Page 38 of A Problem Princess

Her heart took hope in that. “I’m pretty certain you did.”

“That’s a poor excuse of a lie.”

She wanted to laugh with joy! No one had ever dared before to accuse her to her face of lying. Finally, he was no longer treating her as a princess.Exactlywhat she wanted.

“Well, perhaps you promised only an evening’s escape.” She trailed her fingertips along his jaw, and his breathing turned shallow and fast. “But I can’t think of a better escape than to be kissed by you.” She slipped her arms away from him and leaned back against the wall, putting a narrow gap between them. He would have to come to her to complete this fairytale moment, and she prayed with every beat of her heart that he would. “And certainly no better enjoyment.”

The temptation became too much for him. With a frustrated groan, he stepped forward to close the distance between them, cupped her face between his hands, and lowered his mouth to hers.

Cordelia relaxed into him and welcomed his kisses. Very skilled kisses, too. No chaste touches, no desire to soothe and comfort as he’d done before—he claimed this kiss for himself, just as he would have with any other woman with whom he’d stolen away into the shadows, and she soared with happiness.

He kissed her hungrily as he shifted to pin her between his body and the wall. As the embrace grew in both heat and intensity, her legs shook, and she realized why he’d pressed against her—to keep her from sinking bonelessly to the floor. His kisses made her feel both weak-kneed and weightless, hot and tingly all the way out to the tips of her fingers and toes. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and clung to him as though he were an anchor in a storm-tossed sea.

The tip of his tongue teased against the seam of her lips in a plea for her to open for him. Wanting this precious kiss to grow into so much more, she did as he asked. His tongue slipped between her lips, and he hungrily explored her mouth and swirled his tongue over hers in a silky glide that stole her breath.

There was no embarrassment, no uncertainty, in letting him kiss her like this—or in kissing him back just as eagerly. How could there be with a man who had so heroically saved her life, who made her feel beautiful and brave, who saw the woman beneath the tiara? Tonight was her chance to be bold and free, if only for one precious night, and she seized the moment as she closed her lips around his tongue and sucked.

A faint groan tore from him. “Princess…”

“Cordelia,” she corrected against his lips. What she wouldn’t have given at that moment for him to simply say her name!

His hand slid down the wall to her shoulder, then across to her throat. She was lost in the thrill of him and this wonderful new way of kissing and so had no idea what his hands were doing until—

He dropped his hand away.

She opened her eyes and blinked, confused by the loss of his touch. He’d removed her necklace and reached for her hand to place it on her palm.

“I want to put my mouth right here.” He caressed his fingers down the side of her bare neck and lower still to the top of her chest just above her neckline. “But your necklace was in the way. Because if the clasp should unfasten and your necklace slip down beneath your dress,” he warned, his voice thick and rough, “I might feel compelled to go after it.”

She swallowed. Hard. He wasn’t giving a warning; he was asking permission to take his kisses even further—more, he was giving her the freedom to take control. It was her decision, her time to lead in the thrilling dance happening between them.

And she claimed it.

With trembling fingers, she dangled the pendant above the little valley between her breasts. Then she slowly let the chain slip through her fingers and down into her bodice. The invitation was clear…

Go after it.

This time when he leaned toward her, his expression wasn’t merely hungry—it was downright wolfish. He devoured her mouth as his hands swept down her body.

His lips moved away from hers, along her jaw to her neck to kiss her exactly as he’d promised. When she shivered, he smiled against her skin and touched the tip of his tongue to the pounding pulse at the base of her throat.

But it was his hands that made her tremble as they stroked along her sides. She felt as if she were falling weightless through space with only Clayton to keep her grounded. He caressed down the curves of her waist and hips, only to change direction and slowly trail his hands upward to her bodice.

She moaned softly when he cupped her breasts. There were three layers of clothing between her flesh and his hands, but the heat of his touch seeped into her, warming her breasts and making them feel heavy. She leaned into him, begging for his touch to soothe away the unexpected tightening of her nipples, and he did exactly as she needed by gently massaging the hard points through her clothes.

His mouth found hers again, and as he kissed her, his fingers moved up to trace over the top swells of her breasts that were just visible above her neckline. Her bare skin tingled everywhere he touched, and when he dared to sweep a finger beneath her bodice and across her hard nipple—

She turned her head away and gasped. “Clayton!”

A soft chuckle rumbled from the back of his throat and into her chest when he lowered his head to kiss the same bare stretch of flesh he’d just caressed. His mouth lingered only inches from her nipple, which ached to be kissed.Allof her ached for him, yet she somehow knew that whatever kisses he gave her here in the dark box would not be enough to satisfy the longing flaming inside her. The pleasure between her thighs intensified as he continued to caress with his fingers inside her bodice and tease at her tightening nipples.

Thunderous applause roared through the opera house, followed by the stomping of feet. The sound shook the box around them.

His head snapped up.

The intruding noise rushed over them—as did reality. The audience was already spilling out of its seats and boxes for intermission, and an army of attendants moved though the theatre to raise the lamps.

He dropped his hands away from her. Cordelia caught back the breath he’d stolen and looked up at him. But her smile froze on her lips.