She swallowed. He wants you to agree. He wants you willing. Really, it was an easy decision. Another chance like this might not come around again, not with Kit. Tomorrow, the kitchen would be full of assistants and too many tasks to name. Friday, as well. Then the event was over and she wouldn’t see him again. She’d return to her boring parties in a quest for a husband.

Refusing this opportunity would be unforgivable. “All right.”

Relief flashed over his face before he approached the sofa. “I was truly hoping you’d say that.” He slid next to her and quickly took her mouth once more. She relaxed into him, meeting the bold strokes of his tongue with her own, her lips and hands greedy for everything he gave her.

When they were both panting minutes later, he cupped her jaw and studied her face. “I want to lift your skirts and touch between your legs.”

She blinked. Was this how his liaisons went, with him telegraphing every move in explicit detail?

No. He’s doing this so he doesn’t scare you.

Oh. Of course. “All right.”

He bent to touch his forehead to hers. “I am rushing you. I just . . . God, Alice. I want to give you everything, show you everything, but I know I haven’t the right.”

“Kit.” She wrapped her fingers around his wrists. “You’re wasting time.”

He sucked in a breath, surprised. “So I’m not rushing you?”

“Actually,” she said with a small, albeit nervous laugh, “I am rushing you because I need to leave in a few minutes.”

His knuckles brushed the underside of her jaw. “Clever, inquisitive Alice. You are going to be the death of me.” Without awaiting a response, he kissed her again, fiercer this time, and her nerves disappeared like a block of ice on a hot day.

She could do this for hours, just lose herself in this man. An elevated train could rush through the room, clacking over its iron rails, and she wouldn’t budge. Kit was all she could see and feel, her entire world at the moment, and she loved it. There were no parents or future husbands right now, no dicing or chopping or mixing. Just the two of them and these kisses.

“Have you ever made yourself come?”

“I . . .” She couldn’t think when he was nibbling on the sensitive skin behind her ear, his hand nearly brushing the underside of her breast. “Hmm?”

“Do you pleasure yourself?”

Closing her eyes, she gave him the truth. “Yes.”

“Thank God. That will make this easier.” He reached down and began lifting the front of her skirts, while continuing to lick and kiss her throat. She dropped her head onto the sofa back with a small moan. The place between her legs pulsed in time with her heartbeat and she craved attention there. Needed it. If she’d been alone, she would have lifted her skirts, as well.