Page 32 of A Duke for Stealing
How had he not noticed how beautiful that sound had been before now?
“Where are you girls?” Rose sang softly. “I can hear your giggles. Are you hiding from me?”
“We shall never tell!” Diana called out, then giggled once again as she ducked behind the curtain.
Before Everett thought to stop himself, he was pushing the door open and walking in. Leah’s eyes went wide as she saw him, looking almost apprehensive. The curtain then moved, as if shehad elbowed her twin, and Diana soon poked her head back out; her eyes matching her sister’s as she saw him. He could not blame them, he supposed. They were still leery of him, and that was his fault.
He decided then that no matter what his workload was, he needed to make more time for them. After what they’d lost, they deserved it. Needed it. And he did not want to be distant with them the way his father was with him, even if they weren’t his own children.
With a smile and a wink, Everett put his finger to his lips. Their wariness vanished, and they both smiled widely before disappearing once again behind the curtains. Quietly, he stepped toward Rose, stopping just a few paces away before her.
His gaze dropped to her lips. So plump and pink they were, accented somehow by the blindfold she wore. Devilish thoughts flashed through his mind then, and he imagined her wearing the obstruction for an entirely different sort of game.
“I know you are close,” Rose said, taking a tentative step forward; her arms outstretched. “I can hear your breathing.”
Everett suppressed the urge to laugh. How long had he felt such fun without a drop to drink? It had been ages since he’d been this sober and smiled at the same time.
Rose continued to make her way toward him, but instead of trying to stay out of her grasp, he stood still. Hewantedher to touch him. Had craved it since their night on the dining roomtable. Flashes of their hot, passionate kisses flashed through his mind, stealing his breath.
Closer. That’s it. Closer…he silently implored.
When her soft, small hands finally made purchase on his chest, his body sang with instant need. Even through his shirt, he could feel her heat, and he drank it in greedily.
Before him, Rose frowned as she touched him and began to push her hands around his chest and down over his abdomen.
“What is this?” She said, allowing, prodding him.
“Girls, did you move the furniture?” She called out. “You know that is against the rules.”
Everett had to hold his breath to keep his laughter in as the girls poked their heads out from the curtain again. In unison, they called out, “We did not!”
“Well then,” Rose muttered, her searching hands moving lower down his abdomen, “What is this…”
Everett finally broke his silence with the clearing of his throat when her hand slid down his thigh and sent another shot of need straight to his loins. His body had reacted to her touch immediately, and the last thing he wanted was an obvious erection in front of his nieces.
Rose immediately ripped the blindfold off. Her eyes went wide as she saw him, then wider still when she looked down and saw where her hand was.
“Oh, goodness!” She exclaimed, her hand flying off of him as if he’d burned her; color flooding her cheeks.
“Having fun?” He asked with an amused grin.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“It is bad form to interrupt a game, you know,” Rose scolded him.
Rose took the blindfold and whacked him in the arm with it, and he let out a mirthful chuckle. As he did so, the girls came out from behind the curtains, joining them in the center of the room.
He shrugged, then cast a fond look down at his nieces. He noted immediately that while they smiled back, they had tucked themselves behind Rose’s skirts.
“Do not just blame me,” he replied, “The girls could have told you.”
“He told us not to!” Leah spoke up immediately.
Everett chuckled again and winked at them, letting them know he was just teasing.
“Are you here to play with us as well, Uncle Everett?” Diana asked.
“If so, it is your turn to play the blind man,” Leah added.
