As she sat down beside him, he slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to keep warm.
She would have preferred to remain indifferent about his nearness and the touch of his steady hand on her shoulder, but it caused a noticeable warming of her blood.
“Are you feeling warmer now?” he asked, brushing his lips lightly across her ear. The moist heat of his breath caused a tingling sensation in her core.
“Yes, that is much better.”
But was it? She wasn’t so sure.
She couldn’t seem to conquer the desire that was now coursing through her body. She wanted to lean closer, to feel his other arm wrap around her too. To feel his lips on hers in this dark cold place.
“Do you think they are taking their time on purpose?” he asked, his voice like warm silk in her ear. “Charlotte seemed particularly eager to send us off to be alone together.”
“Maybe with all their ghostly howls, she expected me to throw myself into your arms and beg to be held.”
His lips were soft on her cheek as he spoke with gentle allure. “I wouldn’t have objected if you had.”
The implications of that statement aroused her senses to an alarming degree. She couldn’t help but look up at him, and when she did, she became instantly lost in those moody blue eyes and the idle way his hand was stroking her shoulder.
His gaze dipped lower to her lips and held there for a sizzling moment of contemplation.
Anne was shocked at her own eager response as he lifted her chin and slowly touched his lips to hers. Shivers of delight followed the lush heat of the kiss, and her body went weak all over. If not for the chill in the air, she might have fainted from the searing pleasure that came next as his lips parted and his tongue swept inside.
Her body melted. He let out a husky groan of need.
His passion caught her completely off guard, for he had been so cool and distant in every other way. She was confused by the change, but had no will to resist, for it was deliciously wicked and he was the most wonderful kisser.
Garrett stroked her cheek and turned his body to lift her onto his lap.
“Your lips are like sweet honey,” he whispered with a smile, tasting her lightly and kissing down the side of her neck.
An exotic euphoria poured through her, though she was not entirely comfortable with any of this. She had been seduced once before with dreadful consequences, for she had given herself to a man before marriage and did not wish to repeat that mistake. It didn’t matter that she’d signed a contract. They were not yet married, and anything could happen between now and then.
A ghostly howl echoed through the underground and the candles flickered in the draft that blew in under the door.
“I think they’ll be here soon,” Garrett calmly mentioned as he kissed down the front of her throat.
“That’s probably a good thing,” she replied, tilting her head back to allow him greater access, “because we really shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Why not?” he asked. “I see nothing wrong with it. We are engaged to be married.”
“In name only,” she reminded him. “And just because I was ruined once does not mean I am an easy conquest.”
There. She’d said it, and she was glad she did, for she did not wish there to be any misunderstanding.
Garrett’s hand stilled at the small of her back and he slowly blinked, then drew back and beheld her with some concern. “I never thought that.”
“No?” She posed the question as a challenge, for she would not be taken advantage of. “Are you sure about that?”
The voices and laughter grew closer.
He didn’t have a chance to reply before she slid off his lap to sit on the step beside him.
Her cheeks flushed with heat. Anne took a moment to touch her hair and make sure everything was in order, but felt Garrett watching her.
“Forgive me,” he said. “I didn’t plan to kiss you, but I swear on my life, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met.”
Taken aback by the passion in his words—and the frustrated desire that was clearly evident in his eyes—she was barely conscious of the others rounding the last corner and appearing before them, out of breath, with candles blazing in the darkness.
“Upon my word!” Charlotte said, staring at them on the steps. “You two look like you’ve been waiting for hours! You must have chosen every turn correctly.”
“It appears we have been soundly defeated,” Devon added.
“Was there to be a prize?” Rebecca asked.
Garrett rose to his feet and spoke with easy humor, which completely masked the intense emotion he’d revealed to Anne just now. “We never discussed that, did we?”