?” she asked, wondering if she had spoken out of turn.
    “I was serious. About what I said back at the phaeton. About ... courting you,” he stammered, chastising himself for making such a cake of his declaration.
    “I know,” Hannah said with a nod, her slight smile not indicating how she felt about the topic.
    “So, may I?” he countered, taking the hand that rested on his arm and bringing it to his mouth. He placed a kiss on the back of her gloved hand, tempted to peel back the fabric until he could expose her knuckles and kiss them directly.
    “I thought you already were,” Hannah whispered, an eyebrow cocked into a teasing arch.
    Henry’s face split into a huge grin. “You minx!” Glancing about to be sure no one could see them, he cupped her face with one hand while he placed his other at the small of her back.
    Henry nearly chastised himself. He hadn’t intended to kiss the chit. At least, not like this. Their earlier peck next to the phaeton could hardly be considered a kiss. But she had looked at him as if she expected him to kiss her, a gaze that clearly invited him to at least press his lips to hers. So he had done it, and, out of a sense of propriety, ended it as quickly as he could. They were in the park, for God’s sake. Anyone might have spotted them.
    But now they were hidden behind a series of hedgerows and trees that already displayed their early spring greenery. He had asked if he could court her, for what? The third time? And she stood there with an expression that gave away nothing, and then informed him that she thought he had already begun. The minx, indeed . Of course, he had to kiss her at that point. What else could he do? And should her lips remain parted, as they clearly were as his lips settled onto them, well, it was her own damn fault that his tongue was going to want to participate.
    He hadn’t expected hers to get involved, too!
    For a girl who had only been out for one Season, Henry was astonished at her behavior. How many men had she kissed like this? And did she leave them all feeling as if their kiss was the most important act of courting in the world of courtship?
    Perhaps a kiss was, he considered suddenly. This one certainly ranked at the top of his list as the most satisfying, most all-consuming, intimate, powerful kiss he had ever bestowed on a woman. Which probably wasn’t saying much since he had only ever kissed Sarah. And she didn’t like to be kissed.
    At some point, he would have to end it. At some point, his cock was going to make itself readily apparent behind the fall of his doeskin breeches. And given her