“Let’s not quibble over the imaginings of bewitched man.” This tone took on an air of amusement. “I happen to be in the market for a wife. Marriage solves both our problems.”
“Marriage certainly does not solve mine,” Caroline retorted. She would simply be exchanging control over her life to another man. “I’d much rather you retract your proposal altogether.”
“A gentleman never retracts his proposal,” he replied, low and sinful. His arm suddenly snaked around her waist and pulled her into his embrace. “You have a saucy mouth on you, Carline. I have been dying for a taste.”
She inhaled a sharp breath. The words flung from this man’s mouth were truly terrifying. When had he become such a rogue?
“I suppose there is just one way to find out.”
Caroline had not time to respond. Her lips were claimed by his in a soft, gentle kiss. She hadn’t thought she’d any more breath to spare, but she’d been wrong, and he seized the last bit by trailing his tongue along the seam of her mouth.
Surely this was a dream?
She never left her bed last night. She never picked a viscount’s pocket. She never met Lonsdale at all. For why else would he be kissing her?
Caroline ought to push him away. Ought to resist. Ought to remain firm. If Lonsdale had lost his sanity, she had completely stomped hers to dust, never to be regained again. So instead of pushing him away, she clutched the lapels of his coat. Instead of voicing her outrage, she allowed his tongue to enter and dance with hers. Instead of crushing temptation of this man, she rose to the tips up her toes—and kissed him back.
He tasted of spice and liquor, a taste not at all revolting, and he fed her the flavor as though she’d pleaded for every last drop. A soft growl escaped from deep within his chest, and his arms tightened around her waist.
“You taste like the sweetness of heaven,” he breathed and softly brushed his lips against hers again. “Just as I suspected.”
“This is madness,” she whispered. In her life, she had never been so thoroughly captivated by someone before.
“If this is madness, then let me be mad.” He caressed her chin with his thumb. “Let us be mad together.”
“I cannot afford to be mad with you.”
His eyes were steady on her as he said, “And I cannot afford to be mad without you.”
She couldn’t help the laugh that came. “This conversation . . .”
“Is utterly mad?” He grinned. “Nothing about this night has been sane.”
“This is no teasing matter, Lonsdale.”
“I assure you, love, I am deadly serious. I want you as a wife.”
She shook her head. While she wasn’t illiterate and the baron had seen to it that she was education as a child, she not been raised a lady and everything that came with it. “I’d make a terrible wife.”
“You’d make theperfectwife.”
“I am illegitimate, my lord. Beyond that, I’ve never danced with a man in my life. I cannot hold a note on any instrument. And I don’t care much for dining etiquette. I’m utterly unqualified to be your Viscountess.”
“And I’m a mad viscount.” He clasped her hands in his. “None of those things matter to me. The only thing that matters is happiness. Can you be happy with me?”
“I do not know,” Caroline said softly.
“Then tell me, did you enjoy my kiss?”
“I didn’texpectthe kiss. Besides, what if I want to marry a gentle farmer?”
He barked out a laugh. “A farmer? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, Caroline.”
“More ridiculous than wedding the woman who picked your pocket?”
“You are right, of course.” His gaze turned thoughtful. “However, I am not a man to suffer in denial. I believe we can both benefit from a union.”
“We hardly know one another.”
