Page 63 of The Duke Says I Do
Portia wrinkled her nose. “It’s certainly nice.” She laid her hand flat on his cheek. “You’ve got hair here, too.”
“I should have shaved. I would have.”
If she’d waited. She owed him an explanation. But how to put it into words? She stared at his chest, as she thought how to phrase this. “You’re such a gentleman, Alaric.”
He gave a self-derisive grunt. “After today, I’m not sure that’s true.”
She smiled at his rueful tone. “No, you’re still a gentleman.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
He sounded confused and a little hurt, which was what she’d feared before launching this awkward confession. “Of course it is. I love that I trust you to protect me. I love that your word is sacrosanct. I love that you treat me with such respect.”
I love you.
She couldn’t say that. Not now. Perhaps never. A rift split her heart. A rift that would only widen over time.
“Why do I feel there’s a ‘but’ coming?”
Because there was. “I’ve been as jumpy as a flea all week.”
“It’s natural to be nervous.”
“It is. But I felt like I’d swallowed a volcano.”
His laugh was short and sharp. “That sounds frightfully unpleasant.”
“Not altogether. It was exciting, too. But when we arrived, I realized that you meant to ease me into your bed. Dinner. Conversation. Everything elegant and measured.”
“It seemed the civilized choice. I’ve never been a woman’s first lover. I didn’t want to frighten you.”
She sent Alaric a direct look. “I wasn’t afraid. I was desperate. This last week of seeing you in snatches left me feeling like I starved to death within reach of the world’s most lavish banquet.”
“Portia…” Heat flared in his eyes. This kiss held a promise of passion. “I felt like that, too.”
Reassured, she continued with more confidence. “I didn’t want you treating me like spun glass. I didn’t want you undressing me piece by piece. I didn’t want you waiting and waiting and waiting. I didn’t want to wait either, getting fidgety about what was coming.”
Humor turned his lips down. With his rumpled golden hair and wry amusement, he looked so charming, she wanted to melt. “Instead you shoved me into a haystack?”
After this evening, she’d imagined that she’d lost the ability to blush. It turned out that she was wrong. “Did you mind terribly?”
His smile deepened. “It was the most glorious thing that’s ever happened to me.” He paused. “With perhaps the exception of having you on the kitchen table. By now, it should be clear that I can’t resist you.”
She stretched up to kiss him, taking her time. “I can’t resist you either, which makes us a good match.” Oh, no, did that imply marriage? She rushed on. “I look forward to joining you in a bed.”
“So do I. I want to undress you at my leisure, if you can bear the delay. I can’t believe we’re still in our clothes.”
“Almost.” She raked her nails through the soft fur on his chest. His skin twitched beneath her fingers.
He caught her hand and brought it to his lips. “Let me be a gentleman now and allow you to wash and have something to eat.” A wicked light flared in his eyes, turned them richest emerald. “After all, you’ll need your strength.”
Anticipation made her shiver. “Oh?”
His smile turned wicked, too. “Later.”
***
“I’m so glad I found that haystack.” Over her raised wineglass, Portia cast Alaric a teasing glance. “I wouldn’t have been able to eat a thing otherwise. Which would be a pity, when Mrs. Johnson cooked us that delicious dinner.”
