He smiled, pleased that he’d been right. His nerves disappeared. “We’ll take our coffee in here, Greaves. And tell Frauke we’d like breakfast in half an hour.” He’d borrowed his grandmother’s cook, not trusting Greaves with anything beyond toast.

“Very good, sir.” Greaves left with a nod.

Sebastian turned to watch her. Her face was awash in abject wonder, giving him the feeling that he was being made privy to a rather intimate view of her. “What do you think of my library?”

She shook her head. “It’s beautiful. And so well stocked. It reminds me of the library at Harmswood.”

“It should. I used this one as a model, expanding the school’s version to handle all the academic books as well.”

Her gaze finally met his. “You designed that library?”

“I gave my input. Architecture has always been a bit of a hobby but I can’t take the credit for that space. All I did was make some sketches that were then turned into the final plans by a man much more skilled than I.”

She looked around again. “If I had a room like this, I would never leave it.”

They were so alike. The realization brought him inordinate pleasure. “I rarely do.”

Greaves returned with their coffee service, setting it up on the side table. “Anything else, sir?”

“That will be all, thank you.”

Greaves left them alone again.

Sebastian lifted the silver carafe. “How do you like your coffee?”

“In a vat. I might be a little addicted.” She smiled and walked toward him. “Is there cream and sugar?”

“There is.” He filled two cups. “Americans do like their java, don’t they? Cream is in the little pitcher and the sugar cubes are in the covered dish.”

She gave him a strange look. “So do you still think of yourself as a British citizen? I was under the impression that you’d been in the United States for quite a while.”

“I have been. All my family has. Technically, I suppose I’m more American than British now. We’ve lived here far longer than we lived in England. Still, it’s hard to change one’s mindset.”

She fixed her cup. “Especially when you don’t like change.”

He smiled as he added a single cube of sugar to his coffee. “Precisely.”

She lifted her cup and took a sip, sighing as she swallowed. “Shouldn’t you be drinking tea, then?”

His smile expanded. “Yes, but that just proves I can change.”

She grinned back.

“I’m glad you like the library. It’s my favorite room.”

“How could it not be?”

“Did you sleep well? Or did all that steak and chocolate keep you up?” Or thoughts of the kiss, which had visited him even in his dreams.

“I slept like a baby.” She drank some more of her coffee.

“Good. Today will be arduous. That rest will serve you well.”

Her stomach rumbled and she put a hand to it, looking dismayed. “Sorry about that.”

He laughed. “Not to worry. Breakfast is just around the corner. How about a tour of the house while we wait? Get you started on where everything is? The guest house we’ll do after breakfast.”

“Sounds good.”

“Excellent. Bring your coffee, if you like.”

She set her cup back on the tray and smiled up at him. “Already gone. I can wait for breakfast to have the second cup. Lead the way. This place is really something from the outside. I can’t wait to see the rest.”

He hesitated, captivated for a moment by the glow of pure interest in her eyes. He realized she wasn’t going to judge him based on his house. She wasn’t that kind of person. But then, why would she be when her valkyrie senses could tell her exactly what his motives were? Could she sense he wanted to impress her? Did she know that she’d made him nervous? And that those nerves were now gone?

Could she sense that his desire to show her his home had suddenly been replaced by a very different need? One that had nothing to do with his house and everything to do with kissing her again. And again.

She frowned a little. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine.” He put his cup on the tray beside hers. “I was just thinking we should test something first.”

“What’s that?”

“Your reaction.”

Her frown returned. “To what?”

“To this.” He pulled her into his arms.

Tessa gasped as Sebastian’s mouth closed over hers. Her first thought was that she had no idea what the test was.

Her second thought was that she didn’t care.

She leaned into him, letting him kiss her and reveling in the fact that he’d wanted to do it again. And that she hadn’t been the only one to take pleasure in the moment they’d shared last night.

Her hand settled on his chest. His very hard chest. She hadn’t touched a man this intimately in many years. The thrill of it zipped through her, hot and wicked.

She shuddered with overwhelming pleasure just as he released her. She breathed open-mouthed, trying to catch her breath. “Th-that was a test?”

He nodded, eyes gleaming silver-bright for a moment. Then he quickly looked away, suddenly concerned with the position of one of his gold cuff links. “Yes. I’m sorry to say you failed.”

She got a hold of herself, straightening and shunting the pleasurable feelings he’d filled her with to some safe part of her brain where she could dissect them later. “I failed? What was the test?”