Page 83 of Falling Into Bed with a Duke
The gas lamps provided enough light for her to see his brow furrow. “What do you mean by that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. From a distance, I always thought you rather godlike. You’re handsome as the devil, have a smile that melts women’s hearts, can act as improperly as you like, and are forgiven by Society in a trice.”
His gaze on her intensified. “I’d like to act improperly with you.” He glanced back over his shoulder.
“He’s not there.”
He looked at her. “Lovingdon,” she clarified, knowing precisely who he was searching for. She’d never before been so in tune with someone else. It was a marvelous feeling to know what someone else was thinking. “I told him if he traipsed after us tonight, I’d bring him to his knees.”
“I’m disappointed he’s not there then. I should have liked to have seen you do that.”
Before she could think of anything to say, he took her hand and tugged her off the lit path through a break in the hedgerows and farther back, where there wasn’t any light at all. He spun her, and she was aware of her spine meeting the brick wall that enclosed Claybourne’s gardens. Warm hands were suddenly cradling her face, and she had half a heartbeat to wonder when he’d removed his gloves before his mouth unerringly blanketed hers, and his tongue swept through it to claim and conquer. She didn’t bother to subdue her sigh of pleasure as she scraped her fingers through his scalp, holding him near, her tongue parrying with his. She’d missed the taste of him, the feel of him. He was pressed against her, and she couldn’t miss the presence of the hard bulge against her belly. He wanted her, desired her, and she regretted that they weren’t at the Nightingale, so he could possess her completely.
“Damnation, but I want you,” he rasped, taking her earlobe between his teeth, sending shivers of delight coursing along her nerve endings.
Then let’s quit this place,she almost said. LadyV could have said that, and he’d have taken her away without a moment’s hesitation. But Minerva Dodger had a reputation to protect, a father and brother who would not see her ruined.
“You drive me to distraction,” he said as he trailed his mouth along her throat, lower, along the gentle swells of her breasts. “I want to taste, suckle, kiss every inch of you.”
She gasped a sharp intake of breath as he cradled her breast, his thumb toying with her taut nipple. Heat swirled, consumed. She knew where all these sensations could lead, and her body strained toward him, wanting to take the journey he offered. With her hand behind his head, she brought him in close, nuzzled her nose against the soft skin below his jaw, inhaled the fragrance of him, heated with his own desires, his need for her.
It was a heady feeling to be this wanted.
She became aware of his hand traveling along her leg, her skirts rising, his low groan as his fingers slipped through her curls to her dew-moistened core. He growled low. “You’re so ready for me. I would give my soul to possess you fully.”
Do it, do it, do it,her mind screamed, but the lady she was supposed to be kept her lips sealed tightly. What would he think of a woman who opened herself up to him completely in a garden where anyone could stumble across them?
She was certain they weren’t the only ones seeking out shadows for an illicit few moments, but she relished the fact that he was here with her now, that he was doing things he ought not to be doing, that even though she was fully clothed, he could make her body sing.
His hand cupped her intimately, his fingers stroked and teased, his mouth covered hers just as she began writhing against him, as sensations coursed through her, building to a crescendo—
She clutched him, holding on tightly as he ravished and plundered, as her body surrendered and shattered. With his mouth, he captured her scream, while his fingers gentled their movements, and his other arm snaked around her waist, holding her firmly against him, so her weakened knees didn’t carry her to the ground. She clung to his shoulders, clung to him, trembling with the almost violent release.
How she longed to feel the weight of him buried inside her.
His mouth left hers, and he pressed his hot, damp lips to her temple. “Spare me this interminable torment. Marry me, Minerva. We can have this every night, every afternoon, every morning,” he said, his voice rough, low.
Breathing rapidly, she leaned back slightly, trying to see him more clearly, but they were lost in the darkness. Still, she could feel his gaze homing in on her.
“I could speak to your father tomorrow evening,” he said. “If you’re agreeable.”
A bubble of laughter escaped before she could stop it. She pressed her fingers to her mouth as joy spiraled through her. “You keep talking of marriage, but I find it difficult to believe that you truly want me for an eternity.”
“I shall spend the remainder of my life demonstrating that I do.” He cupped her cheek. “You complete me.”
She wanted to believe him. He’d given her no reason not to.
“I’m not like the others,” he said quietly.
Pressing her face to his chest, she welcomed his arms coming around her, holding her near. No, he wasn’t like the others. He’d never been. The fault was with her. She who was so confident in all matters save this one. He might not say that he loved her, but surely he did. Otherwise, he would have walked away long ago.
“Yes,” she whispered nodding. Tilting her head back, she met his gaze. “Yes,” she said more loudly. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He slashed his mouth over hers. She felt the joy cascading through him, through her. He wanted her. She was lovable. She was going to have her own happily-ever-after.
Chapter 18
IT was strange, but when Minerva awoke that morning, everything felt so much brighter, as though every color in the world had become richer.
