Page 39 of A Virgin for the Duke of Depravity
Margaret felt a thrill run through her at being claimed by a man like Leo. She wanted him to touch her again, to make her feel the way he did earlier.
She wanted him to make her feelsafe, even as he was painting himself as the antithesis of safety. He had promised not to let anything hurt her, but did that include himself?
“Or else what?” she managed to whisper.
“Or else I’ll make you forget about everything else.”
His lips were on hers, his voice a mere whisper. It was not exactly a kiss. It was a tender moment, one that Margaret had not imagined when he snapped at his nieces.
How could he be so gentle with her with all that anger inside him?
He dropped his hand from her cheek and turned around to head back to his chambers.
“Goodnight, Margaret,” he called over his shoulder.
She stared after him, her body craving his touch. He had been so close to her, his warmth seeping into her. How could he simplywalk away when she felt like she would melt for the chance to touch him again?
When he was out of sight, she hiked up her skirts and went to her rooms. As she slipped out of her gown and into the loose nightgown she had packed, she climbed beneath the covers and tried to close her eyes.
What have I done?
This was not what she had pictured when she left the convent to visit Theresa in London. She would have to take her vows, having known a man’s touch and knowing what she would be missing out on for the rest of her life.
Margaret replayed the evening in her mind, finishing with the way he whispered against her lips. She would not be scared of him, no matter what he tried to tell her. Shecouldnot be scared of him, not with the way he lit her up from the inside out.
Surely, he could not be as beastly as he made himself out to be.
CHAPTER 11
Leo submerged himself in the water, his eyes closed as he tried to concentrate. Margaret had a way about her that made him feel the kind of things he thought would be gone forever. He was the one who could orchestrate a… book club, but it was not for him to partake in it.
He thought about the look on her face as she claimed not to be frightened of him. The way her eyes had darkened at the implication that he was a beast, even though they both knew it to be true.
But mostly, he thought of the way she leaned into him when he whispered against her lips. She might have been about to take her vows, but he could not put his finger on why.
What was it that had sent her to the convent?
Not that it should matter to him. She was almost a nun, and he was one of the ton’s Beasts. He might have been the duke whocould have any woman he desired, but he had decided he would not take a wife.
He would not subject any woman to that fate.
His cock had other ideas, judging from the way it responded to the memory of kissing her in his carriage. A groan escaped his lips as he thought about the slickness that had told him how badly she craved his touch. What he wouldn’t do to do that to her again—and then some.
Leo shook his head, trying to knock the thought loose. Thinking of her that way was useless because she would take her vows in a matter of days. She was nothis, even as much as he was pretending that she was.
Still, she said some things that had stuck with him.
Maybe she could not see a future with him, but she did get on with the girls. Without knowing where or how she grew up, it was obvious that she understood Annie and Kitty innately.
How did she know that he did not speak to them freely?
How did she know that they craved his attention?
Leo sighed and heaved himself out of the bath, reaching for the towel beside the tub. The water was already cool, and there were other things that he needed to do to assuage his guilt over snapping at the girls.
Quickly, he dressed in his usual dark clothes. If he did not do this right now, he might not have the nerve to do it tomorrow or the next day. With Margaret here at Devishire Mansion to help him talk to Annie and Kitty, he could try to turn over a new leaf.
He ran a hand through his damp hair and glanced at his reflection in the mirror on the table. A scar peeked out from under his sleeve, and he tugged the fabric back down.
