Page 56 of Her Runaway Duke
“I do,” he said, understanding. “I can promise you one thing.”
“Yes?”
“Anything I do for her will be done with her very best interests at heart.”
She scrutinized him for a moment before nodding. “Very well. I suppose I can accept that.” She paused before looking up at him, her gaze softening somewhat, not with pity but rather with an understanding that he hadn’t expected from so forward a woman.
“I am sorry for all that you have been through, Your Grace. I cannot imagine how hard it must have been to lose your family and be injured yourself.”
“Thank you, Lady Eliza,” he said, appreciating her words more than he’d like to admit.
She turned around and returned to the women, leaving Levi to shake his head after her. Lady Eliza was clearly a good friend, that much was for certain.
Fitz sent him a look of question, but he just shrugged, for there was nothing to say.
Siena was too good for him, yes, but she was too good for any man.
Now he just had to decide what exactly he was going to do about it.
Siena couldn’t sleepthat night.
She tossed and turned, too caught up in visions of what her future could or could not look like floating around in her mind.
She was becoming more aware that what she wanted was right in front of her, in the form of a man. One she had never seen coming, the type of man she had never considered.
Levi.
He had seemed uncomfortable tonight, yes, but he had been there. He had made conversation when required, had even quirked a smile now and then when Lord Fitzroy cracked one ofhis jokes. She had no hopes of him returning to polite society, but then, neither did she have much interest in society doing so.
The thought of a reappearance in London or even an event including more guests than those here with her actually caused her discomfort as well. If she was discovered, what would happen to her? She had escaped her wedding, but at what expense?
Finally, she decided that there was only one way she was going to find any sleep.
She pushed open her door before tiptoeing down the corridor and lightly knocking on Levi’s door.
She left her room, wondering if she was, perhaps, being foolish. He could be asleep or wishing for time alone after the company that he’d had to keep that night, all because of her.
When the door creaked open, the sound echoing throughout the quiet house, all of her worries evaporated.
The light from the moon through the windows behind him cast a soft glow on Levi’s silhouette. His hair was tousled, sticking out in all directions, his shirt and trousers were wrinkled and rumpled, likely having just been pulled on to open the door, his chest peeking out through the buttons of his shirt.
He looked her up and down with a slight smirk on his face as he adjusted his eyepatch.
“Well, if it isn’t the little rebel,” he growled out.
She laughed lightly. “I couldn’t sleep, and I thought – well, I wanted to see you.”
He held open the door. “Come in,” he said. “At this point we are past inviting scandal.”
“We are fortunate that everyone else is sleeping on the other side of the house.”
Levi snorted. “I believe that has less to do with fortune and more to do with my staff, who are far more interfering than they should be.”
“They are looking out for your best interests,” she said.
“Which I appreciate now,” he said, reaching an arm out toward her. “Come.”
She went willingly, eagerly, sitting on his lap with her arms wrapped around his neck. She leaned in, tilting her head up. He accepted her invitation, capturing her lips in a searing kiss. The world around Siena faded away as she lost herself in the sensation of Levi's lips on hers, his touch stirring deep-rooted feelings.
