Page 82 of Courting Scandal With The Duke
His response stirred excitement low in her belly, and a whisper of something painful in her heart.
There was no reason not to be pleased at his reaction. She wanted to storm his defences, make him forget he was a gentleman.
But she did not want to lose control of her own emotions. She had fallen hard for Helmut, against her better judgement, and look how well that turned out.
Never again would she trust a man to have her best interests at heart. Her father had not. Helmut had not, and certainly there was no reason to think Derbridge would be different.
Barbara focussed on the play. Some sort of farce. Aunt Lenore seemed utterly engrossed, as did the other two ladies, laughing at the antics of the actors, but all Barbara could think about was Xavier sitting behind her. The scent of his cologne filled her nostrils, the warmth of his large body seemed to permeate through her gown and heat her back, his breath surely brushed her cheek.
Again, against her will, she glanced over her shoulder. As she did so, a large warm hand rested lightly on her waist.
‘Are you in need of something?’ he asked.
You.It was a shocking admission, even if it was only to herself. ‘No thank you.’
He leaned back, the flimsy chair creaking beneath his weight. Such a large man.
And the loss of his hand’s warmth made her shiver. How ridiculous.
She had been attracted to him from the very first moment she saw him. Was she become a moth to his flame instead of the other way around? Her breathing shortened.
Perhaps, after all, he was the wrong man to use for her purpose.
Xavier knew he was behaving badly, despite the presence of others in his box.
All of them would have realised by now where his interest lay.
He took a deep breath and sat back in his seat.
What was it about this woman that made him forget all of his good resolutions?
He had thought the trading of a few hearty blows yesterday at the gymnasium would have tired him out and cooled any trace of recklessness.
Apparently not, since he wished like hell that he was alone with Barbara, instead of hosting a bunch of other people in whom he had no interest at all.
Well, except for Julian. Maybe.
Barbara wasn’t exactly helping matters. The brief but all too provocative glances she sent his way were enough to drive a man to insanity. With just a look, she could remind him of the way she had felt beneath him in that little bed in the cottage.The way he had felt coming apart while he was inside her. The heat of their mutual bliss.
The peace of the aftermath, where he had no thoughts but an incredible sense of well-being.
He had thought that by bedding her, he would bring this unnatural fascination in her to an end. Instead, it had only increased his desire to bed her again.
But not just that. He enjoyed her company. She amused him.
She also made him wish things were different. Wish that he wasn’t bound to his duty and his title. Wish that he was free to please himself.
He clenched his fists at his sides. These were not the thoughts of a rational man.
He wasn’t a schoolboy fantasising about the headmaster’s wife or the cheeky upstairs maid. He was a duke, with responsibilities and the family honour to uphold. He had a duty to the title to find a suitable wife and ensure the future generations of Melvilles.
And the Countess, a widow and a woman who seemingly did not give a fig for her reputation, was not the wife he sought.
Thank God she did not seem to be interested in marriage. Marrying a woman who caused him to lose any semblance of control would be a disaster.
Was this what had happened to his father? Had he too been so entranced by his second wife as to lose all reason?
If Xavier allowed himself to think about those days,he certainly recalled his father being happy to the point of joyful.
