Page 23 of A Virgin for the Duke of Depravity
Margaret was just about to tell the girls that their uncle had a good heart, even if he did not know how to express it, when she heard someone tapping their foot in the doorway.
“You should not bother our guest with questions,” said the deep voice.
Margaret did not have to turn around to know that Leo stood behind her.
All three of them froze, not sure how to act in his presence. Margaret wondered how long he had been waiting there, and whether he had heard her plan to wear the red dress because it was his favorite. Or whether he had heard her say that she missed her parents.
Instead of turning to look at him, she looked at the girls. Both kept their eyes down and clasped their hands behind their backs. Gone were the giggles and smiles when they tumbled out of the wardrobe.
Margaret regretted that Leo inspired such fear in them that they could not truly enjoy his company. She understood their feeling. She, too, had a hard time enjoying his company at times.
“Annie and Kitty, you should be in bed,” he chastised.
The girls muttered an apology and slipped past him out the door.
Margaret doubted that the girls would go to bed, but she bit her tongue. If Leo thought they were in bed, it was all the better for them. She would not stand in the way of their mischief.
“Margaret,” he said. “Turn around.”
She took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders back, trying not to think of the fact that she was dressed in nothing but a robe. Asshe turned to look at him, his eyes traveled lower than her face. He paused at her breasts and then the curve of her hips beneath her light robe.
“If you have questions, you should ask me. Not the children.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” she said, eyes averted. “The girls merely told me that red was your favorite color. Is it true?”
Leo looked at the two gowns on the bed and seemed to study them for a moment. He glanced between the gowns and Margaret, his eyes darker than usual. Eventually, she saw the smirk she was growing familiar with, the one that said he knew her better than she knew herself.
“The red one would suit you, indeed.”
Margaret nodded, but she still did not make eye contact with him.
Leo crossed the room to stand in front of her, much closer than was decent, with her wrapped in nothing but a robe. The cloth whispered against her skin, but she craved a rougher touch. She remembered what it had felt like when Leo grabbed her by the arm that night at the book club.
Would she relish such a touch again?
Leo watched her for a while, but she never met his gaze. Eventually, he would grow tired of watching her. Or so she hoped.
Instead, he lifted her chin and forced her to look him in the eye.
“Why are you avoiding my gaze now? Do you consider me a beast as well?”
Leo stood with his hand cupping Margaret’s chin. The only thing separating them was her thin robe. While he had been with many women before, he had never felt the urge that he felt right now. He had felt anticipation before, amusement, even desire, but notneed.
He felt like hehadto take her. That hewouldtake her if not for the protection he had already told her he would give. That protection extended to him, too. He needed to protect her from himself.
But how easy would it be to yank that robe off her and touch her, break her?
Now, she stood before him contemplating whether she thought him beastly. He was a bit offended that she did not respond immediately.
“A beast?” she finally spoke, and he hung on every word. “Not a beast, but you can be a bit overbearing.”
She stepped back from his touch, trying to protect herself from him. Perhaps she could feel his intentions toward her. Maybe it offended her that he dared to come so close. That he dared to barge into her chambers and touch her while she was not even dressed.
But what was it she had said earlier? That she wanted one last adventure before she took her vows?
That was something he could definitely give her.
She blushed as she stepped back, the color rising to her chest, her cheeks, her hairline. It was a lovely shade of pink that made her glow with vitality.
