Read One Wicked Night for Free Online

from anyone else, the suggestion would have stunned her. But not from him. From Lucien, she was rapidly coming to expect the unexpected. So far, nothing about this man had fallen in the realm of her experience. He was brave, implacable, outrageous . . . and fascinating. She bit her lip, torn between intrigue and indecision.
    “And if I allow you to kiss me, that will prove I am capable of leading an exciting life?”
    He flashed a pirate’s smile, predatory in its pleasantness. “Something like that.”
    Her heart thudded. “Why should I allow you to kiss me, and not someone else?”
    His strong hand closed around her fingers. The contact jolted her with tingling energy. Then he turned her hand over, and those same fingers whispered across her damp, sensitive palm. Shivers ran up her arm and down her spine.
    “You want me to kiss you,” he said quietly.
    She shook her head, but couldn’t make herself speak the lie.
    Then she heard the rustle of his dark evening clothes, the squeak of the carriage seat, as he leaned closer.
    With the dim light from the carriage’s outside lanterns, she focused on the black ring encircling his unusual green eyes. Sitting this close, she could nearly feel the dark stubble on his square chin and firm jaw. His snowy cravat sat askew after their mad dash to the carriage, exposing the strong column of his neck. She knew an insane urge to press her lips there. His mouth, so full and curved, was one she would have expected on a French courtesan, not an English lord.
    Serena felt lightheaded. A desire to touch him that she could not explain rushed through her in a hot, dangerous surge. She had never reacted like this to any man. Why him? She was acting as if her common sense had deserted her.
    He trailed a finger from her temple to the corner of her mouth, then paused. Breath suspended, she waited, watching his Adam’s apple bob in his throat. Nervously, she swallowed too.
    His thumb skimmed her lower lip as he leaned closer still, until their lips lay a breath apart. “You have a beautiful mouth,” he whispered. “May I?”
    Assuring herself one kiss couldn’t be a grievous sin, she nodded.
    His mouth descended on hers. At his first touch, heat suffused her. A tingling shock found its way to her mind next, suspending all thought.
    His tongue touched her bottom lip, its foreign texture and silky invitation stirring her from immobility. She leaned forward and opened slightly, hesitantly returning the kiss.
    Instantly, he leaned into her, on top of her, his palm at the small of her back urging her closer. His mouth opened, parting her lips widely beneath his. Tasting of sweet liquor and heady sensuality, his tongue swept through her mouth boldly. The heat in her belly exploded through the rest of her body. His kiss brought her level of intoxication as high as the alcohol had surely raised his.
    He wrapped his other arm around her waist, drawing her closer still. At that moment, she had her first awareness of full male arousal. He pressed the hard length intimately against the mound of her female flesh. She gasped into his kiss. He merely probed deeper, his tongue seductive and determined, encouraging her response.
    Curling one of his hands behind her neck, he held her yet closer, giving no quarter. Their kiss deepened, turned urgent. Desire for something she could not understand ripped through her body like liquid fire.
    He toyed with the tresses lying against the back of her neck. Wrapping his fingers around them, his palm cradled her head as he continued his thrilling exploration inside her mouth for a long moment. Then he pulled away.
    Denial and regret slammed her hard. What must he think? But instead of retreating to the other side of the carriage, he edged closer, nipped at her bottom lip, taking it into his mouth. He sucked on it, returned it, then drew it in once more. With a small moan from her throat, Serena melted into heaven.
    Again, he plunged into her mouth, coaxing hers to mate