Page 14 of A Virgin for the Ruthless Duke

“There is no need to meet her. There is nothing between us,” Richard argued, not knowing why this conversation was even happening.

“I surely hope there is,” the Dowager Duchess said. “I need you to give me grandchildren before I die.”

“You’re not dying yet,” Eli said with a smile. “You’re much too stubborn.”

The Dowager Duchess frowned playfully but took no offense.

Since her relationship with her son was strained, she had developed a soft spot for Eli. The ease with which they communicated had angered Richard at first, but since it freed him from some of her unwanted attention, he didn’t mind it so much.

“Thank you, Eli.” She smiled. “But I do need to be healthy enough to care for them.”

Richard rose from his seat, opting for solitude to escape the conversation he was currently having. If he sat still, no doubt the truth of Selina’s identity would come to light, and he didn’t want his mother to focus her attention on her.

Selina would no doubt be incensed that he would call attention to the friendship no one was supposed to know they had… if he could call what they had a friendship.

“I will remove myself from this conversation now,” he said to the two of them. “Enjoy your tea.”

“Why are you…?”

He was off before they could protest.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Selina conversing brightly with her sister. She looked so animated that he couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face.

He had heard her laugh once and been stunned by the sound and how beautiful she looked when she was not laboring under the weight of trying to find a husband.

It wasn’t hard to imagine how beautiful she would be with her hair down and in less restricting garments. His body tensed as he realized the direction his thoughts were taking.

There was nothing innocent about the sensations he had found himself feeling around Selina since they had bumped into each other the night before.

He had only ever observed her from a distance. Previously, he hadn’t given too much thought to her, as she was of no importance to him, but the accursed party had set her more often than normal in his sights and arms.

He had never been attracted to innocents, preferring bolder women like Lottie, but the fact that Selina seemed disturbed byhis closeness rather than using it to her advantage stirred his blood in more ways than he liked.

He had been happy that Lottie was bold with her flirtation, for it meant that he would not have an awkward wedding night. He had even found her attractive, but he had never felt an inkling of the desire he felt for Selina.

He would have kissed her if there hadn’t been other people present, and the fact that it had been painfully hard to pull away from her had annoyed him endlessly.

She had caught him unaware earlier when she had stepped up to him and looked him in the eye. So unlike the shy girl who had struggled to maintain eye contact with him. And that was just with a little influence from him.

He wondered if she would become a vixen if he were to seduce her and teach her all the forms of pleasure he’d learned to give. She looked to be the sort that would challenge him in every way possible, and his mind teased him with images of her writhing beneath him. He could almost hear her pleading cries as he pinned her down, taking his pleasure from her as hard as she desired him.

Feeling the surge of arousal in him, he groaned, promptly pushing the thoughts out of his mind. He should not be thinking about Selina in such a way.

She hadn’t given any inkling that she was interested in him in that manner, even though he could see what his proximity did toher. But he understood that she had never been that close to any man before him.

She was a nobleman’s daughter first and foremost, and worse still, an innocent. If he lost control with her, he would find himself trapped in a scandal that would end with him married to her, and he didn’t think that was the kind of match she wanted or her brother would approve of.

Considering her brother, their friendship, which was founded on their shared ideals, would be strained.

There were more than enough reasons why attempting to corrupt her in the slightest would be a terrible miscalculation on his part.

Perhaps he was having such feelings because she possessed the qualities he desired most in a woman. That had to be the only sensible explanation because his hands hadn’t itched to undress a woman to see if she flushed everywhere just as beautifully.

Her smooth, creamy skin, spotted with a light dusting of freckles across her nose and collarbone, teased him every time she wore a low-cut dress, and he was taunted by her long legs, which cut an elegant line as she walked. He knew they would look beautiful wrapped around him.

Then, there were her lovely green eyes, which changed hue with every emotion she felt. He wanted to see what those eyes looked like when she found her pleasure.

The image that flashed through his mind had him hurrying to his chambers to hide the evidence of the strong desire he felt for her.

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