Page 29 of My Wicked Earl
Without breaking the kiss, Colin reached behind her and tossed asideEmbalming Techniques of the Ancient Egyptians.
“I always preferred the Greeks.”
Miranda wrapped her arms around his neck, mimicking the movement of his mouth against hers. Tentatively she nipped his lower lip, sucking the bruised flesh into her mouth.
A low growl sounded in his throat. “Miranda.” His voice was hoarse and heavy.
“Colin,” she whispered against his mouth, “did I do that wrong? I thought that was – well you did it to me. Am I not supposed to? It’s just so…marvelous.So much better than the dry peck on the cheek I’ve seen some men bestow upon a woman. Do not think I’m some green girl because I have had a kiss stolen before and—”
He took her mouth again, cutting her off, firmly and possessively. Trailing his lips from the side of her mouth to her jaw, he made his way up the slender column of her neck, marveling at the feel of her skin.
“Oh, my.” She sounded blissful. “Do you feel that?”
He felt a great many things, most of which he wouldn’t repeat. “What?” He nipped at the sensitive skin beneath her ear.
Miranda immediately arched against him.
“Tell me.” He busied himself tracing the inside of her ear with his tongue. She made the most delightful little noises.
“When you work a puzzle, sometimes it will take days or even weeks to find the two pieces that fit together properly. Because they were madeexactlyto fitonlyeach other. The pieces make a lovely clicking sound when they snap into place, so you know they fit.”
Miranda took his hand in hers. The green of her eyes was the same color as the grass surrounding the blanket on which they lay.
“The pieces fitexactly. No other piece will do, you see.”
Yes.He did see, because Colin felt the connection as well.
He pressed his forehead to hers cupping one side of her head, loving the heat of her skin beneath his fingertips. How was it possible to want something so badly but be terrified all the same?
Nick’s widow friend did not exist. Of that, Colin was positive. It was rather annoying for Nick to be right once again.
“So, you do not regret kissing me,” she said softly, her breath wafting against his cheek.
“Miranda, there are many things I’ve done, and have yet to do that I may regret. But kissing you is not one of them.”
“That is a good thing, Colin, for I don’t wish you to brood about it.”
“I do not brood.”
“You do. You have for as long as I’ve known you, which is half my life. Just please, do not brood over kissing me. Or anything else.” Her voice lowered seductively.
“I do not brood.” He whispered before he kissed her again.
6
CAMBOURNE HOUSE 1836
“Well that,” Colin muttered as he dodged the rain and hastened to his waiting carriage, “was bloody awful.” Frowning, he thumped back against the worn leather squabs, inhaling the familiar smell of old leather and poverty.
Tapping on the roof of the carriage he ordered curtly, “Momsby and Partners.” Immediately regretting his ill humor, Colin nearly apologized to the poor man sitting atop his coach in the pouring rain. But an earl did not apologize. And God help him, hewasthe Earl of Kilmaire.
The carriage creaked forward slowly, its springs so worn that Colin imagined he could feel every cobblestone. At least the horses were of good quality, his father having spent what was left in the Hartley coffers at Tattersalls. Whatever else you might say about the deceased Earl of Kilmaire, and there was quite a bit to say, he had known his horseflesh.
Colin’s finger itched at the grooved, puckered flesh that bisected his face. Miranda had appeared unmoved as she had examined it earlier. An unspoken question appeared in her eyes, but that was all.
“It doesn’t matter any longer,” he whispered to the moldering coach. The scar did not, but some things did. Miranda, for one.
I still want her.
