Page 78 of A Deal with the Broken Duke
“You have to,” she breathed.
“I don’t think you want me to. But I’m no Lord Stickland, Juliet. If you tell me to let go of you and walk away right now, that’s what I’ll do.”
She couldn’t catch her breath.
“Is that what you want me to do?” Harry asked.
“I—”
“Because I want to know the truth,” he added. “It sounds as if I’ve made mistakes with you, assuming that you were comfortable when you weren’t. I don’t want to make those mistakes again. I want the truth.”
And still, Juliet couldn’t speak.
He seemed to recognize her difficulty. “You don’t need to say anything,” he said. “If you want me to go, nod your head.”
She didn’t move.
“And if you want me to stay?”
Juliet nodded.
A part of her couldn’t believe she had done it. But what was to be lost anymore? It was the truth. She felt things for him that she never had for anyone else, and she wanted him to know it.
His eyes blazed. His hand released her wrist, and for a moment, she thought she had lost him.
Then his other hand came up to cup her cheek.
She knew what was about to happen, and she knew that it was going to change her life forever. But even then, she didn’t want it to stop. It was too good.
Harry leaned in and kissed her, and Juliet felt as if her heart was exploding with pure joy.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
Harry felt as if he had finally allowed himself to drop a weight he had been carrying around for the past several weeks.
He had been longing for this, he realized, longing not just to kiss her, but also to be fully honest about his feelings. He had hated keeping them quiet. She knew now. She couldn’t fail to understand. And he could tell by the way she was returning his kiss that he was right. She knew.
There was a thrill of nervous energy running through him as he kissed her because he knew the only thing protecting them from being caught was the heavy curtain between them and the rest of the ton. Anyone could pull that curtain back and walk in on them at any time.
They should definitely stop, but knowing what a risk they were taking made this feel even more exciting.
If Juliet had given the slightest inkling that she’d wanted to end this, of course he would have respected her wishes. But she was just as absorbed in it as he was. Again and again, Harry had to remind himself not to let his fingers wander up into her hair, which he wanted very badly to touch. He couldn’t allow her to walk away from here looking disheveled.
And then—little though he wanted it to—his mind caught up with him.
He couldn’t be doing this at all. It was deeply, horribly wrong. He was allowing himself to forget about the curse, and he could never, ever let himself forget about that.
He pulled away, holding her at a distance with both hands, and looked into her eyes.
Her expression was full of sadness. “I know what you’re going to say,” she mumbled.
“You know? And you let me kiss you anyway?”
“I wanted you to kiss me,” she said. “I’ve been wanting it for a long time, Harry. Knowing what I know now doesn’t change that fact.”
“I would have thought you’d stop me.”
“Are you worried that something’s going to happen to me now?” she asked. “Because of the curse?”
