Read Kresley Cole - [MacCarrick Brothers 03] for Free Online Page A

glinting in her eyes, and instead, stare in horror. “I can enjoy you just as well with our masks on.”
    “And what makes you think I’d allow you to ‘enjoy’ me?” A flirtatious note had eased into her voice, so subtly he might have missed it. Not coquettish—but amused, intrigued.
    She was playing, enjoying herself, but she had no idea what she toyed with. “I’ve a sense for these things.” He brushed the backs of his fingers below the sapphire silk of her mask, down her cheek, and she allowed it. “Tonight you’re aching for a man.”
    At that, she glanced away. “You might be right, Scot,” she said casually, then faced him once more. Her voice a purr, she asked, “But are you the man I await…where I ache?”
    He felt on the verge of grinning. Ach, he liked this excitement. This bandying. He liked that she flirted with him, even knowing she didn’t plan to go further. Why hadn’t a man like himself been attending masquerades every bloody week?
    “I am that man.” He took her by her tiny waist and lifted her onto the table along the wall.
    “Scot, put me down!” she cried, but he could tell she was excited, well past intrigued now. “Why did you do that?”
    “I want to be face-to-face with you when I kiss you for the first time.”
    Finally, his words drew a small gasp from her lips. “Are you always so arrogant?”
    “Aye, always.” He wedged his hips between her legs.
    “You need to let me down,” she said, even as she hesitantly ran her fingertip over his arm—as if she’d struggled not to but hadn’t been able to help herself. “I’ve no time or use for handsome rakes with smooth words.”
    His lips did curl then, pulling on the tight skin of his face, forcing him to recall that he didn’t smile—and that he was no longer handsome. “How do you know what I look like? This mask covers most of my face.”
    “You have a powerful body and a seductive smile. Gorgeous eyes,” she said in a breathy voice that made his shaft throb. “You said you’ve a sense for certain things—well, I appreciate handsome men. An aficionada, if you will. There’s a reason I spied you out tonight.”
    “Is that so?” When she nodded, he said, “Tell me your name.”
    “That defeats the purpose of a masquerade, does it not?” she answered, repeating his words. She placed her gloved hand on his chest and let it rest there, as if she couldn’t decide if she should push him away or clutch his shirt and draw him to her. He caught her hand, rucking the glove up to bare her wrist, then placed a kiss on her satiny skin there.
    She shivered, tugging her hand back until he released it. “Look at you, Scot. You’re a practiced seducer, if I’ve ever seen one.”
    “Practiced?” For the last decade, his flirtations hadn’t been practiced—they’d been nonexistent. And before that, he’d never needed to seduce.
    Impulse had made him kiss her hand.
    So where did the sodding impulse come from?
    “Yes, practiced. That kiss to the wrist is a perfect communication. The brush of your lips demonstrates that you’d be gentle and sensual in bed. The firm hold on my hand as you placed it indicates that you’d be masterful at the same time.”
    Gentle? He thought back. Had he ever been gentle ? Right now, he recognized he had no desire to be so with her. He wanted to grind his hips against her, rubbing his erection at the juncture of her thighs to proudly show her how fierce his reaction was.
    “I’ve met a lot of your kind,” she said. “Know that I’m invulnerable.”
    “I take that as a challenge, aingeal . I’m going to be inside you tonight, and I’ll remind you of your words when I have your legs wrapped round my waist.”
    “Oh, Scot, that won’t happen.” She shook her head, and a few glossy curls tumbled free, bouncing over her shoulder.
    “You’re obviously no innocent.” Which puzzled him, since he knew she was upper class. She must indeed be a jaded thrill seeker like Jane