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 not to 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, he had 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.”
Her pulse thundered in her ears. Her gaze met his, sharp and piercing. She could not look away. “I promise.”
The hand still clasping her waist tightened when the steed made a restless step to the left. She loved his strength.
Wait, that’s not the point.
Pippa surveyed their surroundings before she let out a breath of relief. “Thank heavens, no one saw us.”
“Is that not the point of seizing moments?” Nicholas asked. “The thrill?”
“Certainly not,” Pippa said. “It’s about not missing a moment one might regret if missed.”
“Are you implying if you had not kissed me at the Pearler ball you would have regretted it?”
Pippa thought back to the breathless impulse that had urged her to kiss him that night. Without having to dwell on it much, she knew within her soul, she would have regretted missing the moment had she not seized it then.
“Perhaps, perhaps not,” she teased. “All I know is that I haven’t begun to regret the kiss. Yet.”
“Oh? What about the one we just shared?”
“Is that not your moment?”
“I don’t regret it,” he said with certainty. “And since you don’t regret yours, the matter is settled.”
Pippa froze. Did that mean this was the end of it, then? Were they even now? A touch of disappointment accompanied his reassurance. Until his next words …
“From now on, I’m yours to seize.”
* * *
The fourth rule of being an exemplary brother: Do not kiss your sister’s best friend in public. Also, do not leave your sister in the presence of a rake. Again.
Faced with her wide-eyed stare, Nicholas was seized by another unpardonable, duty-defying urge to kiss her. She sat enclosed in his arms, all but taunting him with those glittering eyes and red, moist lips.
Beautiful.
He hadn’t meant to blurt out the first thing that came to mind. For the first time in his life, Nicholas’s actions, thoughts, and mouth were led by pure instinct. Kissing Pippa Averly was damn near perilous.
And her warmth imprisoned him.
He hadn’t understood what the events of his heart meant. His pulse thundered. Seize me, every unsettled beat seemed to roar. He tipped her chin up as he lowered his lips to hers again for a quick peck.
Peril aside, kissing Pippa had also become a necessity.
Her eyes searched his in a daze, incredulity glinting in their depth. And something else. Something that made his chest constrict with emotion.
Awe.
Had he truly kissed Pippa Averly senseless? The look suited her. Wildly seductive.
Then, she blinked. “Seize you? I can’t believe you just said that. In fact, this past hour is a dream. It’s a dream, right? I haven’t woken up yet.” Her eyes narrowed on him. “Pinch me.”
“This is not a dream.”
She gestured to her arm. “Pinch me.”
“I’m not pinching you.”
“You kissed me but won’t pinch me?”
“Are kissing and pinching the same?”
“What about biting?”
“I don’t bite.” Nicholas dropped his gaze to her lips. “Unless you want me to take a bi—?”
“No! No biting!” She shook her head. “You’d bite but not pinch?”
“Old men pinch, young men—” He stopped. “This is ridiculous. You are not dreaming.” Nicholas paused. “Do I kiss you in your dreams?”
“This is exactly my point. You’d never ask me such things in the waking world. Never abduct me in the park. Kiss me on the back of a horse. Say such things to me. What else, if not a dream?”
“None of that matters.”
She directed a pair of suspicious eyes at him. “How can you say that? The real Nicholas would never say that.”
“Because you kissed me at the ball. Because now I want to kiss you again and again. Of course, life would be much more convenient if this were a dream. I wouldn’t need to hold back every instinct to make you mine.”
Her eyes widened. “Surely you jest?”
“I never joke about matters of great importance, Pippa. Believe me when I say this matter is vital to me. More important than air. You started this at the Pearler ball. How we end is entirely up to you.”
“What exactly do you mean by that, Nicholas?”
The horse restlessly shifted beneath them, as if suddenly sensing the rising tension.
Before Nicholas could explain, the horse unexpectedly reared, sending a chill down his spine.
Caught off guard, the reins slipped from his fingers.
Without further thought, he circled both arms around Pippa as they toppled from the horse, hitting the dirt with an audible thump.
Nicholas’s head spun as pain shot through his body.
“What on earth …” Pippa squirmed on top of him. “Nicholas? Are you all right?”
I’m fine … Truly.
“Nicholas!”
He caught the note of panic in the urgent call, but his reassurance came out in a grunt. The next moment, the world turned black.