Page 24 of The Grand Mistletoe Assembly
He found her enchanting.
Always had.
“Well?” she urged.
Nicholas slowly came back to his senses and smiled. “I plan to take back control.”
Her eyes rounded. “How?”
Nicholas’s grin widened. Then he uttered words he never thought he would ever say to Pippa in his life. “If you want to kiss someone, kiss me.”
CHAPTER 5
Dreams, love, and kisses ought never to be confused.
—From the Diary of Lillian Wright
Until the impulsive moment beneath the mistletoe, Pippa had always tried her very best notto be swept away by the force of feelings such as those that a single kiss had provoked at the Pearler ball. And now the implication of what Nicholas had revealed caused her world to tilt unexpectedly, plunging everything into mayhem.
She made Nicholas lose control.
He wanted her to only kiss him.
Her whole body prickled with awareness.
Pippa stared at the man, not sure what to make of this side of him. He’d always been cold and staid, not the sort of man to audaciously flirt and give in to flights of fancy. She could not deny there was something strangely endearing about this side of the earl.
Splendidly unexpected.
Pippa collected a deep breath into her lungs and exhaled the tension that had gathered in her nerves. Hyde Park buzzed with liveliness, but at present, one could only faintly hear a hum of activity. She had been spirited away to a secluded spot—and the entire park had borne witness.
“Have I left you bereft of speech?” a gruff whisper teased. “I’ve not seen you this speechless before. A riveting sight.” He leaned nearer as he spoke, and she, too, seemed to edge closer, so that by the time he finished speaking, barely a hair’s breadth separated them.
Her heart pounded. “I’m thinking.”
His gaze lit with mock astonishment. “Another first.”
Pippa glared at him. “I’m not a complete ninny. And if you want to speak of firsts, look no further than your own behavior.”
He chuckled. “I’m only borrowing a page from your book, Pippa. I’m seizing moments. How about it? Have I mastered the art?”
Then his mouth claimed hers.
Pippa’s brain melted the moment his tongue slid between her lips, demanding territory. The world spun about her as Nicholas did exactly what he said he’d do—recaptured the control he’d presumably lost, for surely hers scattered in the wind. His possession thundered through her brain like a thousand galloping horses. She went hot all over. It didn’t seem possible. Nicholas was kissing her. This time,hehad taken the initiative. Not in a thousand dreams would she ever have imagined he could behave so delightfully out of character.
Pippa wanted to taste all his secrets.
She wanted more.
But dare she embrace the risk …
Her train of thought evaporated when a large hand clutched her waist. Everything disappeared. The park. The people. The consequences. Nothing mattered except to do what Pippa did best—seize.
She poured all the dreams and doubts that cradled her heart into the fire that entangled their tongues. She held nothing back. Focused only on the intoxicating flames their kiss created.
A forever kind of moment.
“Pippa …” He breathed against her lips as he pulled back slowly. His voice sounded different. Dangerous. “Promise me you won’t kiss Dare.”
