Chapter 22 #2
“Oh, no worries. I’ve got it,” Luna said and hastily caught up a tea towel. She stepped to his side and made as though to wipe up his spill. But he thunked down the kettle and reached out to take the towel, saying a brusque, “Let me, Miss Talbot.”
His hand came down on top of hers.
Suddenly, Luna found herself back at the top of the Lover’s Tower.
Back in that moment, lying beneath the evening sky, when she’d felt his warm palm engulf her hand, felt his fingers slip between hers, felt the terrifying rightness of that connection, of that moment.
Apparently, it wasn’t a one-time occurrence, because here it came again.
Electricity shooting straight up her arm, passing through her heart, and grounding her with a powerful jolt.
She lost her ability to breathe. She could do nothing but stand there, staring at his hand.
At those large veins and those long, lithe fingers, and those deep nailbeds.
But she felt his eyes fixed on the side of her face.
Burning through the mask of calm she fought to keep in place, burning through every layer and defense, right down to her trembling core.
Slowly, Luna turned her head. She couldn’t meet his gaze, so she focused instead on the hollow of his throat, visible in the absence of a tie.
Why was she suddenly possessed by the powerful urge to lean forward and press her lips there?
Maybe even to flick out her tongue and taste that very specific part of him, the sight of which filled her with such inexplicable hunger?
His hand, still on top of hers, tightened, gripping her fingers hard.
Then his other hand reached out, took hold of her upper arm, turned her to face him.
Still she could not raise her gaze from his throat.
Whatever confidence his nervousness had momentarily inspired in her seemed to have fled entirely.
She was a shivering little fool, on the verge of melting into a puddle of jelly right there at his feet.
“Luna.”
Her lungs expanded sharply.
If there was one thing he could say that could shock her enough to make her look up, to make her meet his gaze, that was it: the sound of her name on his lips. It was the first time she’d ever heard him say it.
Her lashes lifted, and she met those blue eyes of his.
They were so sad, so deeply agonized. But there was more than sadness in them now.
That raw, tortured longing she’d glimpsed in the thaumagraph was present once more.
No longer hidden, no longer needing a thaumatographer’s magic to bring it to light. Completely bare to the naked eye.
“Yes, Nigel?” she whispered back. The shape of his name was foreign on her tongue.
He stared at her for such a long moment, she began to fear something in him had broken.
“Luna,” he breathed again at last, and his head inclined toward hers. She closed her eyes, ready to surrender to all the possibilities of this night, and then . . .
He was kissing her.
Nigel Grimm.
Her boss, the Dark Sorcerer.
The man whose mouth she’d been fantasizing about for far longer than she cared to admit.
He was kissing her.
Kissing her like she was the most delicate, most precious thing in all worlds, in all realities.
Kissing her like an act of worship, a sacred, holy rite.
He was the acolyte at the altar of her lips, here to make supplication.
A kiss so careful. So respectful. So restrained.
And yet, somehow, that tiny brush of his lips against hers ignited an explosion of heat which roared through Luna’s body and churned low in her belly.
He drew back. Just an inch, no more. His forehead rested against hers, and their shivering breaths mingled as he gave her a chance to pull away. But she didn’t.
Instead, with a little whimper in her throat, she let her lips seek his again, quivering slightly with uncertain need.
He reacted at once, claiming her mouth more firmly this time.
There was a sense of command, as though he was guiding her, molding her into the proper shape.
His was a leadership meant to instill her with trust, and she felt her whole body and being opening up to him in response.
Her hand fluttered up, resting on his shoulder, while his hand, which had gripped her arm, slid down to her waist then wrapped around the small of her back, pulling her against him.
Her heart trembled in response to that maneuver, and when his mouth slotted over hers more completely, she leaned in.
He changed the angle of his head, deepened the kiss, and it must have been a work of magic, for an explosion of fiery butterflies sprang to life and thrilled on a million sparkling wings through her chest.
This! Luna thought, her head whirling with heady wonder. This is what Auntie Arabella’s darning-basket novels were talking about! Oh, it was this all along!
He still held one of her hands clasped tight, their interlaced fingers pinned between her breast and his waistcoat.
She could feel her heart throbbing against her own knuckles.
She released him and slipped her fingers to his chest, sliding up to the portion of skin revealed by his partially-unbuttoned shirt.
Her fingertips grazed flesh, and he gasped, his mouth widening even as it remained pressed against hers.
That widening caused her own lips to part and her eyes to open, and she found herself staring up into his burning blue gaze, so very close, as they panted against each other.
Then his hand, still caught between their two heaving chests, slipped up her sternum, up the column of her throat, and wrapped around the back of her head, fingers tangling in her hair.
With a moaning sigh, Luna let her eyes fall closed, let him drag her in deeper, his lips plying hers with exhilarating pressure.
He tasted like spiced tea and sugar, and she drank him in, clasping the back of his neck, pulling him closer even as she pressed her body flush against his and—
A rattling at the door sounded moments before it creaked open. A voice burst across Luna’s awareness, bewildered and desperate and so very alone, crying: “Mr. Grimm! I saw your light on across the way! Oh, Mr. Grimm, you simply must help me!”
And even as Mrs. Goddard stumbled into the kitchen from the darkened alley, Luna sprang from the arms of her employer and fled to the far side of the table, hiding her swollen lips behind a trembling hand.