Page 38 of A Duke for Hire

Seraphina sat up then, and under his touch he could already feel that rigidness once more spread through her body.

“Hugo, I still cannot marry you.”

Hugo smirked, then wiped his thumb along his bottom lip. He flicked his eyes up to hers as he drew the finger into his mouth, and pleasure surged through him as he watched her blush a deep red.

“You keep saying that,” he whispered, drawing her close with his other hand.

A smile itched at his lips as he hovered his mouth close to hers. He felt her breath quicken, sending soft huffs of warm air over his lips in an innocent yet teasing fashion.

“But I wonder if you truly mean it?”

Seraphina’s long lashes fluttered as her brow creased, looking as if she was trying to draw strength to pull away from him.

“I…I…”

“You…you,” he rasped, laying the softest of kisses upon her lips, making her whimper, “Will be mine.”

CHAPTER TEN

“Very good,” Martin Jarvis, Earl of Repington, mused, walking a circle around Seraphina.

Seraphina’s spine snapped so rigid that it became painful, but she forced her smile to stay in place. She glanced at her mother, who only bounced giddily on her feet as her daughter was perused.

“Yes, very good indeed,” the Earl stated, finishing his inspection. “How old is she again?”

I am right here,Seraphina thought angrily toward the older, graying man. Do you wish to check my teeth like a brood mare?

“Twenty-three, My Lord,” Mary answered cheerily.

The smile gracing Martin’s wrinkled face dropped a little.

“A bit old, is she not?”

“Any pray, My Lord, may I ask how old you are?” Seraphina asked, unable to keep her mouth shut any longer. To be examined like a farm animal for sale was one thing, but for someone who looked as old as he did to complain about her age was just a tad too much for her to stand.

“Seraphina!” Mary scolded, but Martin only chuckled.

“Plucky thing, isn’t she?” He asked Mary, then turned to Seraphina.

“I am fifty-five years young, my girl, and have many decades left in me, I have no doubt.”

“How lovely,” Seraphina replied with a tight smile.

“Pluck indeed,” Mary laughed nervously, rushing to the Earl’s side. “And aside from that, she has many other skills. Her piano playing is exemplary, her talent for water colors is blossoming, and she isveryobedient to her elders.”

“I do not care much for skills in art,” Martin muttered, “But the pluck and obedience are quite appealing.”

He turned his attention toward Seraphina and grinned, leaning closer to her.

“Are you obedient, girl?” He asked of her.

Seraphina felt her insides begin to quake as she stared into the man’s pale eyes. Hundreds of words and phrases, none of them polite, flashed through her mind and tried to make their way to her tongue. She worked her jaw, feeling so much tension there that she thought her back teeth were going to crack.

“Yes, Lord Repington,” she was able to force out.

Martin grunted, then roamed his eyes up and down her person.

“Obedient, pretty, and plucky,” he murmured.

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