Page 58 of The Princess Stakes
“I expect no less from you, my bloodthirsty princess.” He reached over and grabbed her reins, enjoying the snap of temper in those brilliant eyes. “Though we are not lovers.Yet.”
Her gorgeous skin bloomed. “Never, if I have anything to say about it.”
“Never is a long time,” he said, tracing a gloved finger over her delicate wrist. “You might change your mind.”
Sarani snatched her hand away. “The sun will rise in the west before I come to your bed, Your Grace.”
“Not even if I beg you for hours on my knees?”
He let the erotic slant of his thoughts show, his gaze sweeping her body with scorching intent. She gaped at him, chest rising and falling beneath the hunter-green bodice that brought out the emerald fleck in her eyes. “We are in public. You are unspeakable!”
“In public or in bed.” His smile was wicked. “I am the robber of all speech.”
“You’re obsessed with the bedchamber,” she shot back, her voice husky and her expression wild. Damn but he loved teasing her. He wanted to watch that becoming blush spill down into her décolletage, then distill even lower, and he wanted to trace its path with his tongue. His groin ached with pure, self-inflicted torment.
“Aren’t all men?”
She rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched as she fought to keep her natural inclination to spar battened. “Only the clearly deprived ones.”
His smile was slow. “Are you offering to rescue me?”
“No!” She steered the mare away in a huff toward the start of Rotten Row. “Are we racing or is it only your tongue you intend to put to use?” She froze, her face as bright as a summer strawberry. “Don’t you dare answer that!”
Rhystan had to laugh at her chagrined look as the sounds of a few choice foul oaths reached him. God, he’d missed their banter and her fire. Even on the ship, he’d look forward to the wordplay. She made him think, she made him laugh, and she made him forget that he was anything but a man. It was grounding.
“We need to decide on a prize for the winner,” he said. “Something of value, otherwise neither of us will make any effort.”
“I win simply for the thrill and to put you in your place, Your Grace.”
He wound his hands into the reins of his stallion and patted the horse’s sorrel-colored neck. “Alas, I require more of an incentive.” He put his fingers to his chin and squinted into the distance as though deep in thought. “I claim a kiss when I win.”
“Whenyou win?” she asked.
“You are riding sidesaddle, you’ve admitted that you’ve lost your edge, and the part of you that desperately wants me to kiss you again will sabotage your competitive instincts quite thoroughly.”
Sarani opened her mouth and shut it, incredulity filling her gaze. “You…you…”
“Yes, yes, I’m unspeakable. Saying it more won’t make it any less true. Stop stalling. What do you choose as your prize?”
“It is truly a wonder that you aren’t married with all that conceit.”
He winked and leaned in. “You adore me.”
She shook her head in wary disbelief as though he’d transformed into a stranger before her eyes. Rhystan supposed he had. He hadn’t had this much fun in ages. Not since…well, five years ago.
Sarani narrowed her eyes at him. “Somehow I do not remember you being this vexing.”
“In my defense, I was trying to impress you back then.”
“And now?”
“Now I intend to trounce you soundly.” He pasted on a determined expression. “I’ll have you know, I take my kisses very seriously.”
She rolled her plump lips between her teeth as though not to smile and studied him, resolve firming her jaw before she nodded. “If I win, you’ll escort Ravenna to the next three balls of her choosing, including the one at Lady Windmere’s.”
Lady Windmere? He blinked, his brain cataloging the endless procession of eligible ladies who had been thrust upon him in the past week. A voice like razors on glass came to him, followed by roving hands better suited to a flash thief in St. Giles than a lady in Mayfair. The Duchess of Windmere was none other than the mother of Lady Penelope. The girl was tenacious and bold in an entirely unattractive way. How his own mother thought he would ever be inclined to marry a chit like that was beyond him. It was nearly enough to drain the lust from him.
He almost groaned and peered at Sarani, but her face gave nothing away. “That’s three things. Do I get three kisses?”
