Page 66 of The Duchess' Replacement

He brought his eyes up to meet hers.

“Please be careful next time. You… she means the world to me. I wouldn’t want to see anything bad happen to her. Or you.”

Goosebumps erupted across Sarah’s skin causing his sly smile to grow wide.

With his free hand, Charles cradled Sarah’s head and tipped it back, allowing him to claim her mouth.

It was a gentle kiss, but it made her weak in the knees all the same. He took his hand from hers and wrapped it around her waist, bringing her body flush against his.

The heat from him covered her and she whimpered.

Charles pulled away, looking at her. His eyes searched her face. “You really are something else entirely.”

Sarah’s brows furrowed. “Is that the sweet talk I’ve heard so many of my friends talk about?”

Charles laughed. He actually laughed and it calmed her nerves.

“I’m not much of a sweet talker, I’m more direct than all of that.”

Sarah blushed at his inference.

Charles’s smile turned wicked before it softened. “I just mean, I was not expecting you.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Sarah licked her lips.

Charles’s eyes had followed her tongue as it swiped across her lips. He leaned in to capture it. Sarah sighed into his mouth as his tongue caressed hers.

He finished the kiss with a small, chaste kiss on the side of her mouth. “I have yet to determine that.”

Sarah smiled. “You know, while you are ruminating over if my presence is a blessing or a curse there is another pressing matter I feel you should address.”

“Oh, is there?” He said as his mouth came down and kissed her favorite spot on her neck.

She shivered in delight within his arms.

“Mmhmm.” Her eyes fluttered shut as her body melted in his arms.

“And what is this pressing matter that needs my immediate attention?” He asked between his hot open-mouthed kisses along her neck.

“My punishment.”

Charles’s kisses stopped. He straightened as he looked at her. “Your punishment?”

Sarah looked at him from underneath her lashes. “Yes, sir. I broke a rule, therefore I need to be punished. I feel the lesson would be better learned if I had something to think about.”

Charles’s eyes flashed before he scooped her up.

“You’re absolutely right. And not only did you put yourself in danger but my sister as well. For that, your punishment will be one that you will be thinking about for days to come.”

A thrill of excitement raced down Sarah’s spine and straight to her center where her pleasure was already starting to build.

“Are you ready for your punishment, darling?” He purred.

Sarah couldn’t speak, she could only shake her head quickly.

Charles chuckled. “Oh, I don’t think you are,” he said as he tossed her onto the bed to the squeals of her laughter.

CHAPTER 18

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