Page 30 of Ravishing Camille

The corners of her mouth turned down and she seemed to melt into the chair. “Why?” she asked on a breath.

He read her lips more than heard the sound.

* * *

“Why?” She asked once more when he seemed transfixed.

But he stirred and frowned at her. “Because you would know…feel so many things if you love him.”

“Would I?”If I kissed you, what would I know?

“Of course you would. What sort of kiss was it?”

She should laugh. But she had cotton in her mouth. “What sort of kisses are there?”

“Oh, come now, Camille. You know.”

She did give him her skepticism then. “Do I? Tell me.”

“Did he peck you on the cheek?”

Yes.

“Or draw you against him?”

That too.

“Did he take his time or rush you into it?”

Wouldn’t I want both? One upon the other?

She shot to her feet, unable to sit, her blood hot, a squirming liquid flame deep in her belly.

He stared at her. “Is that what he does to you? Makes you need to move?”

No! You do!

She swung toward the mantel. It was her turn now to face away from him. Why had he before? Because he wished to conceal his anger and his power. Be the protective brother. The one who would ward her off a man whom he…

Oh, she saw now. “You didn’t like him, did you?”

“No, by God, I did not.”

“Why?” She whirled around to see him standing directly behind her. This close, his cologne was a lure of sandalwood and some eastern fragrance she’d noted on him before but could not name. More devastating to her independence was his bright gaze that flowed into hers like molten quicksilver. “Why?” she repeated in a whisper.

One hand of his came up. And in the next moment, he brushed a fingertip across her bottom lip. His move was a brand.

Her hope was a flame.

“How would you kiss a woman you loved?”Oh, yes.She was a fool to ask.

But in her curiosity, she knew power. Because he blinked and yet he did not pull away, she had the control. Instead, he stood immobile as she stepped against him. She lifted on her toes, for he was so tall. And she slanted her head to one side, her gaze fastened on his, her mouth a heartbeat away from his. “How would you?”

“Camille.” Her name was not a sound.

She heard it as a warning, but took it as an appeal. One she’d waited for nearly half her life. One she would take advantage of now. For if anything, she was a woman of action. And in regard to him, she’d always been a woman of desire.

She sought purchase with her fingers going round his upper arms. “Shall I kiss you on the cheek?”