Page 12 of A Trickster’s Temptation

Follow her, you idiot.Adam hurried after her, the sounds of merriment from the house fading into the distance as he and Mary walked out over the lawns towards the trees.

‘In truth, sir, I—I don’t know exactly what Amelia Hardwick is capable of.’ Mary sounded apologetic, but there was still a hint of excitement in her voice. A shadow of the breathless, hungry tone that Adam had heard when he’d kissed her the second time. ‘Does that displease you?’

‘Nothing you do—nothing Miss Hardwick does—could displease me.’

‘Even if all she has the courage to do is try and name trees in the dark?’

‘Is that all Miss Hardwick has the courage to do? Because if it is, I’ll happily be her companion. I’ll attempt to name every tree on this estate, and do it very poorly.’ The night air was warm; it was as if they were in a small room together, intimate, alone. ‘But something in me doubts—perhaps incorrectly—that this is all Miss Hardwick wants to do.’

He’d made similar sorts of overture a hundred times before, but none of them had ever felt as significant as this. This felt, for some reason, as if everything hung in the balance.

‘Well.’ Mary paused. ‘Perhaps if the gentleman you’re pretending to be closes his eyes, Miss Hardwick can take the courage she needs.’

Close his eyes? Adam paused, wondering for a moment if he’d heard correctly.

When he saw the determination in Mary’s face, he closed his eyes without another moment of hesitation. The world went dark; Adam took a deep breath, trying to steady himself, unsure as to why he suddenly felt so nervous.

He felt Mary come closer. Felt the warmth of her body, breathed in the warm, clean scent of her body beneath the bright perfume she wore tonight. Adam’s body sprang to attention; his cock hardened in his breeches, stiffening and swelling in a way he hoped to God was hidden by his evening coat.

Mary’s soft lips brushed against the base of his neck, just above the knot in his cravat. Her voice was soft, reverent, a hint of laughter in it. ‘There.’

Adam bit back a sigh of pleasure. The kiss had been so light, so innocent and yet so wickedly erotic all at once. ‘I… I see.’

‘Miss Hardwick is more courageous with some things than others.’

‘And must this gentleman’s eyes stay closed?’

‘Yes.’ Mary paused. ‘Although… he could, perhaps, lean down slightly. Or Miss Hardwick will find it difficult to be courageous with any other part of him.’

I’ll kneel if you ask me to.Adam leaned downward, his eyes still closed, his body so achingly aware of everything that the warm breeze blowing over his face felt like a storm. ‘Like this?’

‘Yes. Like that.’

The second kiss brushed against Adam’s temple. Feather-light, brief, it made his knees buckle slightly. Then Mary kissed him again, the very softest of touches on one of his closed eyelids, and Adam was unable to bite back the faint sound of pleasure that left his throat.

‘I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?’

‘No.’ Every time her lips touched him it was as if a spell was being cast. ‘Don’t stop. Please.’

‘Please, Miss Hardwick.’ Mary’s soft giggle was like a hand on Adam’s cock. ‘Why it’s—it’s terribly fun, tormenting you.’

‘You should know. You’ve been tormenting me ever since we met, and vice versa.’

‘Not like this.’

‘No. Not like this.’ Not beginning like this with Mary was turning out to be one of the greatest mistakes of Adam’s life. ‘And you should know that if you continue like this…’

‘Yes?’

‘Well. Torments of this kind can’t be borne for long. Not by any gentleman, even the one I’m pretending to be.’ God knew who he was pretending to be any more. ‘At a certain point, he will have to begin torments of his own.’

Mary was silent. Just as Adam was about to open his eyes, another kiss came.

This kiss was different from the previous ones. Deeper, more lingering, at the corner of his mouth where everything felt deliciously sensitive. A deep tremble ran through Adam’s body, he gritted his teeth, his cock hard and aching in his breeches.

Another kiss, this time on his other eyelid. Then one on the tip of Adam’s nose, a light giggle coming with it—then another deep, unmistakable kiss at the other corner of his mouth.

She was teasing him deliberately. She had to be. Adam tried to keep still, tried to stop his body responding quite so ardently to every deft movement Mary made. But when another kiss brushed against the corner of his mouth, seemingly designed to make him shatter into a thousand lustful pieces, Adam knew that enough was enough.

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