Anna bit her lip. Very tempted by his offer. Father was away from the house for at least the next half hour and the servants would not interrupt them unless they were called. Father had gone to his club, a usual habit of his, and wouldn’t need to know. Anna had promised her father she wouldn’t go out or receive callers while he was away.

Lord Sorenson wasn’t an ordinary caller. He was an earl determined to marry her. And he’d already been granted permission to speak to her privately on a previous occasion.

Although she shouldn’t even consider Lord Sorenson’s suggestion, she would like to kiss him again, without the romance of moonlight or surprise to cloud her judgment. A planned kiss, with no expectation of interruption, would decide her one way or another about him, she hoped. A conscious choice rather than a momentary lapse of reason was a sensible course of action to take.

She moved to sit beside him. “This is very unexpected of you,” she murmured.

“If you had the faintest inkling of your own appeal, you wouldn’t be surprised by my offer at all.”

She turned to look at him properly. The Earl of Sorenson was a very handsome man. Stunning green eyes, wavy dark red hair; his closely shaven cheeks and high cheekbones suggested he kept himself to a healthy weight. He cared about his appearance but wore his clothes with ease. Unlike Lord Carmichael, her tormentor, he presented himself as a prosperous country gentleman despite his title.

But he was a scoundrel beneath it all. A man who spoke of desire when he should not.

A gentleman who had offered himself for her exploration without expectations or threat of ruin. The Earl of Sorenson wanted her to explore him intimately, and she wanted to do it, too.

She placed her hand on his thigh, felt hard flesh and warmth beneath her fingertips. She had admired many a man as they danced, legs encased in breeches molded tightly to their skin. The mysteries of Lord Sorenson’s body sparked her curiosity.

Lord Sorenson’s lips parted slightly as her fingers crept up his thigh. His breath became louder the higher her hand traveled up his leg. “Are you sure you want to explore that part of me first?”

She looked down at her hand and noticed her fingertips were trailing along the inside of his limb, nearing the junction of his thighs where the male anatomy differed from hers. She slid her hand back into her lap. “My pardon.”

His eyes glowed with amusement. “Perhaps that exploration should come later in our acquaintance but please, don’t stop touching me.”

Reassured, she moved her hand to his chest and felt him inhale a deep breath as she explored the upper parts of his body. His chest was quite wide and felt hard, muscled. His arms strong but tense where they rested. “You seem quite fit and healthy.”

“I did everything I could to avoid becoming a pudgy country vicar. The volume of food the parish wives delivered to my housekeeper for the poor lonely bachelor was quite staggering.”

“What did you do with it all?”

“Invited those with less to dine with me most nights,” he whispered.

Anna’s fingers had reached his throat, and then she touched the point of his chin, high above the collar of his crisp white shirt. “That was good of you,” she told him in a voice she almost didn’t recognize. She licked her lips. “You’re a good man.”

“I certainly try to be,” he promised. “But being good is a struggle right now.”

He dipped his chin and her fingers came to rest on his lips. She brushed them, remembering how often he’d touched her lips the night of their first kiss. She felt a quiver of sensation between her legs as his tongue darted out to lick her. He looked at her sharply then smiled and did it again.

That same strange sensation caused her to shift to a more comfortable position. She rested against his thigh, bracing herself against him. She laughed suddenly. “I don’t normally behave like this.”

“I believe you,” he promised, lips curving into a smile. “Please continue to misbehave with me,” he whispered. “Come closer. Touch me some more, Anna.”

Boldly, Anna swept her hand over his cheek and tangled her fingers into his hair. The color fascinated her, as did the texture. Coarser than hers but still very soft and clean. She’d never actually caressed a man’s head before, not even her father’s when he was unwell.

Lord Sorenson leaned into her touch, turning his face so that his lips brushed across her exposed inner wrist. He kissed her there, a playful smile hovering on his lips.

“I thought I was supposed to be exploring you,” she complained.

“My hands haven’t moved,” he promised with a wink. “Come and kneel beside me,” he begged.

“Why?”

“I’d like to be beneath you, at your mercy some more.”

Anna laughed softly. She didn’t think he could ever be at her mercy, but she liked the idea. She moved to her knees on the sofa, and as promised, Lord Sorenson kept his hands to the sides. He rested his head back on the cushion and smiled up at her. “You are so lovely. Come and claim your kisses.”

Slowly, suddenly unsure of herself, she hesitated. She’d never kissed a man. Lord Sorenson had started both prior kisses. How did one begin exactly?

“Anna?”

Lord Sorenson stretched up suddenly and stole a quick kiss before she could decide how to take her own.

He lay back again, grinning hugely. “Couldn’t wait another moment.”

She laughed at his antics, bending closer to him as she did, then turned her lips to his grinning ones and kissed him.

Sorenson groaned darkly, parting his lips to capture her in a deeper kiss than she’d first thought to share with him straight away.

Anna drew back. “Was that all right?”

“Very right, actually.” He made a show of reestablishing his grip on the furniture, knuckles white as he held himself to the rosewood. “I’m ready for more kisses, please,” he said.

Anna put a bit more effort into the next kiss and felt the soft brush of Lord Sorenson’s tongue against hers. Her lady parts quivered and she drew back. “You did that before. Why?”

“Did you like it?”

“Yes.” Very much. She bit her lip. She liked the feelings he stirred in her body.

“Then do it to me, too,” he asked. “Let me taste you again.”

Anna dropped her lips to his but kept her eyes open, watching his face. His dark lashes closed slowly as the kiss intensified—as if he relished each moment with her. She did her best to mimic his kisses and they seemed to please him, given the little noises he made.

Kissing Lord Sorenson was wonderful, even when he was doing nothing to seduce her. Her body felt strange, restless. Thinking of how much better it would feel, Anna found his right hand, pulled it from the armrest and brought it to her waist.

His fingers slid around her as he dragged her sideways onto his lap. Half lying atop him, Anna searched for his other hand. She tugged at his arm until she was fully in his embrace. Sorenson moaned softly against her lips again, and then completely swept her under his pleasurable spell as he kissed her witless once more.

True to his word, he made no move to exploit her weakness and growing excitement. He simply held her and kissed her thoroughly and slowly.

Anna wound her arms about his shoulders, holding herself to him as she accepted that her response to him felt right and more. She threaded her fingers into his hair and traced the shape of his ear.

But she was very restless against him. Sharing every breath and soft exhalation with him.

“It’s become very heated between us,” he whispered in her ear when their lips finally parted. “We should not let this go too far.”

Anna whimpered. “But…”

“I know exactly how you feel, sweetheart.” He drew back and caught her eye. “If this continues apace, I fear I won’t be able to keep my promise to you.”

“What promise?”

“You deserve better than to be tumbled on your father’s settee the first time we make love. I don’t want to ruin you but your kisses are driving me wild.”

Anna drew back, smiling at that admission. “They are?”

“You have every right to gloat. I did say I wanted a wife who would share my desires, and we do. I want to continue. I absolutely do. But further intimacies should not be rushed.” When he brushed her hair back from her cheek, Anna gave him another kiss. She did not really want to stop. She felt so very wonderful but strange, too.

Anna pressed her legs together firmly and moaned softly at the pleasurable tenderness pulsing at the apex of her thighs. She was feeling very warm now. Gilbert’s kisses had awoken her body in a way she’d never experienced before or expected. She ached for…something more from him. Something a wife would have.

Something she could have every day of her life if she accepted his proposal.

Anna drew back, struggling to catch her breath.

“You’re biting your lip again. What is it?”

“Hmm, you might be right.”

“About which matter?”

To feel this way again, to discover the rest of what pleasure means, she might be wise to marry Lord Sorenson sooner rather than later. Marrying this man had a greater appeal, now she knew the power of his kisses and her own. He’d kept his word. Allowed her to make love to his lips without rushing her or attempting to lift her skirts to take what might be his one day soon.

But could she live with him keeping secrets? If they did not affect her, as he’d promised, she’d only be depriving herself of a future she’d always hoped for. To marry well, to have a home. To have a husband who was comfortable to be around.

She took in her current position perched on his knees. Lord Sorenson was quite nice about allowing her to sit there still. His arm was loosely wrapped around her and she could flee at any time.

She stayed exactly where she was because she felt safe…and perhaps a little loved.

Her friends had always aspired to capture the attention of a titled gentleman for a husband, though Anna hadn’t really believed she could do the same. But she had Lord Sorenson at her mercy now, an earl with a great estate in far off Kent, and he might just be the most appealing fellow she’d ever met, too.

Marriage was always a delicate meeting of two lives. She did not expect perfection. So far, aside from not knowing what Lord Sorenson was up to with Carmichael, he seemed an open book about everything else. He liked her, was curious about her interests, and desired her. He was waiting very patiently for her to explain her last remark, too. That meant a great deal to her—and she decided it worth the risk to accept him now.

“I would be honored to marry you, my lord.”

She kissed him quickly to seal their bargain.

His grin when released was immediate and genuine. “It is I who is honored, Anna. Thank you.”

Anna bit her lower lip, staring down into his eyes. She teased his ear again and he turned his lips to kiss her wrist once more. “Now what do we do, my lord?”

“To begin with, my name is Gilbert when we are alone.”

“Gilbert.”

He brushed her lips with his fingertip until she flicked out her tongue to touch him. Gilbert’s eyes darkened further. “I’ll need to speak to your father again now. For some reason, he didn’t seem to believe I really meant to offer for you last time.”

“He was only looking out for me,” she conceded. “We hardly know each other.”

“Trust me, Anna. You will know me better than anyone ever could.” The pitch of his voice dropped, low enough to excite Anna, as it had the first night they’d met.

He set his hand to her hip and slowly skimmed down her leg and back up. Anna was nearly breathless by the time he stopped.

He chuckled softly at her response. “After the events of the past twenty minutes, I believe we’ll be very happy living as man and wife.”

“Twenty minutes have passed?”

He nodded. “Yes. Why?”

“Oh, dear. My father could be back at any moment.”

“Good. I’d like to speak to him today and have the matter of our betrothal settled.” His eyes twinkled with excitement but he lifted her up from his lap, stood and, after pulling her to the nearest looking glass, helped her straighten her gown and hair into some semblance of neatness. His lips strayed to her throat and when he kissed her there, Anna’s legs nearly buckled under the onslaught of sensation that tore through her body. She may have even moaned out loud a little.

Then Gilbert suddenly stepped back and, staring into the mirror, raked his fingers through his own hair. He straightened his coat and waistcoat so it looked as if they had not just almost made love on the settee. That would be their secret forever.

He led her by the hand to a nearby grouping of chairs. “Now, tell me more about you. Have you ever visited Kent?”

“No,” she confessed. “I was to go to Gloucestershire for Christmas with my father this year. That of course will change, now we are to marry, so tell me about your home and the families who live nearest to you.”

When her father returned, they were laughing together, discussing the delights of his home in Kent and Anna’s preferences for keeping dogs and cats as pets.

To say Father was surprised by Lord Sorenson’s presence was an understatement. They were unchaperoned, and that fact utterly compromised her in her father’s eyes. Anna did not feel she had been ruined by their private interlude, but she felt enlightened and excited. Her suitor was an equally honorable and wicked man.

And all hers now.

Father became instantly agreeable to a marriage between them when Lord Sorenson asked for her hand a second time.