Page 26 of His Forbidden Duchess
Unbidden, thoughts of Felix drifted like gossamer before her eyes. Memories of his intense gaze, his gentle touch, his acerbic wit, and his genuine kindness wrapped her in a dream-like cocoon and muffled her senses.
Everything felt so real with Felix. He had looked at her as if she was the only person in the room. The moment they’d shared the previous week in the sweet shop, when his eyes had darkened with desire as she had eaten the confection, played on a continuous loop in her mind. She could still feel the warmth of his attention and the fire it had ignited within her.
The contrast between Felix’s and Mortcombe’s gazes was stark. Mortcombe’s eyes were calculating, assessing her as though she was a prize to be won, an ornament to acquire that would attest to his success. Felix, on the other hand, had made her feel alive, as though he saw her, not how she could benefit his outward appearance.
But Eloise knew better than to indulge in such thoughts. Felix was a fantasy, a dream she could never afford to chase. Her family’s future depended on Mortcombe, not on the fleeting pleasure she felt whenever she was in Felix’s presence.
With a frustrated sigh, Eloise turned back to the sweets table. Her hand hovered briefly over the delicate confections before she grabbed a sugary treat and gobbled it up like the beast Felix had accused her of being.
For a brief moment, it was liberating: devouring something the wayshewanted, not in the way society expected her to behave. But even that small pleasure was fleeting. She wiped her fingers on a napkin, quickly regaining her decorum.
It is all for the family.
Suddenly, Eloise heard a deep voice from behind her.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk… now, is that what I taught you?”
Chapter Eleven
It was obvious that he had caught her off guard. There was something incredibly tantalizing about her blushing cheeks and the tiny sprinkle of powdered sugar left upon her lips.
Kiss her,a treacherous little voice demanded.Taste her.
He swallowed heavily as she pouted at him in annoyance. “I did as you instructed when Mortcombe was around,” she explained. “But this way, they taste better.”
“Do they now?” he chuckled. “You truly are more inflexible than I thought possible.”
She sighed, shaking her head. “That does not matter. I am losing time here.”
Felix’s brow furrowed in response. “What do you mean?”
Eloise paused for a moment, her gaze flitting away from his, and he could tell she was considering her answer.
“I am growing older,” she said at last, a note of false casualness in her tone. “And with every second, less desirable.”
Felix’s eyes narrowed. He looked her up and down, taking in her elegance, the curve of her breasts, and the grace in her posture despite the insecurity she claimed to feel. Eloise rarely let her guard down, and to hear her say she was worried about losing her desirability was difficult to believe. Her body language—the way she averted her gaze and her fingers fidgeted— laid bare the falsehood of her words.
Is she looking for compliments?
A soft blush crept across her cheeks. She blushed so rarely that it always caught him by surprise. Her sudden self-consciousness only intrigued him more. Even though she refused to meet his gaze, Felix didn’t take his eyes off of her.
Very slowly, Felix tilted his head as a sly smile began forming on his lips.
Very well. I will play her game.
“Quite the opposite,” he murmured, his voice low and intimate. “You grow more desirable by the second.”
Eloise’s head snapped up, her eyes wide with surprise. She stared at him in stunned silence. Neither of them moved.
Felix could hear her breath catch as she looked at him, unspoken thoughts and emotions hanging in the silence between them. He licked his lips, his gaze dropping momentarily to her mouth before returning to her eyes.
The tension was unbearable, and he could see the war in her eyes—the pull toward him and the need to resist. She was always so controlled, so composed, but he knew he had shaken something loose in her. He would set her wild and free if he was given the chance.
But, of course, she broke the spell.
She turned away abruptly, her cheeks still flushed as she spoke with forced nonchalance.
“Mortcombe,” she said, her voice firm but strained. “I need to secure him for the sake of my family’s wellbeing.”
