Page 7 of An Ember for a Duke

The look in his eyes breezed into her soul. He would not put her in danger. How did she know that? If he had been the kind to take whatever he wanted, he wouldn’t have been waiting as patiently as he had been. He wouldn’t have been so kind and gentle with babies. He wouldn’t have a presence about him that made her feel enchantingly…comfortable. A presence in which she could be herself. Well, not that she would tell him she was a lady’s maid. But still, she could speak her mind. Surely, that meant that he was not emitting a ducal presence. All the more reason to accept a kiss from him.

“No reason you say? Alright, I concede your point. But,” he playfully tapped his chin again. “Let me show you something.”

Reaching out, he grabbed one hand, her small reticule in the other. Holding hands felt like the most natural thing in the world. For him to touch her. For his skin to be on hers. It seared her palm. Branded her inside. The initial ethereal connection that existed now turned heavy and tangible. Her whole body was signed up ready for a decision to be made.

She followed him as he tugged her toward a door. Behind which there would be a room. Into which he would pull her and…do what?

There was no fear, maybe there should have been, but there was only curiosity.

And then he stopped in the doorframe. He didn’t pull her into the room, for he didn’t even enter the room himself. He simply stood straddling the entrance. One foot in and one foot out.

“Here. Now we have a reason.”

“What are you talking about?”

He said nothing, but merely held an index finger close to his chest, pointing up. She followed his eyes as they glanced up.

Mistletoe.

A small smile had its hook in the corner of her mouth. He was cute. Clever. Compassionate. And she had no idea who he was. But more importantly, he did not know who she was.

She was anonymous. She could be an ember. She could damn well be Cinderella.

This was one night that she had to explore the upper echelons of society, for surely every guest in attendance was her superior. Why should she not allow the ember to be stoked?

As she brought her chin back down, she met his gaze. Behind the domino, his eyes glittered. Yes, she confirmed, they glittered at her. She looked closer. She had never seen a man’s eyes, let alone a person’s eyes, glitter. And they were glittering at her.

The scorching hand that had previously held her own, was now brushing a thumb along her jaw. A murmur induced her to open eyes that she didn’t realize she had shut. “This is a good enough reason, no?”

This was the moment to choose.Be the ember.“Yes,” she whispered.

No sooner were the words spoken than his warm lips left an indelible mark on the corner of her mouth. That smallest of moves triggered an inferno within her, but instead of melting, she shivered. Instantly, his hands were upon her arms warming her already blazing skin. His lips had pressed two, three, four more touches to her closed seam.

She had no idea how to respond to his kiss, though she desperately wanted to. So she waited, took a breath, and then she felt his body against hers. How forward he was. Or that’s what she thought until she realized she was the one who had leaned into him. His back was now against the doorframe, his legs spread. She was the one who had, unknowingly, coaxed them into that position. That position where she could feel his entirely solid body in its entirety against her entire entity.

How could a man have such a draw? How could her body have a mind apart from her brain? Her hands found their way to his chest and her head was tilted back. The man was licking at the seam of her lips and all she knew at that moment was that she wanted him to taste her, so she parted her lips.

And oh, when he drifted into her, how she wanted to taste him. This man with a soft chuckle and a soft heart. She knew nothing of him, but that didn’t matter. She had made her decision. Now she would lie in it. A sigh escaped her. How quickly thoughts could turn to more than a kiss. She had never experienced this before.

His hand was resting gently on the small of her back, and she could feel something hard pressing into her hip. It was so near to where she had a growing ache between her legs. The ache was calling out to the hardness. She felt it. She leaned into it to see what it was. The man groaned and mumbled between kisses, “Uhh, I would. Please. I can’t.”

His words made little sense, and pushing into his hardness made all the sense in the world. She leaned in again and this time slid up a bit. His groan deepened, but her skirts were in the way for what she wanted. Abandoning that sensation for the time being, she trailed her hand up to the nape of his neck. His skin was warm and had the slightest sheen on it. To feel his heavy breathing and scorching body drawing her in, she knew she would never be the same.

Footsteps sounded from down the hallway. The man turned quickly and gently pushed Adeline into the dark room to protect her. “Your Grace, you’re needed.”

From the shadows, Adeline watched in horror. The duke? The duke! Again. She should have known. Some part of her did know but would never admit it.

She watched the duke turn away from The Voice and adjust the hardness between his legs.

“I must know your name,” he whispered to her in the darkness.

The Voice was getting closer. “Your Grace?”

It was foolish to shake her head in the dark room, but that was Adeline’s first instinct. “I cannot. You must go.”

The Voice was too close now. Adeline stepped further into the darkness.

“There’s an emergency in the kitchen.”

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