Page 74 of Her Cursed Duke
Prudence ran outside, intending to take a horse from the stables and ride to Serpenhood Castle.What she didn’t expect was to find Aiden waiting for her outside the house.
“Aiden!” she gasped in delight, running into his arms.
“Prudence. Good afternoon,” he mumbled against her cheek, then pressed a kiss to it. “Where were you running off to, all excited?”
“To see you. I can’t believe you bought me that set of paints,” she told him softly.
“Of course, I bought it for you. Even though I wasn’t aware of it then, I loved you and wanted to do anything to make you happy. I saw how you looked at the paints and thought they’d make a good gift. But for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to send them earlier. I kept saying that I would do it later, and then I said that it would be my final gift to you when we parted ways. Thankfully, we did not. And I did consider giving you the set as a wedding gift, but I missed you incredibly, and well… here I am. I had a feeling you’d want to see me afterward, so I decided to wait out here.”
She blushed, feeling immensely blessed to have met a wonderful man like him.“You’re ridiculous.”
“But you love me,” he reminded her, caressing her face with his fingertips.
“I do,” she breathed, standing on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “I love you so much. And I can’t wait to marry you.”
“That makes the two of us.” He grinned. “Would you like to take a walk with me? It’s so nice out today. We could stroll along the lake, and maybe afterward, I could take you back to my castle so you could see Snowflake.”
She nodded happily, clinging to his arm. “That sounds wonderful. Let’s do that.”
The weather was truly pleasant enough for a walk, and during their stroll by the lake, they talked about anything and everything that came to mind—about their past, the present, and the future that awaited them. Prudence expressed her excitement about their upcoming wedding, and Aiden shared her sentiment.
“I can’t wait to be married to you as well. I can’t wait to have you with me all the time for our lives to intertwine seamlessly. I can’t wait for my world to revolve around you,” he told her, playing with her fingers as they sat under a tree by the lake.
“I can’t wait to love you for the rest of our days. I can’t wait to help you love yourself, as well. I look forward to how much we’ll grow together, Aiden.”
After they’d had their fill of the view, they returned to Fitzroy House so that Aiden could retrieve his horse and take them both back to his castle.
They had to sneak past the servants preparing for the pre-wedding feast—what the Dowager Marchioness had assured them would be the last bout of festivities before they got married—up to his room, where Snowflake greeted them with excited, little yaps.
“Oh, sweetheart,” Prudence gushed, dropping to her knees to hug the dog. “You’ve grown so much in so little time! At least I know Aiden is feeding you well.”
“Did you ever doubt that I was?” Aiden sputtered, sitting down next to her.
“No. But I wouldn’t put it past you to be petty toward the poor baby boy. I’m glad you’ve been taking good care of him,” she said, all the while making kissy faces at the dog.
Snowflake was clearly enjoying the attention, lying on her thighs and wagging his tail when she scratched his belly.
Feeling a little irritated, Aiden picked up the dog’s favorite chew toy and dangled it over his head, grinning when he was instantly rewarded with the pup’s attention.
“Do you want it?” Aiden questioned, luring him to the bedroom door.
Snowflake followed excitedly, yapping happily when Aiden opened the door and flung the toy down the hall with a “Go get it!”
Once the dog was out of the room, Aiden closed the door and locked it, walking back to where his wife-to-be was still on the floor, and holding a hand out to her.
“What was that for?” Prudence asked with a pout as she let him pull her to her feet.
In response, he ducked his head and kissed her, loving how she easily melted in his arms, letting him direct the kiss however he wished.
“I wanted to be alone with you. Is that so wrong?” he murmured between kisses, slowly leading her to his bed.
“Absolutely not. Good thinking,” she breathed, putting her hand on his neck and leaning closer to him, moaning when this tongue slipped into her mouth.
When the back of her knees hit the edge of the bed, she expected to fall onto it, but Aiden lowered her carefully onto it.
“Lovely,” he whispered, pressing open-mouthed kisses to her neck. “You’re really everything I could have ever dreamed of. I want you.”
She clutched at his shirt. “You can have me. I’m yours already.”
