The Diamond Slipper Read Free

pointedly toward the screen, and his eyes filled with laughter as he thought he understood. Asecret assignation. “I
see
,” he repeated, amusement bubbling in his voice. “I’m hurt. I thought your kisses were exclusively for me.”
    Cordelia swallowed and inadvertently touched her lips with her tongue. What was happening to her? Why wasn’t she telling him to mind his business? She told herself that she had to stay in order to prevent him from looking behind the screen and identifying Christian. “Who are you?” she demanded with a rudeness that she hoped would distract him.
    “Viscount Kierston at your service.” He bowed solemnly, seemingly unperturbed by her lack of finesse.
    An English viscount. No mere equerry, then. Cordelia nibbled her lip. His eyes continued most unnervingly to hold her own blue-gray gaze. Close to, he fulfilled the promise of her distant window observation. She found herself taking inventory. Tall, slender, with a broad forehead and pronounced widow’s peak, his hair, almost as black as her own, confined in a bag wig at his nape. There was something disturbingly sensual about his mouth, a long upper lip above a deeply cleft chin.
    Lucifer! What was she thinking? Her mind flew to Christian, cowering behind the screen, but his image seemed to blur under the English viscount’s steady gaze and her own rapt bemusement.
    “You now have the advantage of me,” he prompted gently, noting the elegance of her gown, the silver pendant at her throat, the pearl-sewn ribbon in her hair. “I take it you’re not a flower girl or a parlor maid, despite your fondness for kisses.”
    Cordelia flushed and said awkwardly, “I trust you’ll keep that little incident between ourselves, my lord.”
    His mouth quirked. “But I found your greeting on my arrival quite delightful.”
    “It was unwise of me to throw the flowers, sir,” she said stiffly. “I am sometimes unwise, but it was only a game, and I intended no discourtesy, or … or …”
    “Excessive familiarity,” Leo supplied helpfully. “I assure you I didn’t take it in the least ill, and to prove it to you, allow me to make good a distant promise.” Taking Cordelia’s chin between finger and thumb, he kissed her before she fully grasped what he meant. His lips were cool and pliant, yet firm.
    Instead of withdrawing in shock and outrage, Cordelia found herself responding, opening her lips for the strong muscular probe of his tongue, greedily inhaling the scent of his skin. His hands moved over her back, cupping her buttocks, lifting her toward him. She pressed herself into his body, her breath swift and uneven as hot waves of hungry passion broke over her. She nipped his bottom lip, her hands raking through his hair, her body totally at the mercy of this desperate craving.
    Leo drew back. He stared down at her, his own passion fading slowly from his eyes. “Dear God,” he said softly. “Dear God in heaven. What are you?”
    Cordelia felt the color draining from her face as the wild, uncontrolled passion receded and she understood what she’d done. Understood what, but not why. Her body was still on fire, her legs shaking. With an inarticulate mumble, she turned and fled the gallery, holding up her skirts with one hand, her hoop swinging, her jeweled heels tapping on the marble floor.
    Leo shook his head in bewilderment. What had started as a little playful dalliance with an appealingly mischievous young woman had taken an astounding turn. He wasn’t used to losing himself in the kisses of an ingenue, but whoever she was, she weaved a powerful magic with that unbridled passion. Reflectively, he touched his bitten lip. Then with another little shake of his head, he turned to leave the gallery.
    He glanced sideways at the screen from where the girl had emerged. Presumably, it concealed some young man who had fallen victim to that tidal wave of desire. He tapped hisfingers lightly against the wooden frame. “It’s quite safe for you