Page 19 of Secrets of a Duke's Heart
“Better than ordinary, in my view. What if I were to shout a name like ‘Charles’ or ‘James’ across the ballroom? Half the men’s conversations would be interrupted.”
He laughed, a low rumbling sound that made her insides hot and slippery.
Oh, no. This was a terrible development. She genuinely liked him. His reluctant proposal had burned, for she had believed her growing feelings weren’t reciprocated. But if they were, she would be forced to confront all the ways in which her boring, comfortable life could change. For better or for worse.
“Not that I would be so ill-mannered, but if there w a fire, for example, it would be much more effective to shout ‘Jude.’”
“Or you could yell, ‘fire.’”
She ducked her chin, giggling. “True.”
He cupped her cheek, stroking the curve. “I compromised you once.”
“Accidentally.”
“Clearly, I didn’t do a thorough enough job. Might I try again, Miss Penfirth?”
Her pulse scrambled, her thoughts scattered and her eyes fluttered closed. Through her lashes she watched his lips descend, her view shuttering the second before his mouth touched hers. Soft. Firm. Promising everything and nothing. She tasted his hope and his caution. He was full of secrets, but she was getting closer to the truths at his core.
She therefore allowed herself to hope, too.
There was no one to catch them this time. Her cousin had gone to bed hours ago. The servants were all asleep, and if any stirred, they would not dare to intrude upon this part of the house at near midnight.
She was safe to explore the breadth of his shoulders with unsteady hands.
Safe to devour his kiss with her own.
She had never felt more sheltered than she did in his arms, for she knew that however far this went tonight, he would keep her secret. Jude was very good at that.
The syllables of his given name were a treat she could savor silently whenever she wished, long after their paths had diverged. They barely knew one another.
Where does he hail from?Clarissa’s mind piped up.What else don’t you know about him?
Jude must have sensed reason trying to assert itself, for he tugged her hard against his chest and slid his hand down her backside with a groan.
“You are perfect,” he murmured against her lips. “Every inch of you.”
His hand came back up, searing a molten path along her spine. At the apex they tangled in the hair at her nape. His other arm was tight around her waist. A needy throb pulsed low in her core.
It had been so long since she kissed anyone. Four years, or was it five now? At least that long, and the experience hardly rated anyway.
For all his flaws, Jude Montague was an expert kisser. He teased and took, finding the little spot beneath her ear that sent an electric current zinging through her body straight to her center.
“I would marry you tomorrow, Clarissa.”
“You’d be a fool,” she said. A wooden panel wedged into a crevice was a ridiculous reason to marry anyone. They were both old enough to know better than to care what village wag-tongues said. Neither of them lived in Cavalier Cove. By next month, their visit would be nothing but scandalous story embellished and distorted with each retelling until the details were unrecognizable.
“You’re right. I’d be your fool any day of the week, and thrice on Sundays.”
She chuckled at that. Daringly, he slipped his finger inside the collar of her wrapper and slid it down until his hand hovered over her breast. With a moan, she arched into his touch. He shoved the fabric aside and squeezed her through the thin cambic nightdress.
“Goodness,” he breathed. “I would give anything to see you bare.”
He pressed forward. She edged back a step, then another, until her bottom hit the bookshelf she’d been browsing. Jude made her feel, if not quite dainty, then delicate in comparison to his towering brawn. She moved one leg up the back of his muscular thigh and reveled in the feral sound he made, a low growl that could have been menacing but was more like a lion’s purr. Even though lions couldn’t purr, that was what he sounded like to her ears. The sound vibrated through her, viciously tearing away her inhibitions.
Their mouths met and clashed in a tangle of tongue and lips and teeth. He nipped her earlobe and fought the belt on her robe open. Cool air breezed along her exposed skin. His lips trailed heated kisses over her collarbone, stopped only by the edge of her high-necked nightgown.
“Unwrap me, Jude.”
