Three Kisses Before Christmas by Wilde, Tanya (epub e ink reader txt) 📕

doing anything at all, he supposed. Wolfstan tugged at his cravat. How to bloody begin? His eyes strayed to her lips. How could they not? Her teeth bit down on her lower lip ever so slightly. They were soft and plump, almost delicate in their curve. He was struck with the sudden desire to drag his thumb over the soft plumpness.

His gaze dipped lower, caught by the rise and fall of her chest, and Wolfstan wondered what those two soft globes would feel like in his palms.

Hell’s bells.

His gaze lifted to her face. Delved. Searched. “You are aware Langley is considering taking a wife.”

She peered up at him with a small frown. “I heard the rumors to that effect.”

“Will you marry him, if he asks?” he asked bluntly and held his breath. The moment of supreme truth had arrived.

“I cannot believe you just asked me that.”

A moment stamped by the least insightful response Wolfstan had ever heard. “It’s a simple question, Rebecca.”

“It’s anything but a simple question.”

And yet the answer means everything.

“Yes or no. Simple.”

Her brows puckered. “What’s gotten into you today? You seemed . . . off before. Is Langley planning on courting me?” Her face paled. “Is that why you have been asking about him?”

“No, Christ.” He dragged his hand over his jaw. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

Her eyes went wide. “Are you against a match between your cousin and me? Is that why you seem so troubled?”

“Dammit, that is not what I meant.” He tugged at his cravat again before he squared his shoulders. “Tell me this, Rebecca: have you engaged in more than a string of sentences with my cousin?”

“What sort of question is that?”

Hell and damnation! It was impossible to dismiss the note of pain in the catch of her voice.

Wind whistled in the distance.

“I’m merely curious. Have you spent more than an hour in my cousin’s company at a time? Has he ever shown you any favor?”

Something moved in the depth of her gaze. Something that made Wolfstan uncomfortable. Panic stirred.

“What are you getting at, Wolfstan?”

Another non-answer for a question Rebecca would never grasp the importance of. Make her understand. Because this was his chance. His moment. Perhaps his only one.

“What if I wished to make a declaration?” Wolfstan asked, heart beating in his throat.

“Declaration?” Her brows furrowed. “What sort of declaration?”

“The kind where I declare I will be the first man you ever kiss, Rebecca Flowerdy.”

She gasped. “You will not dare!”

“Why?” Wolfstan challenged, and before he could catch his next words, they tumbled out in a rushed breath, “I have wanted to kiss you since forever.”

WORDS CHOKED IN THE back of Rebecca’s throat.

Her heart wrenched at the emotion flashing in the depth of his soft amber eyes even as his face remained an untouched canvas. Half of the emotion she did not recognize. But she thought she caught a glimpse of uncertainty and relief before they were replaced by steadfast resolve.

Rebecca retreated one step.

Wolfstan had wanted to kiss her since forever? How could that be? He was Mason’s closest confidant. He was a brother to her. Only he wasn’t. Not anymore. For something else filled his eyes. Something decidedly not brotherly.

She blinked. The warmth and humor were still there, like always, but they were interwoven with a look she hadn’t before glimpsed in their depth. She had always felt safe beneath Wolfstan’s regard, but for some reason, him looking at her like that, made her want to flee the room.

A wolf that had finally cornered his prey.

“Do not come any closer.” She held out her arms when he advanced toward her.

“What if I do not want to distance myself any longer?”

Any longer? What on earth was he talking about? She retreated another step, a feeling of dizziness overwhelming her. Her stomach churned. Surely if she pinched her cheek she would wake from a dream?

“I cannot breathe when you are this close,” Rebecca muttered in the hope he would give her space. But the words had the opposite effect—he closed the distance between them, allowing her no respite, no chance to think.

A shadow moved in his eyes, wolf-like, and Rebecca blushed. Why did she have to sound so breathless?

“Your cologne,” she rushed to claim the first excuse that jumped at her. “It’s overwhelming.”

“I am not wearing any cologne.”

She blinked at him. He was not?

“Have you ever been kissed, Rebecca? Will I be the first?”

Yes.

No.

Yes.

But he will not be the first.

Lawd! Her wits had all but scattered. “What are you doing, Wolfstan?”

“I have a wild urge to kiss you right here, right now.”

Her eyes widened. “No, you do not!”

The devil danced in his eyes.

She turned to escape this madness. Whatever had overcome Wolfstan she wanted no part in—that path lay only danger, confusion, and a broken friendship, she was sure.

Fingers circled her wrist and yanked her back. Rebecca gasped as she found herself once again plastered against his hard, firm chest.

“I will not have you walk away from me, Rebecca,” Wolfstan growled.

“Then do not tease me in such a rude manner!” She pushed at him. He held firm.

“Tease? This is anything but that.”

He suddenly grinned, and Rebecca held her breath as a peculiar warmth spread through her belly. He lowered his head until their noses almost touched, until a mere hairsbreadth separated their lips.

Rebecca sucked in air, but all she managed to inhale was Wolfstan. Rosewood and citrus, a scent she had always found comforting. If she had thought his confession had sent her heart into a gallop, the smoldering fire in his eyes sent it to a sprint. The spark in that unfathomable space between them sizzled. This was Wolfstan. Not Langley or another handsome Adonis-like male specimen. Wolfstan. A man she had never viewed as more than family. And now suddenly his smile invited her to explore the exquisite and previously unconsidered arch of his mouth, the shocking reach of his tongue.

And it was his smile, she thought.

He had never grinned at her like this before, with that devilish edge.

Rebecca did not