His speaking her given name for the first time caused her eyes to move to his mouth once more, and she swallowed before saying, "Pleasure to make your acquaintance..." she paused to decide if she wanted to test his full name, which would have been more formal, to the shortened one which he was clearly okay with her saying. She chose the latter. "Nate," came out as a mere whisper and she was finding it hard now to look away. They stood there, she staring at him, and assuming he did as well, the deuced contract sort of just fell from her fingers back to the desk as if a forgotten relic.

She had no more words. Her brain was too focused on him, on the scent of him, on his face and his mouth and his nearness. This man would soon be her husband and she was trying to remain as proper as possible. She was starting to fail miserably, her carefully constructed coolness seeming to melt away before his very eyes.

It was like those splinters of time before a judge announced a verdict, a gnawing silence that must be filled. As if each were the other's mirror, Nate looked at Amelia. His heart pounded as his gaze met hers, would she weaken first to the surging energy? The answer was as loud as a gavel thud. No.

"Amelia," he whispered. And then he kissed her.

Have mercy, she whimpered internally as his lips met hers. She did not know what to do, how to respond, how to act, oh God, his lips felt... Oh god. She moved her hands up between them, and even he would probably know she was about to try and push him away just by the way he could read her. Try and fail, for her hands ended up in useless lumps against his chest and she swayed closer, her mouth opening with a sigh and granting the opportunity to deepen, to lay claim to the woman who would soon wed him.

Then she remembered who she was, that she was a damnable vicar's daughter and that kissing a man could lead to sin. The confusion of learned behavior and now this, it was so much to think about. "No," she murmured against his mouth, a plea for him to stop, yet it was also a plea for him not to stop. She didn't know what kind of plea it was for if he even dared to pull away from the kiss at that moment, well... She probably wouldn't let him.

He had enough of his wits still about him to hear her command to stop. He inched away just enough to give room to pause, half an inch of breathing space to consider, while he wished she wouldn't. Her full, fragrent lips against his. Oh what a lovely business arrangement this would be. "Sorry," he whispered. Her request to stop might be an indication that for all the oddity of this arrangement, she wanted things done in all properly. First become Mister and Missus Nathan Appleton, then kiss, then.. other things. Was he the provider of her first kiss as a woman? If so, it did his ego good to know that he would not be bested. He clasped the hands that rested against his shirtfront "I got carried away."

No... No, don't pull away... Her mind halted to a stop and even though he was pulling away- HAD pulled away, she followed and her mouth found his again, all thoughts of being proper having fled that proper brain of hers. Her arms even lifted and her fingers found purchase in the hair at his nape. Good lord, his hair... Her legs trembled. She was... well... flustered? What was it she felt? She was burning so much with longing for whatever the kiss might lead up to. The sin, the thing she'd be punished for if she ever let it slip and she did not even care anymore because of that first kiss.

Nathan Appleton was not a bad man, but he could be a rouge. By the frenzied movement of fingers and the weight of each breath the expression of need was clear, but he decided to make her wait, to stoke her fires to a raging inferno.

"Patience." he blurted.

God damn it. The blaspheme rang through her mind so much so that it was like an ice bath had been dumped right over her head. How could he? She pulled away, then backed several steps away. Her perfect coif had loosed some strands of hair, her lips were swollen, her eyes were dark with some unnamed emotion she was unused to, and her cheeks were flushed with the fever he had stoked within her. She turned away from him, her hand moving to her belly as she tried desperately just to collect herself.

It took all her willpower not to turn angrily at him for setting her aflame with all his... whispers and kisses. Damn it, she wasn't supposed to want any of what he gave her, yet there she was, wanting more. God, she didn't know if she had the patience to wait. The urge to touch herself, something she never did before, came into her mind. Taking a deep, trembling breath, she lifted her chin and found what little composure she could. "Then I shall see you soon, Nate?" That cool tone was there, yet the frenzy in her voice could not be mistaken. She wanted him. She wanted him badly enough to pretend she wanted nothing to do with him.

Without waiting for his answer, she fled the room. And yes, he could catch up easily enough.