Page 52 of Bound to the Heartless Duke
Lily swallowed hard, her heart hammering against her ribcage like it wanted to burst out. “You’re unbearable.”
“And yet you’re still here.”
He was too close now. Far too close. And her heart had begun to do that thing again where it began to beat too fast, threatening to spill out of her chest.
Lily took a deep breath, but it did little to calm her. Every nerve felt stretched and tight.
And when she was still struggling to gather herself, he said the most ridiculous words. The most infuriatingly certain words in a calm and unhurried manner.
“You will be mine in no time.”
Once again, she was transfixed as she was when she looked into his lovely green eyes. Today they were especially enchanting, reminding her of her favourite hideout in the country, a lovely meadow with a sleepy willow tree she napped under. He was unfairly handsome, the duke and his shapely lips called her attention.. Her chest rose and fell quickly beneath her bodice, every breath betraying her.
“You—” She broke off, her fingers curling into her skirt. “I would never want you.Not in that way. Not in any way.”
He smiled mockingly at her, eyes saying exactly what he thought.
Her mouth opened, ready to argue, to deny it again, but the words wouldn’t come.
Magnus leaned in, finally closing the gap between them. “You don’t tell your friends I own a gaming hell and pretend that fact doesn’t interest you. You glare at me like I’m the devil and blush like I’m your sin.”
“Stop it,” she whispered.
It sounded more like a plea, because she knew the things his voice did to her; she knew how easily his words could stir her desire.
“You want me to stop?” He raised his hand and brushed his rough knuckles over her cheekbone. “Or do you want me to make good on my offer?”
She turned her head away, hiding her expression, but his hand followed, gently turning her gaze back to his.
“I could marry you,” he rasped, his voice laced with an edge she had never heard before. “I could give you my name, take you to London, give you everything you were raised to have. Give you back the manor. And in return…” His eyes darkened, locked on her lips. “You’d let me touch you like this.”
His thumb swept along her lower lip in a slow and reverent motion, and she almost stopped breathing.
“You’re vile,” she breathed.
“And yet,” he said, his hand sliding down to the side of her neck, feeling the flutter of her pulse there, “you haven’t moved away.”
She couldn’t.
Lily hated that he knew that. But more than anything, she hated how his nearness felt terrible and perfect all at once.
“You said you’d never want me,” he murmured, his hand sliding down to the small of her back. “Then tell me that now. Look me in the eye and say it again.”
She looked up, ready to lie, to scream it if she had to. But the words didn’t come. They were stuck in her throat.
She watched his face draw closer to her own as if in slow motion.
Until his lips captured hers in a kiss.
It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t slow. It was greedy and unapologetic and full of every argument they’d ever had. He claimed her mouth like a man possessed. His strong hands dropped to wrap around her waist before pulling her against him.
Lily gasped; she couldn’t help it. Magnus seized the opportunity to deepen the kiss, pushing his tongue into her mouth with a fervor that nearly made her knees buckle.
She tried to resist him, but eventually, she surrendered, lifting her hands to his chest to steady herself.
His jacket hit the floor first, followed by his waistcoat, disposed of without a care as he pressed her back against the wall, his mouth never leaving hers.
The tension had broken, their argument forgotten, but not the heat. If anything, it had increased like a storm, finally given permission to roar.
