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

close proximity to that particular location – she was practically plastered against the front of his body – she was about to find out just how aroused this kiss was making him. In her defense, though, he had been the one to pull her that close, his one arm lashed about her waist while the other had moved from her jaw to her neck to the back of her head, just under the damned bonnet that he wished he could remove so he could undo the pins in her hair and run his fingers through the silken strands.
    He had to end this. Now.
    Hannah gently pulled her lips away from Henry’s, her eyes still a bit unfocused and her lips feeling every bit as swollen as her breasts and that space between her thighs. Even knowing he would kiss her, properly this time, she was sure, Hannah was still unprepared for the sensations his lips and tongue created as their mouths met. This was the kind of kiss Elizabeth had spoken of, the kind of kiss where lips were parted and tongues tasted and explored and debutantes were ruined. What have I done? she wondered as she tasted him on her tongue, the sensation of his teeth and tongue still lingering there. She had allowed him to pull her against his body, so that there was very little, if any, space between them. His lips on hers had been ... perfect. A perfect fit. And he was gazing down at her with just a hint of surprise on his face, as if he, too, couldn’t believe what they had done.
    She placed a hand along the side of his jaw and lifted her lips back to his, giving him a quick kiss before removing her hand to rest on his shoulder and settling her feet back onto solid ground. No wonder she’d been pressed against the front of his body – she’d been standing on tip-toes and would have fallen over otherwise! Well, except that his hand was still firmly at her back.
    Henry blinked. And then, because he didn’t know what else to do, he lowered his lips onto hers in a quick counter-kiss to hers. As he raised his face from hers, he watched as her lips curled up into a mysterious little smile. “You’ve done this before,” he accused, his voice kept light despite the fact that he was suddenly feeling ... possessive? Jealous?
    Hannah’s eyes widened. “I assure you, Gisborn, I have never been kissed like that. Nor have I ever ...” She allowed the sentence to trail off as she shook her head, as much in denial as in wonderment.
    Henry’s eyebrow arched so that it nearly touched the errant curl that rested on his forehead. “Never?” he countered. There wasn’t any malice in his question, but Hannah clearly heard the disbelief in his voice.
    Hannah dipped her head. “When I was twelve, my brother dared my elder cousin to kiss me, but, I assure you, it was more like the peck you gave me back at the phaeton,” she explained with another shake of her head. She didn’t notice Henry’s sudden look of offense; he’d replaced it with an impassive expression before Hannah lifted her head so that she could regard him directly. “And I do not believe Harold’s kisses count, but if you insist on including them, well, I assure you, I have never kissed him back,” she stated rather firmly, suddenly feeling a great deal of shame at her wanton behavior. Her face had to be bright pink. She’d never done anything so impulsive in her life! She had behaved like Elizabeth! But at least Elizabeth had been kissing a man who had already declared his affection for her, if not his intention to marry her.
    Henry had only asked if he could court her.
    The sound of Henry’s chuckle brought her eyes back up to his. He was shaking his own head back and forth as he noticed the soft pink blush that colored her face. She was rather fetching when she was embarrassed. “Well, should you ever wish to bestow such kisses on me again, I think I shall not mind,” he murmured, his face a study in controlled mirth. And then, as quickly as his humor had shown itself, it disappeared. “If your father hasn’t already sent out