Page 42 of Trapped with the Forbidden Duke
“He asked when we might do it again, and if we could build our own rope swing.”
At that, he let out a short laugh, shaking his head.
“It is a story we both tell even now, at parties. Although, admittedly, my home has not seen many parties in recent years. Allan is rather fond of them, though. He tells the story differently. He speaks of a cunning future duke who seeks the death of a cousin who might threaten his claim to the dukedom. It is not true, of course, but he is awfully dramatic when he reenacts it. He portrays me as some hideous, conniving creature.”
“I should like to see it if you would take me,” Edwina said without thinking, and then she quickly recovered. “Not that I believe I will be fortunate to attend such a party.”
“I would be honored to take you to a party, Lady Edwina.” The Duke did not pause long enough for her to respond. “You could meet my other cousin, Rose. She is nine-and-ten, and I do fear she is following your aunt’s path. She would put her gossiping and storytelling to shame. I think you would like her.”
Edwina smiled, drinking her wine as she observed him quietly. Did he know that a brightness entered his eyes when he spoke about his cousins?
“I am sure we will be acquainted one day,” she said.
“If your brother remembers his duties properly, then I am sure you will receive many more invitations to events where there will be an opportunity to do so.”
Edwina scowled. “Must you find every opportunity to put down my brother?”
“Yes,” the Duke said simply. “Because it appears that his behavior and disappearances have gone unchecked for too long. Somebody ought to remind this household that their master is not doing as he should.”
“He is doing his best with what he has,” Edwina snapped.
“Lady Edwina, many men go through terrible things. War, trauma, death. An honorable man will look around himself and realize that while loss is painful, there are other things in his life that he must focus on.”
“I am sorry that my brother could not afford such a luxury while recovering from a terrible injury, only to immediately inherit an earldom. I cannot fathom the pressure.”
“It is not a luxury—it is simply what must be done. You cannot fathom the pressure, no, but your protecting him from himself also stops him from performing his duties. Soon enough, he must protectyou.”
“I do not understand you,” Edwina hissed, standing up. The wine was suddenly too bitter on her tongue. “You help us, youhelp Nicholas, you make him your partner so that he receives income, and yet you bash him at every chance. Perhaps my aunt was right to question your motives.”
“Do not leave,” the Duke sighed.
Edwina half turned to him, finding him already rising to his feet. “This is my house. I am entitled to go where I please—or do you feel that because you have financially helped us, you may command me?”
“Lady Edwina.” His voice dropped as he stood up and stalked over to her. His eyes flashed with anger. “If I wished to truly command you, then you would already be at my mercy.”
Heat surged through Edwina, her lips parting in both fear and intrigue. The Duke’s eyes burned through her very skin as he looked her up and down.
It was not the assessing, sleazy gaze of other men she had endured previously, but the gaze of a man whodesiredher.
“I offered my help because a lady should never have to debase herself in any way. Especially not in the way your brother’s actions forced you to the night we met,” he answered roughly.
“I am harsh on Nicholas because I know the man he can be. The man hewas, the man who would never make his sister worry or put her in danger. I offer my help because, until he gets back tothat place—until he frees himself of whatever it is that grips him—I wish to protect you.”
“Why?”
“You damn well know why,” he growled.
Edwina barely had a moment to wonder what he meant, for he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her flush against him.
His mouth was on hers, immediately stealing her breath away. The Duke made a low noise in the back of his throat as he pulled her to him. His mouth moved against hers, hard and insistent, and she was melting into him as they stumbled back to the armchair he had just vacated.
His tongue prodded her own, and she opened her mouth willingly, heat surging through her. She gasped between kisses as his hands clamped around her hips, thumbing over her dress, hitching the fabric higher over her thighs.
“We should not,” Edwina gasped when he kissed the corner of her mouth and ventured lower, to the curve of her neck.
“I crave you, Lady Edwina,” the Duke confessed, lifting his head to meet her gaze.
His pupils were dilated, and Edwina could not help but lift her fingers and slide them through his still-neat auburn strands. Shewas shy as she ran her hand through his hair, his eyes fixed on her.
