by Amelia Grey
A strange and wonderful feeling washed over Marlena. Her breasts tingled, her abdomen tightened, and her stomach did a slow enticing roll. Something was blooming inside her. She could feel it. His expression, the way his gaze combed her face, made her feel as if the duke was staring at her and thinking to himself that she was the most beautiful lady he’d ever seen.
Why was she so attracted to him?
It seemed unfair she even wanted him in the same room with her, much less enjoyed their banter. He shouldn’t be making her feel these wonderful sensations. He was a known rake. He’d ruined Veronica’s life with his selfish prank years ago and thereby Eugenia’s, too, for she had to live with Veronica and see how unhappy she was every day. Knowing that, Marlena should be appalled at the very sight of the duke. She’d always thought she would be should she ever meet him.
But she wasn’t. She found it difficult to be upset that he’d teased her about an insect on her cheek, and even now his charm was soothing and enjoyable.
To cover the intense, pleasurable sensations budding inside her, she coughed again and cleared her throat. “None of that is here nor there at the moment, Your Grace. What is—” She looked down at the tin of beautiful bottles and satin pouches in her hands and extended it toward him for the second time. “—is this. As thoughtful and considerate as it was of you to think of my dear friend and her needs, I can’t accept anything this personal from you. No matter what is in the bottles, they are beautiful and have expensive silver stoppers.”
He didn’t make a move to take back the package; instead, he clasped his hands together behind his back. “They are pewter, Miss Fast. You’re mixing your metals.”
Determined he take the box, she stepped closer to him, extending the box so close it almost touched the velvet-covered buttons on his waistcoat. “And you are mincing your words.”
“I’m forced to when I’m with you,” he answered.
“Because you seem to ignore the accepted rules of propriety and I have to remind you.”
He moved so that the tin pressed against his middle and he leaned into it. Marlena hadn’t expected him to do that and for a moment her throat seemed to close on her. Should she accept his challenge and hold the tin firm against him or pull away?
No, she wasn’t going to surrender. She held her ground.
Keeping his hands behind his back, he pressed harder against the box between them. “You know, you’re still as precocious as you were when we met long ago,” he said.
“You’re still as overly confident,” she countered.
“You’ve been given too much freedom to speak your mind.”
“Yet it impresses you that I do.”
“It does,” he admitted, his gaze remaining on her face as he leaned even more into her. “Your eyes are still as big and bright as they were when you were twelve.”
Oh, he wasn’t making it easy for her senses or her strength. She tightened the muscles in her hands and arms and held steady against his pressing weight. “I was ten.”
“Your hair was unruly.”
“It was uncombed.”
“You held a frog.”
Marlena didn’t know how much longer she could defend herself. He was strong and he kept leaning harder and harder against the package. “It was a toad,” she assured him.
The duke’s brows squeezed closer together and the corners of his eyes narrowed. He straightened but didn’t step away. “Good Lord, can you really tell the difference in the two?”
Marlena laughed a little. Her arms relaxed as his weight left her. She realized they were trembly from trying to hold her own with the duke—with dialogue and somewhat with strength, too.
“Actually, I can. Toads’ legs are shorter and their skin is thicker and tougher than a frog’s.”
“I know the difference, Miss Fast. I’m just surprised you do, but I don’t suppose I should be.”
She relaxed. “I’ve always liked to read. I especially enjoy reading about gardens and all the things that grow and live in them.” Fond memories washed over her and she smiled. “It was my cousins who helped me develop a joy for being outside. They insisted that before I could play with them I must catch a toad. Several frogs later, my aunt had mercy on me and told me the difference between the two.”
“It sounds as if they little imps, but you didn’t mind.”
She nodded. “They were and no I didn’t mind.”
“And apparently you like reading about rakes, scoundrels, rogues, and—” He hesitated.
The duke seemed to be searching for the other word in the title of her book so, she said, “Libertines.”
“Yes, that’s it.”
A fluttering started in her chest and moved up into her throat. Marlena didn’t want to question him, shouldn’t question him, but her natural curiosity wouldn’t allow her to stay silent.
She had to ask, “Did you read the book?”
“Not yet.”
That admission piqued her tremendously.
Not yet?
“You asked for a copy to read,” she said hesitantly, trying not to sound petulant or even inquisitive.
She considered it downright shameful that he hadn’t bothered to open the book after he’d asked her for a copy. He’d had it a week—almost. She had no doubt he could breeze through the pages in less than an hour if he’d simply take the time to sit down and do it. Even if he were a slow reader, which she was sure he wasn’t, because he was so fast with his wit.
So why hadn’t he? Other than to irritate her.
“I’ll read it one day,” he offered casually.
One day!
She was miffed again. Affronted even. If he were holding the book right now she’d rip it from his grasp. How dare he ask for a copy of her book and then not have the manners to read it.
He was truly devilish.
And she couldn’t let it go, saying, “It’s quite informative,” sounding a little more peeved than she should have, but who wouldn’t be a little upset at his lack of respect for the effort she put into every word.
“I’m sure most ladies will find it so.” He moved closer to her again.
“I expect they will.”
“But you know if I read it, I won’t have any excuses for not changing my wicked ways. Miss Truth will have told me everything about the proper way to behave toward a lady.”
“Then you’d best get to reading, Your Grace, because you have a lot to learn.”
He slowly shook his head as his gaze held on hers once again. “Would you like to hear what I’m thinking right now?”
“That there are some things I know more about than you do.”
“No, that I want to kiss you.”
Chapter 8
He could be a rake if he refuses to let a lady win the argument gracefully and she has to take measures into her own hands.
MISS HONORA TRUTH’S WORDS OF WISDOM AND WARNING ABOUT RAKES, SCOUNDRELS, ROGUES, AND LIBERTINES
Marlena suddenly felt so light she didn’t know if she was still standing on the floor or floating just above it.
The duke wanted to kiss her? What did she think about that?
Yes!
He pulled his hands from around his back and caressed her cheek with the tips of his fingers.
That startled Marlena but she didn’t back away. She couldn’t have moved if she’d wanted to. His touch was warm, tender. Neither Mr. Olingworth nor any other man had ever touched her in such a sensual way. Not her hand, not her cheek, and certainly not her heart, but …
No. She would not allow her thoughts to go there.
The duke wanted to kiss her!
And someone help her, instead of being affronted, she wanted him to.
This was wrong. Madness even. She was drawn to one of the Rakes of St. James in a wanton way. And worst of all, she was having difficulty controlling her desire for him.
It was her common sense that finally rallied to save her. She stepped back and her legs and buttocks hit the edge of
her secretary. She could go no farther.
The duke smiled mischievously. He was enjoying this battle with her and it looked as if he was set to win. That roguish, victorious expression he gave her boosted her courage.
One of the many things her cousins had taught her was to never cower and she wouldn’t. She lifted her chin. Her breaths were shallow and fast. Her chest heaved as her gaze locked onto his. Yes, she had courage, but it was weak.
“That would be highly inappropriate, Your Grace,” she managed to say past her raging thoughts and her breathless feelings.
“I know.”
“Then why would you want to do it?”
He lowered his head, bringing his face very close to hers. “Human nature, Miss Fast. You are a young lady and I’m a man. But you are also beautiful, bold, and your wit is commendable and pleasing. I find all those traits desirable.”
“Mr. Olingworth was my guardian and he never said he found me desirable or that he wanted to kiss me.” Though there were times a hug or a pat on the top of her head would have been nice when she’d picked flowers and given them to him. “In fact, in all the years I was with him, he never touched me at all. And you touched me twice the first day we met.”
The duke lowered his head toward her upturned face. “I’m pleased to know Mr. Olingworth is a true gentleman, as was my father. I am not. I want to kiss you. I don’t mind telling you, and I think you want me to kiss you.”
Oh, yes, she did.
But she couldn’t. He couldn’t.
“You can’t kiss me,” she managed to whisper.
“I know,” he said, though his face kept coming closer to hers. “I’m not going to, but you can kiss me.”
“Me kiss you?”
He nodded and the scent of windswept shores and rugged cliffs suddenly filled the air around her, making her feel languid and dreamy. Her breaths became deep and heavy with wanting what he was suggesting. She wasn’t afraid to kiss him. It was just the thought that she shouldn’t want to that held her back.
Yet her desire to feel his lips on hers was great, and he was so close.
So maybe she could kiss him. Not a long kiss of course. Just a brief touch of her lips upon his. Just once.
Only to solve the mystery of what a kiss would be like. As when the boys had encouraged her to touch her first snake, climb her first tree, and wade in her first icy pond without her shoes and stockings. She could consider the kiss a learning experience that she very much wanted to accomplish. When she went to Mr. Olingworth’s house she’d been taught to dance, ride a horse, and manage a household. Shouldn’t she be familiar with a kiss as well?
Marlena’s lashes lowered over her eyes. She felt herself rising up on her toes to meet him. His breath lightly caressed her lips. She was only a second or two away from receiving her first kiss and it was a heady feeling.
Holding the tin tightly to her midriff with one hand, she splayed the other on the desk behind her to steady herself. Her palm landed on a piece of linen. She caught it up in her grasp and quickly shoved it between her face and the duke’s.
“I have your handkerchief,” she said breathlessly.
The duke slowly straightened again. He blew out a soft laugh and nodded. “So you do.”
Marlena didn’t know if she was relieved or if she would be forever regretful that she’d spoiled her chance for a kiss.
He took the handkerchief from her and slipped it into his coat pocket. “That was very clever.”
It was her escape but she still wasn’t sure she’d wanted to be set free.
“I know we shouldn’t kiss,” he said.
“That’s good to hear,” she agreed.
“It doesn’t keep me from wanting to.”
She wanted it, too, though she wasn’t as courageous as he. She would keep silent with her answer.
He took a step away from her. “I know well my responsibility to you. I will abide by it with all the honor it requires of me. I’m your guardian, your provider, and your protector as surely as Mr. Olingworth and your other guardians before him have been.”
“Thank you.”
He glanced at the box in her hands. “Tell me, Miss Fast, would you have accepted that if Mr. Olingworth had given it to you?”
She looked down at the strong-smelling items in her hands. She wouldn’t have blinked an eye if Mr. Olingworth had brought her the smelling salts in such beautiful packaging. But somehow with them coming from this man who from the moment she first saw him made her feel so feminine and desirable, she thought it must be inappropriate.
Being truthful, she answered, “I would have.”
“Then I don’t know what more I can say about what I brought today,” he said calmly.
After taking in a long deep breath and then expelling it slowly, Marlena said, “I’ll accept them as you intended them. A household necessity.”
Since her secretary was right behind her she turned and opened the top drawer, wanting to hide the tin from Justine for, at least, the time being. There in plain sight for the duke to see as clearly as she could was her writing draft of Miss Honora Truth’s Scandal Sheet. Marlena thought she might stop breathing, and for a moment she couldn’t seem to move. Seconds ticked by before she slammed the drawer shut. She turned and leaned against the desk again, praying the duke hadn’t had time to read many of the words on the page.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“No, I realized that the drawer is full and the tin won’t fit,” she fibbed, but with no small amount of guilt.
That was too close.
How could it have not dawned on her that her scandal sheet was in there? Because the duke had somehow bewitched her. He had her feeling strange sensations, wanting even stranger things like kisses and being held against that wide, strong chest. She’d have to be more careful. Justine might not care what she wrote, but the man she wrote about certainly would.
“I can help you rearrange the things in there so it will fit, if you like.” He put his hand on the drawer to open it again.
“No, thank you, no.” Without thinking, Marlena laid her hand on top of his to stop him. A shudder of awareness shivered through her. His skin was warm and she had the urge to give his fingers a gentle squeeze but instead she lifted her hand and said, “I believe it will work nicely in the second drawer.” Nervously, she opened the next one down and tried to place the tin inside but the depth was too shallow.
Marlena couldn’t believe the bad luck she was suddenly having.
Trying to stay calm, she softly closed it and opened the bottom one. Thankfully the tin settled in perfectly. She closed the drawer. Facing the duke again, she realized he was still scandalously near her. She backed up against the desk again.
“You’re flushed,” he said.
“Yes, I am,” she answered, thinking quickly. “I’m not used to a gentleman telling me he wants to kiss me.” Or me wanting him to do it.
“I agree, most of them wouldn’t tell you, but believe me when I say they’d all be thinking it.”
Marlena heard the back door open and she jumped. Tut barked. She heard his nails clicking on the wood floor as he ran down the corridor. Marlena silently sighed, knowing Justine was right behind him. Tut came running into the room and straight over to the duke to bark up at him. Marlena grabbed up the lace wrapping and ribbon from the tin box. She shoved them on top of the scandal sheet while the duke bent down to greet Tut with a pat on the head and a few rubs down his back.
Justine swept into the drawing room with her feathered headpiece all askew and completely out of breath. She must have run the entire way from the Portingtons’ house.
She curtsied as if she were bowing before a king instead of a duke. When she rose there was a smile like none Marlena had ever seen on her face. She held her hand out as she walked toward him.
Yet by the duke’s reaction and expression, Marlena believed he had no recollection of ever having met Justine. Showing he was a gentleman, though, he took her proffere
d hand and lightly kissed the back of it.
“Mrs. Abernathy,” he said as politely as the finest of gentlemen. “It’s good to see you—again.”
“Your Grace, I’m so glad you remembered me and our dance.” Justine splayed her other hand across her bosom. “It wasn’t that long ago, was it? Seems like just yesterday. I must say, I’m quite flattered and more than pleased. Honored, too, that you sought me out in order to help my dear cousin during her time of need. Thank you. Please, please sit down. Marlena, dear, did you order tea for us? Or would you prefer something stronger?”
There was no doubt, Justine was smitten by the duke.
And Marlena understood why. Heaven help her, she’d wanted the rake to kiss her.
“Nothing, thank you. I can’t stay. I only came by to drop off a—a message that I have a friend looking into finding someone who can help Miss Fast through the intricacies of the Season. I hope to return with a name soon.”
“So it is true,” she said clasping her hands together in front of her. “You are Marlena’s new guardian. Splendid!”
The duke gave Marlena a questioning glance so she said, “I was unable to convince Justine. She wanted to hear it from you.”
“Naturally I didn’t want to tell anyone until you confirmed Mr. Olingworth’s letter,” Justine defended. “I mean, the man’s been quite ill and I have no way of knowing if he is of sound mind or delusional. I had to make sure he knew what he was writing and not just assuming.” Justine stopped and smiled sweetly. “I mean one must not be too careful where an innocent young lady and a duke is concerned.”
“No explanation necessary, Mrs. Abernathy. I understand.”
“Well, then! This is superb, Your Grace. Of course I’ve taught Marlena everything I can, but entrance into Almack’s and invitations to the most important and sought-after parties of the Season can be very difficult to obtain.” She cleared her throat. “Even though I was the diamond of the Season my debut year, some in Society choose to ignore that honor.” She smiled and lifted her chin. “I’m sure you remember. Still, you know that the dear ladies who control tickets and invitations for those events protect them as if they were made from pure gold.”