Page 86 of A Virgin for the Duke of Depravity
“We are married, husband,” she said, stepping up to kiss him. “I do not care what the servants think we are doing. I do not even care what your friends at Olympus think.”
“A cheeky woman,” Leo laughed. “Let’s get you dressed. I will help you locate the girls before I leave for Olympus.”
“Do you truly believe that I need your help to locate Annie and Kitty?” Margaret raised an eyebrow. “I seem to remember that you initially brought me here because you were hopeless at finding them.”
“I just needed my own mischief-maker to help me find the best spots.” He shrugged and pressed a kiss to her cheek as he tied the laces on her gown. She let out the breath she was holding while he tightened them.
The two of them left his chambers. At the bottom of the stairs, Margaret gestured for Leo to choose which direction they would look in. She trailed behind him, ever patient as he found one hiding place after another empty of the girls’ laughter.
“It is lovely outside,” she remarked as they passed by the door off the kitchen that led to the orangery. “It is a shame that we must spend it cooped up in this dusty mansion.”
Was she giving him a hint?
Leo doubled back to the door and stepped out into the sunlight. He took Margaret’s hand, and they walked through the rows of the orange trees.
“Do you remember the first time I saw these trees?” Margaret reached out and plucked a fruit from a low-hanging branch before offering it to him.
“I remember the little nun who came to me, asking if staying with me meant she would be invited to my book club,” he drawled. “And I must remind you that I will be late to the club if we cannot find the girls.”
He peeled the orange and handed it back to her.
Margaret stopped walking and pulled off a section of the orange. She bit into it, the juice beading on her lips before she licked it off. Silently, she handed the fruit back to him, offering him a bite.
Instead of taking the fruit from her hand, he leaned in and kissed her, tasting the fresh orange juice on her lips.
“I prefer to taste it this way,” he said, pulling back.
At that, he heard a small giggle just a little distance from them. Margaret smiled at him and ate another section of the orange. Leo tried to figure out which direction the laughter had come from, turning right and left.
“Perhaps another kiss would make it clearer,” she suggested.
Leo stepped close enough to feel her breath on his lips. Just before he leaned in and touched her, he heard another giggle.They were to his left, he was sure of it. He stalked between the trees and looked up and down the rows.
Margaret followed after him at a leisurely pace. She did not look around for Annie and Kitty, which frustrated him.
How does she always know where the girls are hiding?
“I have to leave soon,” Leo announced, his voice small in the open space. “Girls, this is no longer fun.”
“Are you giving up on finding them so soon? When you are so close to finding them?” Margaret turned to her right and kept walking down the row.
She stopped and waited for him to catch up.
“Maybe this will give you a better vantage point to find them,” she offered.
She looked to the right and left, but a mischievous smile tugged at the corners of her lips. He wanted to kiss her again.
“I give up!” Leo called out.
“You were so close this time,” Margaret said, looking up at the tree they were standing beneath.
She shook the bottom branch until the leaves began to sway, revealing the girls hiding in the upper branches.
“How many times have I asked you not to climb the trees?” Leo huffed, exasperated.
He could scarcely hide his frustration that the girls had been in his care for this long and he still could not get them to obey him.
But he could not forget the fact that theydidobey Margaret.
