Page 85 of A Virgin for the Duke of Depravity
Margaret rose on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips. Some situations did not need words, she found. A kiss could convey everything she wanted to say much faster.
“I do not know how you have done this, but you have completely undone me,” Leo murmured.
Margaret laughed, blushing.
“I dare say that won’t be the last time you come undone for me,” she teased.
He kissed her back enthusiastically, and the two of them left the library to meet the girls in the kitchen.
Yes,I could get used to this life.
EPILOGUE
ONE MONTH LATER
Leo stood in front of the mirror in his chambers, lacing up his pants. He took one more look at his reflection and made sure that his clothes were pristine after the time he and Margaret had just spent in bed.
“How do I look, dear wife?”
“I thought you looked better without your clothes on,” she teased. “But if you must wear them, I suppose you look quite handsome.”
“For a former novice, you are quite depraved. The things you do to me and the things you say are unthinkable, dear wife.” Leo turned to look at her, a smile pulling at his lips.
He could not recall any point in his life where he had smiled this much.
“On the contrary, I believe you think about them a great deal.”
He loved it when her laughter echoed off the stone walls of his chambers. It was like the sound of a clear bell ringing, like the clocks on the wall chiming the hour.
“I suppose you do not want to come with me to Olympus this afternoon?”
Leo had secretly hoped that she would accompany him. Tonight was the regular meeting of his book club.
While he did not want to join the others in the library, he would not mind having his wife in his study there. He could manage the club and have his own fun, all at the same time.
“I have promised the girls we would play this evening,” she said. “As long as they have obeyed Joan all day long.”
“Do you really believe that they are capable of being kind to their governess?”
“I believe they are capable of a great deal more than we give them credit for,” she replied. “I recall thattheyknew we were meant to be married to each other long before we did.”
Leo opened his mouth to respond, the memories of their afternoon in the library flooding back to him. But he was interrupted by the sudden rapping on the door. He held up one finger to his wife and opened the door.
“Your Grace, I fear the girls have gone missing again,” Joan said, out of breath from climbing the stairs and likely racing around the estate to look for his wayward nieces.
“And you believe that I know where they are hidden?” Leo quirked an eyebrow at her.
Surely, he was not the first person whom Joan would go to if she wanted to find his nieces.
“Well, I looked for Her Grace first,” she said haltingly. “But I could not find her either. I thought you may know her whereabouts, Your Grace.”
“I will look for the girls,” Margaret called from Leo’s bed. When she heard Joan’s request, she had already thrown off the covers and put on her shift. “Just give me a moment to get ready.”
“Of course, Your Grace,” Joan said, bowing her head.
The old governess turned and went back down the stairs slowly, bracing her back as she did.
“You do not worry about scandalizing the servants?” Leo asked as Margaret pulled on her gown. “It is the middle of the day, and you are here in my bed, undressed.”
