A Perilous Alliance

Had fate not intervened she would have returned to England and tried to make her way in life and simply survive. No, held tight against the Earl's muscular chest, she felt his hands splay over her back, holding her close against his body so that her whole being tingled with this heat. When his eyes went to her lips, she felt them quiver just as though he was already touching them. She ran the tip of her tongue over them in sheer unthinking panic and at once came the brilliant flare of his eyes as he tightened his grasp. When his head bent towards hers, she could no more evade his purpose than fly. Soft lips met hers; questing at first, then strongly insistent until her own lips opened wide under the pressure and she gave herself up to his passionate assertive kiss, which was quite unlike anything she had ever experienced in her life before.