Page 75 of Would I Lie to the Duke
His eyes grew hot, and his throat tightened. “Damn,” he muttered. “I want to say something,anything, that’s droll or urbane and”—he swallowed—“and safe.”
“You don’t need to,” she murmured.
“Not with you.” He tipped his head forward so that their foreheads touched, as they had last night in the larder. “Because I’m safe with you. I trust you.”
Her eyes squeezed shut. “Oh, Noel.”
He kissed her. A velvety, slow kiss full of desire and gratitude. Because she’d reached into the very core of him. With her, he was simply himself, just as she was herself, and as his tongue stroked against hers and he tasted her flavors of honey and spice, he sank into the place they created together. A place that was theirs alone.
“Want to lay you down in the grass and have you beneath me,” he growled between kisses. “Hot and soft and fierce. I need to be inside you.”
“I want you there.”
“Tonight.”
She pulled back slightly, and a look of pain crossed her face—too quickly for him to be certain that he’d seen it at all. Her eyes opened and he saw focused resolve there. “Midnight. In your bedchamber.”
“You’d prefer my room to yours.”
“I want to see you in your native habitat.”
Ah, she’d kill him with her insight. “It’s a bit of a trek.”
“One I’ll make willingly.”
God, how he loved the way she took what she wanted. “Delightful woman. Go all the way down themain corridor, then left, then turn right at the Chinese vase, and I’m the third door on the left. It’s somewhat confusing.”
“I’ve an excellent sense of direction. Never more so than when I’m motivated.”
They kissed again, mouths open, hearts open. It anchored him and he vowed to himself that this night he would give her everything.
Chapter 22
In the end, Jess could not stop herself. It was a mistake, a terrible mistake, but she had to make it. At midnight, she stepped into a pair of slippers, draped a shawl over her shoulders, and left the Gillyflower Room in search of Noel’s bedchamber.
Cool air swept around her as she walked, navigating the corridors of the old, rambling house. Darkness surrounded her—she hadn’t taken a candle to prevent detection.
Her family and the business were safe. Jess’s gamble had worked, and the thought alone was nearly enough to make her run through the countryside, clad only in her nightgown, shouting her relief.
Yet there was a cost. There always was.
In all the ways in which this scenario had taken shape in her imagination, losing her heart to a duke had never entered her mind.
Yet she had, and tonight would be her last night with him before she disappeared from his life forever.
Moonlight spilled into the hallway from tall,diamond-paned windows. Her body moved of its own accord, following a silent call. To him.
Jess paused outside his room. Just beneath the door, light flickered. Her heart leapt into her throat as she raised her hand to tap on the wood.
The door opened before she could make contact with it, revealing Noel. Firelight cast a glow around him, and in his untucked shirt, his waistcoat undone and his coat gone, he was in beautiful disarray. It looked as though he’d dragged his hands through his hair many times as he’d waited for her. Dark stubble emphasized his lips and the angles of his jaw, and his eyes were dark as mystery as he gazed at her.
Her breath caught. He was so beautiful. Even his damned bare feet were beautiful.
He held out a hand to her. She stared at it before sliding her palm into his.
Gently, firmly, he tugged her inside. He shut the door behind her. Locked it.
As she leaned against the door, he stepped close to her. His chest brushed against hers, and he cupped his hands around her hips. Their rough breaths mingled in the narrow space between them.
