Page 53 of A Duke Changes Everything
“Your sleep was troubled?” she asked softly.
“It always is.”
“I heard you call out. I thought you said my name.” Mina swallowed hard after the admission. She’d probably misheard him, but some rationale felt necessary to explain her presence in his room.
“Did I? Perhaps you’re haunting me in my sleep.” He did that thing with his thumb again, a seductive slide against her skin. His touch rippled out to spark goose bumps along her arm and heat between her thighs.
“You don’t remember your dreams?” she asked, her voice trembling like her insides.
“I try not to.”
“What troubles you?”
“Everything.” He let out a low chuckle, like the rusty creak of a door hinge. Lowering his chin, he assessed her. “Especially you.”
“I never intended to.” She pulled her hand from the duke’s, ignoring the shiver that spiked up her spine from the friction of his skin sliding against hers. “I’ll leave you so that you can get back to sleep.”
“Mina, wait.” He reached out, caught the edge of her arm, and a few strands of unpinned hair tangled between his fingers. “There’s something I must say before you go.”
She moved closer. He was utter temptation, all blazing heat and forest scents, and she felt an odd comfort being near him. She knew she should be scandalized. To be alone with him, a duke of the realm. A gambling club owner. Especially while he wore nothing but trousers and a half-buttoned shirt.
But she found herself longing to hear whatever he wished to tell her. What had happened between him and his father? And why had he never come back home?
He stunned her by simply whispering, “Thank you.”
She’d never heard gratitude expressed more earnestly, but she didn’t understand why he was offering the sentiment to her.
“Whatever kindness I showed those villagers today, you inspired.”
“Me? That’s nonsense. We’re not well enough acquainted for me to inspire you to do anything.” She wasn’t used to praise. It made her long to shy away, to hide behind all the rules of etiquette she usually ignored. “Besides, kindness seemed to come quite naturally to you.”
“Not like it does to you.” His mouth quirked in a thoughtful slant. He studied her face, then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I wish I could tell you I’m a benevolent sort, but let’s just say it’s not my first instinct.”
“Perhaps you should try it more often. From what I saw today, it suits you.”
He made a dismissive sound. “As each villager approached, I asked myself what you would have me do.”
“You treated the villagers differently than Lady Claxton.”
He shrugged. “None of them demanded or assumed I owed them anything. They simply asked.” He frowned. “I take great pleasure in sayingno, in protecting what’s mine. But today, with your voice in my head, I foundyesfrighteningly easy.”
“My voice in your head?” Her cheeks heated, then her neck and her ears. She suspected every inch of her body had flushed as pink as the carnations that bloomed at the edge of Enderley’s carriage drive.
“Not only your voice.” His gaze flickered over her face and fixed on her mouth.
“You impressed me this afternoon.” She’d already come to the man’s room. The least she could do was tell him the truth.
“Unlike all the other days when I’ve horrified you?”
Mina’s heartbeat thundered in her ears when he leaned closer. She lifted a hand tentatively, desperate to keep him at bay. Or to touch him. She wasn’t sure anymore. Gently, she rested her palm against his chest and felt the strong, insistent thrum of his heartbeat.
“Forgive me for how I barked at you.” He hesitated, drawing in a sharp breath, then added, “There are some parts of this place I can’t bear.”
“Only some? That seems an improvement over when you arrived.” Mina bit her lip when he smiled. To see his face soften into amusement did strange things to her.
He wrapped one large hand around the curve of her waist. “There are some things at Enderley I like quite a lot. And I do regret shouting. I vow never to do so again.”
“Are you sure you can make that promise?” Mina found herself smiling.
