was standing near the front door, waiting for him, her fair hair a silken sheen in the light of the lamps she’d lit. Coming close, Seton said softly, ‘If you think that’s the only reason I came, you couldn’t be more wrong.’
Lucie was aware of his closeness, of his masculinity, and for a moment became nervous again. Holding out her right hand, she said with formal politeness, ‘Goodnight, Seton. Thank you for the meal.’
He looked at her, then disconcerted her again by taking her hand and raising it fleetingly to his lips. ‘Goodnight, Lucie.’
Closing the door behind him, Lucie leaned against the wall, feeling enchanted by that unexpected gesture and yet strangely low now that he had gone. For a while she had felt feminine and pretty and—cherished: a sensation that had never come her way before. But she had liked it, oh, how she had liked it. And how she had liked him.
She went to move away, but there was a sharp double knock on the door panel, just near her head. Slowly Lucie reached out and turned the knob, let the door swing open. Seton was standing there., one arm up against the doorframe. He said, ‘I forgot to ask. Do you believe in kissing on a first date?’
‘No, definitely not.’
‘Nor do I.’ Coming inside, he shouldered the door closed. ‘In that case, we’d better call this our second date.’ And, taking her in his arms, he drew her to him and kissed her.
When Seton raised his head at last, Lucie kept her eyes tight closed, afraid of breaking the spell. Because it couldn’t be true, it couldn’t be real. No kiss, no simple coming together of a man’s and a woman’s mouth, could possibly be that wonderful. She lived it again: the sensual warmth of his lips, the dizzying effect on her senses, the discovery deep inside her of awakened need—a need that could so easily have flamed into fierce passion and desire.
‘Hey,’ he said softly against her mouth. ‘Have you gone to sleep?’
Still with her eyes closed, Lucie smiled. ‘No, but I think I’m dreaming.’
‘Is that good or bad?’
She looked at him, then said huskily, ‘Oh, it was very good. Do you always have that effect on the women you kiss?’
‘What effect?’
Slowly she reached up to touch his face, letting her fingers trace the line of his jaw. ‘Devastating,’ she admitted honestly.
He gave a sigh of satisfaction and pleasure. ‘Thank God for that! It would have been terrible if it had all been one-sided.’
Her eyes widened. ‘You—you mean it was like that for you too?’
‘Of course.’ Seton grinned. ‘But perhaps we should do it again and make sure.’
It was what Lucie wanted more than anything else in the world, but some note of caution made her say, ‘This—you... It’s all happening so fast. I don’t know you.’
Seton laughed. ‘Well, I don’t know you either, but I’m willing to take a chance.’ Her face changed, became stricken, and he said quickly, ‘Lucie! What is it? I was only joking.’
‘Yes—but you don’t know me.’
‘So we’ll get to know each other. We’ll do that old-fashioned thing they used to call courting. We will go out together, and we’ll take our time.’
‘And—and this?’
Realising what she meant, he held her closer and said softly, ‘I won’t rush you into anything. I’ll let you set the pace. But I would like to kiss you again. Now. May I?’
But he didn’t wait for her to agree; his hands were already cupping her face, tilting her head so that his lips could seek hers, so lightly at first, softly exploring, tracing with tiny kisses the length of her upper lip, gently biting at the fullness of the lower one. Then, using the tip of his tongue, he made her open her mouth and let him in, and suddenly his lips weren’t gentle any more, but hot and forceful and demanding.
Lucie gave a small moan and closed her eyes, letting him take her with him on a deep spiral of pleasure, where the world was lost and the only sensations were those of his closeness, of the flame of passion that erupted through her veins—the need, the desire, the knowledge that for her nothing in the world had ever been as wonderful as this, that nothing else mattered so much.
Seton’s shoulders hunched as he kissed her, his breathing quickened and he said her name over and over again, his voice thick, the murmured name mingling with her own gasping sighs. His kiss deepened with passion until he drew back suddenly, remembering his promise. Lifting his head, he held her against his chest and she could feel the beating of his heart.
‘I’m afraid,’ she said, with an honesty he couldn’t possibly understand.
‘I know, but there’s no need to be, my darling. I’ll take care of you.’
‘Please—I think you’d better go now.’
‘You don’t trust me, huh?’ He smiled tenderly down at her. ‘Well, maybe you’re right; I’ve never found myself in this kind of situation before.’
‘What kind?’
His eyes crinkled and he gave her lips the merest touch with his. ‘Wild about you, of course.’ And then he opened the door and was gone as Lucie still stood with eyes open wide in astonishment.
Seton came to collect her the next morning, buoyant, on a high, reaching out to kiss her as soon as he arrived. Lucie, too, was exhilarated by excitement, but was also full of nervous tension. She could see happiness opening before her but was afraid to grasp it, so she held him off.
‘No! Don’t touch me,’ she cried out, knowing that she would be lost if he held her.
But he put his hands on her shoulders and said, ‘Lucie? What is it?’
‘This—this attraction you feel. It could be just a chemical thing, something that’s hit us out of the blue.’
‘Ah, so you admit it hit you too,’ he said with satisfaction.
Ignoring that, Lucie said, ‘How do you know it won’t go away as suddenly as it came? You might wake up one morning and hate the sight of me.’
‘If I woke up with you beside me it couldn’t be anything but wonderful—perfect,’ Seton said simply.
She tried to argue with him, to point out that something that had happened so quickly couldn’t possibly last. But Seton merely laughed and pulled her into his arms.
Lucie gave a sigh of frustration. ‘Oh, you big fool! Why won’t you listen to me? Take me seriously?’
But then he kissed her and immediately Lucie was lost again, and somehow she knew that she always would be, that whenever he kissed her it would always be like this, a total domination of her mind, her heart and her body. And yet she accepted it gladly, glorying in it, knowing that it was the same for him.
He was, she observed,
