Page 54 of A Duke for Stealing
“We used to steal his cigars and whiskey and bring them out here to enjoy.”
Rose attempted to chuckle, but her teeth began to chatter instead.
“You are freezing,” he told her, smoothing his hands up and down her arms. “Here, take a seat. I shall have us a fire in a moment.”
“You?” She laughed as he helped her take a seat on the floor. “You know how to start a fire? Do they teach that at Oxford?”
Enjoying her goading, Everett chuckled as he began to place the tinder and dried logs into the hearth.
“One of the benefits of having an absent mother and a father that did not care about what I did was that I had the freedom to be alittle wild,” Everett explained, sparking the flint he’d found. The little embers jumped from the two clashing rocks onto the dry straw and tinder he’d placed, and in seconds, it grew into small flames.
He turned back to her with an accomplished grin, but it faded as he saw the pitying look in her eyes.
“None of that,” he quickly chastised, taking a seat beside her, “We are done with our talk of serious matters, remember?”
“I did not know,” Rose replied, her tone soft, “I did not know your life was so vastly different than most.”
“We all have our burdens, Rose,” Everett replied, shrugging, “I just preferred to handle mine with humor and dalliances.”
Rose gave him another reluctant look as she began to shiver harder, and Everett could not help but laugh as he tugged her toward him.
“Let us focus on getting you warm,” he said, cupping her hands over his, “You’re going to shiver yourself into a mess.”
Rose let out a soft sigh as his warm breath blew over her hands. It further stirred the desire building within him, and he looked up at her. He found her eyes filled with a longing that matched his own.
“You know,” he said, his voice suddenly husky, “We would warm faster if we got out of these wet clothes.”
A virginal blush bloomed in Rose’s cheeks at his words. For a moment, he thought he had gone too far and was about to apologize when-
“I believe you are right,” she said, her eyes slowly wandering down his body. “Would you…Would you be so kind as to help me out of my dress?”
Despite the cold, Everett felt his manhood stir and harden beneath his trousers. He liked it when she was bold, but her demure tone and blush had an equal effect on him as her previous brazenness had.
“Of course,” he rasped.
Rose’s eyes moved up to him, showing the slightest timidness over what she was about to do, but then she drew the cloak away from her shoulders and turned her back to him. Everett’s fingers trembled- actually trembled as he began to unfasten the ties of her dress.
How long had it been since he’d been nervous with a woman? Since his confidence was so far away that it caused his hands and breath to shake. Rose was not just any other woman to be seduced or conquered, though. She’d saved him from an unsavory marriage, and such a short time had made positive changes to not just his life, but the lives of his nieces.
Everett made gentle work of Rose’s gown, careful not to pull too hard or damage the delicate fabric of her beautiful dress or the corset beneath. With every inch of flesh he exposed, he placed there a warm kiss until his lips had touched every small bone of her spine. Every time he did so, Rose gave off a delicious shiver, though he was certain it had nothing to do with the cold.
When her dress and corset were finally loose enough to move down her hips, Everett took her hand and helped her step out of the soaking clothes. For a moment afterward, he just stood there in awe, taking in the expanse of creamy, bare flesh of her back and derrière.
Slowly, he sank to his knees as his eyes devoured the beautiful sight. With tentativeness, he reached out and stroked his fingertips over the curve of her waist and down to her hips, and was rewarded by a quick, sharp inhale of breath from Rose.
Everett’s mouth watered as he studied her perfect form, and he could not stop himself from leaning forward and placing his mouth on her left cheek. Rose let out another sharp inhale and shivered as she felt his gentle bite, and Everett moaned as he tasted her soft flesh.
There was an urge, a hidden inner need to sink his teeth and mark her pert derrière, but Everett refrained. Instead, he forced himself to sit back on his heels and lower his hands to where her white stocking met her left knee. Again, he resumed his gentle efforts, pulling the soaked fabric down her calf until it met her pink heel. Rose lifted her foot as he did so, and he slipped the shoe from her foot and then the rest of the stocking. He thenrepeated the same slow strip with her other leg until Rose was completely bare.
Once finished, Everett rose back up on his feet, feeling a strange wobble in his knees as Rose slowly turned to face him. Her eyes were wide and shining with a mixture of lust and fear, and her arms were crossed protectively over her breasts. Instantly, he wanted that fear gone. He never wanted to see it in her eyes again. Not with him.
“I will not hurt you, Rose,” he promised.
The fear in her eyes shifted to contemplation, and to his relief, a slow smile spread across her red lips.
“I think I am starting to believe you,” she replied.
Everett could not help but match her smile with his own, and he removed his jacket, letting it drop with a wet thump to the floor. He then moved his fingers to his cravat. He was about to untie it when Rose slowly began to reach for him, and she covered her much smaller fingers over his own.
