Page 76 of A Duchess Bound
“Well?” she asked at last.
“I suppose not,” he said delicately. “You are my sister, and I love you. If you choose to bestow your affections upon an unworthy man, I should be concerned for you. But I cannot say that I would judge you for that. As Shakespeare said, ‘the true course of love never did run smooth.’ Why should I assume that you have any control over who you favor?”
Dorothy slowly nodded, her heart pounding so loudly that its echo reverberated inside her skull. She had to do something. While Elias might not know everything about her affair with Gerard, he knew enough to care.End it, her brother had said. She supposed that she must, but Dorothy strongly suspected that she lacked the will to do so.
CHAPTER 26
Gerard sipped his tea while reading over the dukedom’s ledgers. After some time, his back began to ache, and he stood, stretching with his arms extended towards the ceiling. He could not quite remember when he had begun looking over the numbers, but it had been early in the day. Certainly, it had been before noon. Now, it was hours past nightfall.
He heard footsteps outside his study and glanced towards the open door. The footfalls were too soft to be Halls’s steps, and they seemed too hurried to be one of the maids walking past.
A delicate hand curled around the edge of the doorway, and Dorothy entered his student. Gerard inhaled sharply. The only source of light was the candles flickering on his desk, and the feeble light cast Dorothy in stark contrast, emphasizing her distinctive, feminine curves.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
The answer was obvious, though. She had come to him three times, and each of them had ended the same way. His blood roared in his ears, and he stood, putting his palms flat against his desk. He thought of taking her over that desk.
He thought of her tied to his bed, like he had threatened. She had all but dared him to have her that way.
“I imagine you know why I am here,” Dorothy said.
His lips curled into a slow, sly smile. After a heartbeat, Dorothy took a step into his study, pulling the door closed behind her. That was certainly interesting.
“I do know,” he conceded. “But I always enjoy hearing yousayit.”
“I am here for you.”
“And what shall I do for you, my lady?”
She crossed the room and put her hands on her desk. Dorothy stood across from him, her face resolute. He could have leaned forward and kissed her.
“You are an insufferable man,” she said. “I tell you to leave me be, and you whisper salacious things in my ear.”
“Only because I love to see how flustered you become.”
“You always try to dictate the terms of our relationship!”
He tilted his head, gazing into her lovely, crystal-blue eyes. “Indeed. Because you let me.”
“Because you distract me.”
“Oh, so sad,” he said, his voice full of mock dismay. “Poor Dorothy!”
“You are trying to do it again!” she cried. “Have you no compassion? No mercy?”
Gerard frowned, noting the catch in her voice and the quickening of her breath. It was difficult to say if the woman was frustrated or flustered. Perhaps, she was anticipating some amorous encounter, which he would find quite amenable.
“If you are suggesting that I offer you some pleasure, I am only too willing to oblige,” he said. “You need only ask, and I will make you experience a release unlike any other. You will scream my name by the night’s end.”
She lowered her eyes and inhaled raggedly. Gerard looked at her lowered head. Dorothy looked so sweet and docile like that. His loins stirred in interest. It would be but a small matter to move behind her and pin her body against the desk. He could grasp her hips and take her from behind.
“Do you remember the promise that you made to me?” Dorothy asked. “It was notjustthat you would give me pleasure with your hand or your mouth.”
Gerard frowned. “I do remember my promise.”
Her head snapped up, her eyes wild and feverish. “I want you inside me,” she said. “I—I want to know how it feels to have my muscles pressing against your manhood, as you plunge yourself into me. You have had every opportunity to do it. I haveofferedto let you do it, yet you have refrained each time.”
His throat was raw. “So you have.”
