Page 44 of Her Duke in Shining Armor
Without warning, Aaron cupped her face and kissed her. It was a light touch, merely a graze of his lips on her slightly parted ones but it did the trick. He made sure to keep the pressure light but when he pulled away her eyes were glazed over and her tongue darted out to wet her lips.
“T-that proves nothing.”
His head canted to the side, “You really are a stubborn one, aren’t you?”
Blue eyes lit with fire met his and Aaron smiled. Gently he lifted a hand to rest on her shoulder then moved it up to her neck. He felt her swallow as his hand cupped her cheek. “And now?”
“Nothing,” she said determinedly.
He buried his hand into her hair and massaged the back of her stiff neck. He rushed his lips over hers again, “Now?”
“N-nothing, I do not need affection,” she said even as her tone begged for it.
“Denial is an ugly thing, Eleanor,” Aaron censured softly. Coming closer, he pulled her unto his chest and let his other hand slip to the small of her back. “And now?”
“Stop it,” she said tightly. “I will not be seduced.”
“I am not seducing you, dear,” Aaron whispered. “With your brilliance, independence, and that core of iron,youare seducingme.”
This kiss was deeper but agonizingly soft and tender. Aaron, knowing that she was not versed in this kind of intimacy, made sure to not alarm her by an indecent rush. Softly, he coaxed her lips open and invited her to kiss him back. Releasing her lips, he pulled away, this time he saw the red flush across her face and smiled at her softly-fluttering eyelids.
“And now?”
Her eyes opened to gift him with deep pools of brimming blue, “Nothing.”
Knowing that he had already made his point, Aaron placed a knuckled hand under her chin, “Did you ever fancy me?”
“Did you ever fancy me?” she said back.
“Impudent woman,” Aaron’s eyes rolled fondly. “Will you answer me in earnest for once?”
She broke away and wrapped her arms around herself in a tale-telling way. “Not until I realized that the anger I had for you was covering up the fear I had that you would only see me like a tomboy. And if you continued seeing me as a tomboy that would make you still think of me as a child, wouldn’t it?”
“It would have,” Aaron replied with the honesty he knew she was looking for. “But then I realized that I did not know you and you did not know me.”
“If we needed to know each other, that would dictate that we start with friendship, no? But that kiss, that was leaping from the pan and into the fire,” Eleanor explained.
Aaron cocked a brow, “Are you complaining?”
She rolled her eyes, “And you say I am impudent.”
“Will you let me court you?” Aaron matter-of-factly asked.
“Will we be friends first?” Eleanor negotiated.
“I will consent to that, but my terms for our friendship are: you will not insist on having the last word every time; there will be no exchange of insults, subtle or not, during our discourse; you will not pull up some cryptic information from centuries past that will force me to run to the library which, by default will make you the winner of that discussion; we agree to disagree—”
Her mouth opened only to have Aaron hold up his hand, “Also, there will be a maximum of three sudden interruptions; we will not part with an issue unresolved between us; and lastly, the words ‘spoiled,’ ‘tomboy,’ and ‘pedantic misogynist,’ will ne’er cross our lips again. If these terms are met, then we can move on to the romantic aspect of our relationship.”
“Those are very cogent terms, my good sir, and well thought out on such sudden notice.” she smiled wickedly. “I reject them all.”
He lowered his brows and there was censure in his gaze while her lips twitched. She sighed, “Fine, I accept but with one concession: that I can use cryptic information when I know that you know it.”
“Agreed,” Aaron replied. “Then Lady Eleanor Stanley, may I, Aaron Barvolt, Duke of Oberton, court you?”
“Yes, but you must put that in writing, and state your case to my father too,” she smiled while holding out her hand to shake.
Aaron took it but spun it over and kissed the back. “Now, would you summon Miss Malcolm again and would you like some tea?”
