First Kiss - A Little Late

I didn't post an excerpt for July's "First Kiss" week blog posts because I couldn't find anything.

But as I was poking around in my Ideas folder, I came across this unedited excerpt, from an as-yet unnamed Regency paranormal. This story is still more idea than WIP. It's the first kiss between the human hero, Ernest, and the paranormal, Ivy. Enjoy.

Ernest looked at the beautiful woman standing at the window. She held the curtain slightly open as she looked down the street. His body tightened, and with it came a wave of guilt. His wife had been dead for only six months. Already he was forgetting her, the outlines of her sweet face blurry, overlaid with Ivy's image. What a traitor he was.

At that moment, Ivy twitched the curtains closed and turned back into the room. She saw him watching her and she smiled.

He gave a shy smile in return and hastily looked down, his guilt overwhelming him. Even with the guilt, Ivy was still the most breathtaking woman he had ever seen.

Ivy saw the reaction and smiled to herself. She loved his smile, how it slowly lit his too-often sad face with happiness. But how she hated those spectacles. They enlarged his eyes and distorted his face, forcing it out of proportion.

Suddenly, she had an overwhelming urge to see what he looked like without the spectacles.

She walked over to stand before him. Startled, he looked up. Their gazes locked. The smile drained from his face. Had he read her mind? She lifted her right hand to his face, but didn't touch him. She held her hand there, a hair's breadth from his skin.

His breath caught.

She saw desire, pleading, desperation--hope--in his eyes. She moved her hand to unhook his spectacles from behind his left ear. Surprise added to the multitude of emotions in his eyes. Her other hand rose to unhook the other side of the spectacles, and then she lifted them from his head. She folded them carefully and placed them on the table beside them. Without the spectacles, his eyes were a normal size. Why had she not noticed he was an incredibly handsome man?

A rush of caring, tenderness and something more powerful--what was it? Swept over her. Without a single touch, this man had seduced her with his kindness, his intelligence and his caring.

She lifted her hands again and this time she cupped his face. He exhaled slowly as their skin met. Although she was a tall woman, he was taller still. She stood on her toes and brushed her lips across his. His eyes closed as a sigh escaped his lips.

"I know you've had other men, Ivy. But please, don't toy with me." His hands clenched at his sides, and she felt him shudder. "I don't think I could stand it."

"I am not toying with you, Ernest." She felt him relax a fraction. She put her arms around his neck and pulled his face down to hers. "I will never toy with you."

His lips relaxed, and she opened her mouth under his. She could feel tension in the stiffness of his body. His hands were still clenched at his sides. She slid the tip of her tongue over his lips and he loosened a bit. His hands unclenched and he wound his arms around her waist. They slid slowly up and down her back, as if she were a precious treasure that he must handle with care.

And in that last split second before his arms tightened around her and they both plunged relentlessly into the inferno of the kiss, Ivy, who had spent her entire existence toying with men, tumbled headlong, and for the first time, into love.

Thank you, all,

Linda

www.lindabanche.com