She could almost see the dangling purple orchids and green bananas that belonged in here. A flowering lemon tree would smell heavenly. She longed to start cleaning the filth—but there was too much to be done to indulge her need for order. She turned to speak to Lord Theo, but she nearly bumped her nose on his linen when she did. Before she knew what he was about, he had hauled her from the ground again, enveloping her in his strong embrace. Instead of beating him with her stick, she dropped it in surprise. “Wha . . .” The rest of her words were swallowed as his mouth descended on hers. Oh my. She had been kissed before. One did not reach the ripe old age of twenty-five and escape male mauling. But all prior efforts were not kisses compared to this. Lord Theo consumed her. His mouth was gentle and forceful at once, reassuring, warming, seductive . . . and demanding. She gasped and wrapped her arms around his neck and let herself be seduced by his need as much as she had been seduced by his wonderful conservatory.
