Page 10 of Her Duke Next Door
Still, she nodded, her eyes slipping closed.
“Our daughters are best friends, and we should at least be civil to each other.” His low laugh rumbled through his chest. Mary fought the urge to arch into him. “Do you think we can manage that… Together?”
Mary bit her tongue, holding back a whimper as he raised a finger as if to run it down her cheek but closed his fist, restraining himself, letting her know how close he came to teasing her with a touch. Heavens above, she was dizzy. The room grew hotter and smaller.
Dominique gave her a devastating smile. “Do you agree?”
“I agree,” she breathed.
“Good.”
He leaned in closer.
A knock interrupted them, echoing near Mary, where she was still cornered against the door. She jumped, pulling away from the door, landing herself right in the arms of the Duke.
“Enter,” he called.
She set her surprised gaze on him, trying to pull away but there was nowhere else to go as he pulled back from the door.
The housekeeper was in the doorway.
“Yes, Geraldine?” Dominique asked, that velvety voice turning clipped and frustrated.
Geraldine, an older lady with graying hair and a faded dark gray dress, eyed the Duke and then Mary. “Your Grace… Lady Katie is ready to play for the harp for her guests.”
“Of course,” he said. “We shall be right there.”
Geraldine closed the door before walking away.
Mary’s face burned with shame. Her sister had caused a few public scandals with her own actions, and she had gushed about them in her letters. Mary had been scandalized by her boldness, and now she was ashamed of how it felt for Dominique’s housekeeper to assume their situation may have been scandalous.
Dominique gazed at her. “How does it feel to be the object of my desire?”
“Excuse me?”
“That is what the staff will be saying before Katie’s performance finishes.”
“I suppose you planned that, did you?” she accused.
Dominique laughed, that sultry tone returning. “Not this time. And yet…”
Then he leaned in once again, and this time, she did feel the brush of his lips on her skin. She bit her lip. How long had it been since a man truly beheld her so brazenly?
“When I desire you, my lady, you will not be left wondering of my intentions,for something I amverysure about is when I aim to pleasure a woman.”
Mary’s face flushed and she pushed against him but he nudged her back against the door, his hands coming down either side of her again, so very close to her chest this time. Despite the forwardness, she did not want to push him away.
“So, do we have a truce? For our daughters’ sakes?”
Mary bit her lip, and his eyes followed the movement.
“Yes,” she breathed. “We have a truce.”
“I think you will find that once you… Open up to me…” His hands slid closer to her waist, almost touching her again but not quite. The words—themeaning—burned through her core in a way no man’s words ever had. “I am quite agreeable to be around.”
“We shall see,” she answered but she sounded breathless and shaken.
The Duke gave her a crooked smile before he pulled away, leaving her skin raised with gooseflesh. Then he moved around her and opened the door to his study, leaving Mary standing there, wondering what had just happened.
