He wanted to start by telling her all the places on his body he’d like that tongue to lick and all the parts he’d lick in return. But that wasn’t wha
t she needed. “Your honesty.” He found a spot on the dance floor and turned to her, taking her in his arms.
Her lips pursed. “That’s very kind.”
“I’m not being kind.” He began to spin her about the room. “My mother died in childbirth while having me. My father, I believe, secretly hated me because of it. He’d never admitted it of course.” He heard her gasp, but he kept going, somehow needing to say this. “But a person can feel when another doesn’t like him. When we were in public, he’d hug me. Pat my head. But in the privacy of our own home,” Malice gave a shiver. “It was a different story.”
She squeezed his forearm. “Oh, Lord Malicorn.”
But Malice shook his head. An overwhelming urge to tell her more of the truth rose up inside him. But he couldn’t do it here in front of everyone. And when he told her, he wanted her to say something more comforting than Lord Malicorn. He wanted her to call him by his given name. “My name is Chad…”
* * *
Chad. She whispered the name, simply testing it in her mouth. It felt nice, the way her tongue touched the back of her teeth.
He was spinning them with an efficiency that left her breathless and she barely had time to register where they were before they slid out the doors, cool night air touching her skin.
The night was still young and few guests had sought repose in the garden, making it easy for Malice to pull them onto a dark path.
Without a word, she found herself pressed against his body, the hard edges of him stealing her breath.
“Say my name again.”
“You heard me?” she gasped as he trailed his hand down her spine.
What was happening? She’d had a great many fantasies about romantic interludes in the garden but none of them had been this exciting. How odd. His proposal had been all business but his touch…
“I did, now say it, please, Cordelia.”
And then, heaven help her, he dropped his lips to the hollow of her neck and placed a light kiss on the skin. She felt as though she’d been struck by lightning as a bolt of pleasure shot through her. “Chad,” she said, his name sounding breathless and wanton.
He groaned in response even as his lips slid up the column of her neck until they reached her ear. “This is the opposite of what I wanted from you,” he said, his voice vibrating against her skin.
“I’m not sure I understand.” She leaned her head to the side to give him better access.
“I used the word suitable, Cordelia. I wanted a wife not a lover.” He gave her earlobe the smallest lick before he sucked it into his mouth.
Her insides turned to jelly. “I like this far better I think.”
He began kissing across her cheek, his lips placing a small kiss on the corner of her mouth. “Would you trade secret kisses in the garden for my marriage proposal?”
“Yes,” she replied without a second thought. “Most definitely yes.”
“Ask and you shall receive.” Then he covered her mouth with his.
She’d read more than a few books where the heroine received a kiss from the hero. She’d even attempted to write a scene such as this. But nothing had prepared her for the feel of his mouth nibbling at hers. The pressure of his lips as he kissed hers, first closed and then open, made her knees weak. When his tongue slid lightly against hers, she clutched his shoulders, the flood of tingly sensation making it difficult to stand or breathe or do anything but hold on.
Dimly, she was aware that he’d insinuated this kiss meant that he’d rescinded his marriage proposal. She didn’t care. This was so much better than suitable.
She had no idea how much time had passed but vaguely she became aware of a change in sound. Rather than music, she heard the stillness of the night and the sound of voices.
“Damn,” Malice muttered against her lips. “The dance is done.”
“Dance?” she asked pulling back a bit, her mind a jumbled mess.
He smiled in the dark and then lightly kissed her lips again, sliding his hands around her face to hold her cheeks. “This conversation isn’t finished.”
“This conversation never started,” she answered, attempting to blink away the confusion.