Page 71 of Temptress and the Lyon
“Lawd, I haven’t even read the gossip papers yet!”
He gave it a quick glance. “Everyone is dying of curiosity.”
“Should we prolong their misery or end it?”
“Prolong, I think.” He had a long memory. “A private dinner with friends and family. A private ball with friends and family.”
She laughed. “A private tea party with friends and family.”
“There are a hundred ways to prolong suspense.”
She nudged him. “What a rogue.”
“Perhaps,” he conceded quietly, “but I’m your rogue. So set me loose on society at large.”
Her eyes shone bright. “That I will do. But I shall join you in the fun. You do know,” she added thoughtfully, “you still have to claimyour first dance.”
His first dance? Bishop could most certainly claim that. Just imagining dancing with Alyssia...Theirdance would be closer. So much closer. Her breath on his jaw, his hand at her spine, perhaps without clothes... Music would be irrelevant. They already moved to something only they could hear. He imagined her ear near his lips, the subtle brush of her nose against his cheek, seeking his stubble, the rise of her laughter against his chest. A dance with no room for distance. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to dance right now. His mouth outran his better judgment, “Where do you wish to share our first dance? The bedroom?”
She groaned, palming her forehead. “No! Do you truly never think of anything else?”
Bishop laughed. “Of course I do.”
“How did I know you were going to say that?”
“Because you know me so well?” Bishop offered.
“It should be a sin to know someone so thoroughly.”
He laughed. “I disagree. It should be a prerequisite.”
She rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth quirked. “Have I told you that you’re impossible and insufferable?”
“Only a hundred times.” If one counted her thoughts. Bishop turned to her. “Liss, I never said this, but my biggest regret is not coming back sooner. Not wedding you sooner. Not loving you like this, in my arms, sooner.”
“Giles—”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “I regret every mile that wasn’t spent coming back to you. That’s all.”
She didn’t say anything for a long while, then she pulled him in close and touched her nose to his, rubbing it softly.
Bishop’s throat thickened with emotion. Of all the things he’d seduced from his wife, he never thought she’d do this small action again. Their childhood promise, returned to him freely. This, he’dthought, would be forever lost.
“We’re not children anymore,” he said roughly.
“No,” she murmured. “We’re better.”
Could he take his wife there and then?
Best not.
Some things were better left for the bedroom.
The End
