“I suppose.” She nodded, reaching out and lightly running her finger across his lips. “In truth, I have never kissed anyone before.”
This was not surprising, for Syd, as beautiful as she was, tended to scare off men. She was very smart. In fact, he considered her brilliant. Easily smarter than him when it came to book knowledge. “Then I’ll be gentle.”
Her eyes grew wide again. “You will?”
Octavian nodded. “I will always be gentle with you. You need never worry that I will hurt you.”
“It never crossed my mind. Truly, Octavian. I know you are big and can appear quite daunting when you scowl, which you seem to do a lot around me. But I have always trusted you. You are the most honorable man I know. Well, same can be said for your brothers. Your father raised excellent sons.”
He breathed a sigh of relief, for was this not a major step toward a good marriage? They had no chance at a decent union if there was no trust between them. It also helped if the wife was not deathly afraid of the husband.
He did not think Syd was afraid of anything.
Well, having to marry Sir Henry Maxwell had her gravely concerned.
Octavian tipped her chin up so that their gazes met. “I am going to kiss you now, Syd. All right?”
She nodded.
“Close your eyes and put all thoughts out of your head. Kisses are about pleasure. No ploys or stratagems required.”
“I will try. But I am very tense right now. Not merely because I am about to be kissed by you, which is an unexpected turn of events, but a welcome one, if I am to be truthful about it. But I have so much on my mind, and now I have to worry about letting you down.”
“You will not let me down.” He took her hands and placed them lightly on his shoulders.
“How can I not? I am a novice at this and…oh, you’ve wrapped your arms around me.”
“Keep yours on my shoulders. Close your eyes and stop talking.”
“Well, that is not very romantic of you.”
“Sorry. I do not want you talking yourself into a state of fretting. Kisses are about feelings, Syd. How does it feel for you to be in my arms?”
“Unexpected, actually.” She reached up and nuzzled his neck. “Is that bergamot?”
He nodded.
“The scent is nice on you. Your skin is warm. Your body is surprisingly nice. Well, not very surprising. It’s just…you have no shirt on and I am touching your skin. I’ve seen naked cadavers, of course. But this is not at all the same thing. Would we do this in the marriage?”
“What? Me holding you in my arms? If you like.”
“Octavian, you are being remarkably cooperative.”
He stifled his laughter, knowing she was already tense and would run off at his slightest misstep. “It is what husbands and wives do in a good marriage.”
She nestled against his chest. “My parents have a horrible marriage. The only thing I learned from them was never to do what they did. Please don’t be angry with me if I make mistakes. Starting with kisses. My parents never kiss each other.”
“Then this is important, Syd. If you don’t like my kisses, we had better rethink the situation.”
“I’ll consider it carefully. I promise.”
This is what he liked about Syd, her natural honesty.
She was not a schemer or a manipulator. You always got the truth from her. Perhaps this is why he felt confident she would give him an honest answer about their kiss, even if it did set her plans back to square one.
She tilted her head up to give him unimpeded access to her lips.
He closed his mouth over hers, pressing down gently at first, and then sinking his mouth deeper onto hers until he felt her fingers curl upon his shoulders and heard a soft moan escape her lips.
