Chapter 2 #2
She went to him, rose up on her toes and, since she might never get a chance to be alone with him again, pressed her lips to the only part of him she could reach. The evening stubble on his jaw tickled her lips. “Thank you.”
He seemed shocked by her boldness, and gasped, “For what?”
“For looking out for me the way a brother would,” she whispered, and then stepped back from him, aware she was pouting like a disappointed child. “You should go back to the party, where you must surely be missed.”
His stare remained upon her for a long time, and then he stepped forward, captured her face in one hand and looked deeply into her eyes again. “I have never once thought of you as a sister.”
When his lips settled on hers, delivering the kiss she’d been hoping for when she’d brought him up here, it was as exciting as she’d ever dreamed. And she had dreamed of him a lot over the years.
She clutched Frederick’s arms for support as her senses spun and swayed and danced a giddy jig. And when his tongue darted between her lips and tangled with hers, she moaned.
Not one of her would-be suitors had ever been so bold as to steal such a devastating kiss from her.
Her body was afire for more, and her arms stretched toward his shoulders without conscious thought.
He suddenly lifted her up into his arms, leaving her feet dangling off the ground as he proceeded to kiss her witless, proving that his interest was to die for—as other ladies had claimed in whispers.
She whimpered, taken by complete surprise by his passion, and dug her fingers into his thick brown hair.
Frederick Stonebeck was making love to her.
But eventually, after she could almost bear no more excitement, he lowered her until her feet touched the ground, breathing hard, and rested his forehead against hers. “I suppose I must apologize,” he whispered, his voice husky and dark and even more exciting than his kisses had been.
“Why?”
“Kissing the sisters of friends is strictly forbidden.”
She smoothed her hands over his chest, trying to think clearly. She was dazed, but how could kissing him like that ever be wrong? Frederick Stonebeck had seduced her. She’d do anything to have him continue, too. “When was that decided?”
“Since the beginning of time.”
She slipped her hand up to cup his face and met his gaze. “Well, I think that’s foolish.”
“I never questioned the rules before,” he whispered. “However, I do understand the need for it. Especially now.”
“Why especially now?”
“Because if you were not Humphrey Chase’s sister, this evening would end scandalously on that chaise over there. I would have you naked and panting as I made you mine.”
Her body responded to that threat with shameful enthusiasm between her legs.
She curbed her longing for forbidden pleasures ruthlessly, lest he think her completely wanton.
But with his breath loud in her ears, she was wanton.
Being with Frederick was intoxicating. She wanted to be his.
“Do you think no woman can resist your charms, or just me?”
“Well. That’s usually been the case with other women. Especially so with one who’s been drinking spiked punch as much as you have. But I’m not sure you understand the danger you’ve put yourself in.”
Minerva put her fingertips on his lips and pushed him back gently. “I’m not as naive as you imagine, and I think you should return to the party and see if you can find someone better to flirt with.”
“What if I stayed instead until you felt better?”
“You would regret it in the end. My brother would either shoot you at dawn tomorrow or make us marry, should he think you stole my virtue,” she warned.
He shuddered, and she could only laugh at his reaction. She did not hold Frederick’s lack of honorable intentions against him under the circumstances anymore. Not after that kiss. But he had some sort of code against seducing drunken women, and she might even admire him more for his restraint.
But otherwise, he was not interested in her, really. Not in the way she might once have hoped for. “Thank you for the kiss. Now go, and I do hope you enjoy the rest of your evening.”
He nodded and walked away a few steps, but then stopped and turned to face her again. “Will you return to the party later tonight?”
“I think I’ve had all the excitement I can bear for one evening,” she claimed, fighting a blush. “I will retire to my bed alone, like a good spinster should, and forget my brush with the honorable but dangerously seductive Mr. Frederick Stonebeck.”
“Dangerously seductive,” he repeated, and then a wolfish grin appeared on his face, clearly happy with her description of him. “Until tomorrow then.”
“Until tomorrow,” she promised as she watched him rush away and slip down the stairs to go off to seduce any other woman at the party. Probably the widow. Or maybe all of them.
Minnie folded into the nearest chair and pulled a quilt over her as she hugged herself. Her one brush with passion, and Frederick had been memorable, but likely never to be repeated.
And it probably shouldn’t be repeated, if she had any sense at all. Frederick Stonebeck would only break her heart, given his views on matrimony and love. So, she promised herself then and there that she’d never think of his kiss again.
Or at least, not too often.
Minnie had no control over her imagination, though.