Gallant Scoundrel Read Free Page B

when Colonel Maxwell was unexpectedly summoned to meet with two regimental commanders sent over by General Wellesley to discuss tactics for an upcoming battle. As Harry had not been asked to leave, they continued their discussion of Shakespeare’s sonnets.
    “Surely you must wonder what all the fuss is about?” Harry teased when she expressed disdain for the very concept of romantic love. “Aren’t you curious to know what might inspire a person to write such poetry or even go to war, as Paris and Menelaus did over Helen?” He had discovered that references to ancient classics generally kept her talking.
    “Lust, I presume. That obviously exists, if only to ensure the continuation of the human race—and appears to be the cause of many regrettable decisions. I can’t imagine why so many wish to elevate it with the name of love and hold it up as a pure and elevating passion to be sought above all others.” She shook her head with a smile.  
    Harry smiled back, holding her gaze with his. “Very well, call it lust, if you prefer. Have you no wish to experience it for yourself, if only in the name of research?”
    One eyebrow went up and for a moment he feared he’d been too bold—but then Xena laughed, throwing her head back and giving him a delicious view of her lovely white throat above the collar of her frumpy gray work dress.  
    “From what I’ve read—and witnessed—lust is an affliction far more common to men than to women.” She then stunned him by adding, “But never let it be said that I am less than thorough in my research. If it is indeed possible for a woman to feel lust, I should like to experience it first hand. You seem knowledgable about such things, Lieutenant. You may attempt to inspire lust in me. What is the first step?”
    Heart hammering, knowing he might never again have an opportunity like this, Harry moved to sit next to her on her father’s trunk.  
    “This.” Slowly, softly, so as not to alarm her, he leaned in and touched his lips to hers.  
    She did not resist, but nor did she respond. For several seconds he maintained a light pressure, then drew back slightly to examine its effect upon her.
    Xena quirked a shapely eyebrow. “I have seen kisses before, Mr. Thatcher. That scarcely qualified, unless you meant to show me how you might bid goodnight to a child.”
    Harry grinned. “I didn’t wish to frighten you.”
    Again, she laughed. “You have yet to frighten me in the least, Lieutenant, even when menacing me with a weapon rather more lethal than your lips.”
    “Will you allow me to try again?”
    She nodded, her expression both skeptical and amused.
    Daring all, he put both arms around her and drew her to him for the kind of kiss he’d dreamed of for the past several weeks. “For a kiss to qualify ,” he murmured, “it must be mutual.”  
    Xena responded with a tiny, uncertain nod and he covered her mouth with his. She stiffened for an instant, but before he could release her with an apology, she put her hands on his shoulders to pull him closer. Hesitantly, experimentally, her lips began to move under his, causing a desire beyond anything he’d ever experienced to rocket through him.  
    Fighting the impulse to deepen the kiss, Harry held himself back, allowing her to explore this new sensation. Finally, cautiously, he moved his own lips, parting them, touching his tongue to the corners of her mouth. Instead of stiffening again as he’d half feared, she mimicked his motions with her own tongue until his and hers entwined.
    Tightening their embrace, he probed the sweetness of her mouth while his hands savored the curve of her back. She made a slight sound of pleasure, deep in her throat, then deepened the kiss further herself, her hands now moving over his shoulders, his sides, his back. Fire bursts seemed to explode in his brain, his loins. Even when he’d lain with a woman, he’d never experienced such bliss.  
    He was reaching up to undo the top button of