Page 56 of The Wrong Duke

“The worst of luck,” she agreed. “Somehow, I suppose we’ll have to make do.”

They laughed together, softly, careful not to make too much noise. And then, unable to control himself, Evan rolled Miss Baker onto his stomach so that she was looking right at him, her face an inch from his. He kissed her then, long, deep, passionate kisses which she returned in kind. As she had been doing all night.

He didn’t want her to leave. If he had his way, they might never leave this room again. Lock the doors. Bar the windows. Stay here until the world ended, and they were the last two left in it. A dream that felt close enough to reality that he almost suggested it, certain she would agree in an instant.

How had this happened? Evan didn’t care. He didn’t need to. Whenever his mind tried to reckon with the previous evening, all that had led to this, how he had gotten so lucky... he simply pushed those thoughts aside and went back to enjoying the present. Luck had brought him here. That was all it was. Luck that he’d been in that garden when he was. It was lucky that David was the one Lord Lindstone had chosen for his daughter to pursue. Lucky that Evan had chosen to forgo romance and infatuation and love until Miss Baker had come along.

One day, he would sit back and reason with all that had happened, but for now, all he wanted to do was bask in the moment and relish in the feel of Miss Baker’s skin on his, the smell of her, the taste of her on his lips. For once, he chose not to care about anything other than what made him happy.

“But really,” Miss Baker sighed and rolled off him, this time not lying back, “I do need to go.”

Evan groaned and sat himself up. “Must you?”

She looked to the drawn curtains where the morning’s light was just now starting to peek through the shades. Not yet sunrise, that would be upon them any minute. “My father...” she said, looking away.

Evan might have liked to live in the moment, to forget everything else, to pretend that nothing else mattered but what was happening right here and now. but as he’d just been reminded, that simply wasn’t possible. One day, maybe. He hoped. But until then... there was one more thing he had to do.

“You’re not going to marry Lord Malnor.” He took her hand.

“But if I don’t...”

“Nor will I allowthatto happen,” he said. No need to verbalize what ‘that’ was. It was too horrid a thought to say out loud.

“But —”

“I promise. Listen.” He took both her hands and held them to his chest. He looked her in the eyes, forcing her to do the same. He made her see that this was no joke, that he’d never been more serious about anything in his life. “I promise you.”

“But how?” she said in despair, trying to pull her hands free, but he would not allow it.

“Do you trust me?” Evan asked.

“You asked me that already,” she responded with a coy smile. He raised an eyebrow at her. “Of course, I trust you.”

“That’s it then.” He kissed her hands and looked at her again. “I promise that everything will be all right, and all I ask of you is that you trust me.” He raised an eyebrow. “Everything will be all right.”

Blessedly, she smiled, and he knew right then that she did. “I trust you,” she said. “With all my heart.”

“That’s it then, you won’t be marrying Lord Malnor.”

“But —” She caught her tongue as he raised his eyebrow at her. She grinned and then pulled a face, and he leaned in and kissed her again. And then continued to kiss her, falling back in the bed, bodies wrapped and entwined and melding into one.

“No.” Somehow, she pulled herself free.

This time, Evan didn’t fight her. A final kiss and he watched her hurriedly put her clothes back on — he had thought he tore the dress the previous night, but luckily, it was salvageable. Once the dress was on, Miss Baker swept to the door, spared him a final glance to which he smiled in a way that he might have thought impossible to do just last night, and she stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

Evan fell back in bed, and this time he allowed those thoughts he’d been keeping at bay all morning to rush him. He told Miss Baker that he was going to fix things, and he meant to do it. She would not marry David. She would not be sold off at auction like a piece of cattle. She would be free to fall in love with and marry who she pleased... not that Evan had to guess who that might be.

As to how he was going to do this, he had no idea. Yet. No idea yet. But he would. He had asked Miss Baker to trust him, she had given that trust, and he would not fail her. He was, he knew, in love for the first time, and in that, he would find a way. Of this, he was certain.

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

Amelia knew that she should have gone straight to her room. Her hair was a mess. Her make-up was... she didn’t even want to think! And her dress was torn down the side, scrunched and creased and likely beyond repair and hanging off her in a way that she might have trouble explaining to another if they were to find her looking the way she did.

But she also didn’t care! Her mood was such that she wanted to dance. Wanted to sing. That she felt as if she was floating. All sense of worry or concern was irrelevant, and she almost welcomed walking past somebody in the halls, so they might see the smile on her face and wonder to themselves why she was so happy and how they might possibly achieve such levels of emotional radiance.

It was still very early in the morning, so much so that she guessed most of the guests would still be in their beds, sleeping off hangovers from the previous night — her father, included. And while she knew going to her room and changing was the smart call, she simply had to share with someone what had happened. She had to get it all out! She’d slept with the Duke. They’d confessed their love for one another. And if she was to believe the Duke, which she did with all her heart, he was going to save her.

Her father was expecting to see her in the library shortly, likely an hour or so, so that they might debrief what had happened. She would lie to him, of course, putting her faith in the Duke to do as he had promised. And not for a moment did she question this decision. In a way, she almost looked forward to lying to her father, relishing the look on his face when he finally learned the truth.

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