Page 55 of A Duke Changes Everything
“Mina.” He touched her cheek, wrapped an arm around her waist, and took her mouth as he’d ached to from the moment they’d met.
Slow.He reminded himself to go slow, but his body raced from aroused to raging need. Warm, she was so warm. She tasted of cinnamon and jasmine tea, and her lips were a heaven he could never deserve.
After a moment, she pulled away, breathless, her eyes glowing and locked on his.
“Please tell me you’ll stay,” she said in a soft, husky voice that made him ache.
Part of him wanted to respond to her whispered plea. He wanted to please her, to give her whatever she wished. Except that. Except the misery of remaining in this place that was as close to hell as he’d ever been.
“Go back to your room, Mina.” If she stayed a moment longer, continued looking at him with such longing and desire, he’d have no defenses left.
One kiss and this woman nearly had him on his knees.
He pulled her close again, took her mouth harder than he should have, swept his tongue inside to taste her. Then he forced himself to step away.
“Go,” he urged her again.Save yourself.
All the fire in her gaze dimmed. He told himself that was good. She needed to see him for what he was.
She turned her back on him and slipped from his room without another word.
Nick slammed the closed door with his palm, as much to get out his frustration as to keep the door shut. To keep himself from going after her.
But, God, how he wanted to find her, bring her back, and kiss her again.
Chapter Fourteen
Cold air rushed against Mina’s cheeks and she squeezed her knees tighter, savoring the heat and strength pounding the earth beneath her. She bent forward, leaning over the stallion’s mane, giving the horse his head. He rewarded her with a burst of speed. Fields and hedgerows and umber-leaved trees flashed by in a blur.
By the time Enderley’s stable came into view, both she and Hades were winded and sweaty, but the stallion neighed happily and Mina’s head felt clearer. Though she still had absolutely no idea how to face the duke after the events of the previous night.
“Seems the beast’s fully recovered now.” Tobias took hold of one rein as she walked the stallion into the stable yard. “Time he goes back to his master, don’t you think, Miss Thorne?”
Mina avoided Tobias’s question and swiped the dust from her trousers. “Any sign of the duke this morning?”
“Why? Have you lost him again?” The stable master guffawed at his own quip.
When Mina didn’t join in, he gestured toward the house.
“Only person I’ve seen other than the stable boys is Emma. She’s been creeping around that old tower this morning.”
Creeping? Emma never crept. She was tall and lithe, and Mina noticed Tobias’s eyes following her more often than not. “What’s she doing at the tower?”
“Heaven knows.” He yanked at the stallion’s saddle straps with frustrated vigor. “Hope she’s not sneaking off to meet some knave.”
Tobias was a decent sort, if a bit blustery, and he was clearly smitten with Emma.
“Are you attending Mrs. Shepard’s Christmas dance? Perhaps you should ask Emma to stand up with you.” With that bit of advice, Mina left the brawny stable master blushing and speechless.
Her pulse kicked into a gallop as she approached the house. She had work to do, but what if the duke was in his study?
She couldn’t bring herself to regret their kiss. It had been inappropriate. Dangerous, even. A step down a path she’d trodden before. And she knew how it would end.
But the memory of the duke’s kiss was fresh. Being in his arms, being desired—had all felt so right.
A flash of movement caught her eye. Emma was indeed near the tower, carrying a bundle of something Mina couldn’t quite make out. The girl knew better than to go into the dilapidated pile of stones. Occasionally the old ruin had been used for storage over the years, but the wooden framework inside was severely rotted, and the stones themselves were crumbling.
Curiosity, Papa often warned, would be her undoing. Mina only knew she could never resist the impulse to turn over rocks to discover what was hidden underneath.
