Page 28 of The Wallflower and the Duke
“I can.” He stood on the soft, mucky bottom of the pond now, and like he always had, he scooped his hand under her legs to pick her up, so she didn’t need to touch the bottom of the pond. She never cared for the feeling. “And I’m going to remind you every damn day of my life if you’ll allow it.”
Marjorie jumped from the chair to the mattress, wearing her shift as candlelight flickered across the small glass house. She popped another grape into her mouth and crunched down before swinging her arms out wide,
“Do not test me,” she declared, peeking a glance down at Alfie, then continuing the villain’s speech.
He flashed her another grin as she squinted down at an old journal of hers—the scribblings of a girl with big dreams always tumbling around in her head.
“I can’t read this next part…”
Alfie sat reclined back against the headboard with his legs crossed, his shirt still off from swimming hours ago. And since then, they had shared a picnic here, and Marjorie was in the middle of a dramatic reading of an old short story if only she could concentrate.
She couldn’t.
Scientifically impossible, she determined. Struck and lovesick of the handsome man grinning up at her. She tossed her long hair back over her shoulder and cleared her throat before she continued. Alfie tugged at her ankle until she fell back onto the bed opposite him.
“Couldn’t take it anymore, I understand.” Marjorie wiggled her eyebrows, then tossed the journal to the floor.
“I haven’t been in here for years.” He traced soft, slow circles over her shin. “I’ve missed you, too.”
She nodded, swallowing hard. Something about this was suddenly no longer playful. The air buzzed with tension between them, the only thing filling up the silence now was her heartbeat, thrumming in her ears and the soft rain falling against the glass.
The smile slipped from his face, and when he glanced up at her again, she swore her future burned bright there in his eyes. More moments like this, stolen and quiet. Comfortable and full of an unspoken understanding.
His hand slid down over the top of her foot, and he moved his other hand to her heel. His fingers began working over her flesh, and she moaned, slipping down onto her elbows.
“Does that feel good?”
Words escaped her, so she nodded.
“Do you realize I could listen to you read for hours? But that soft moan of yours… I would crawl over broken glass for it to be the last sound I hear before I die.”
Marjorie collapsed back onto the mattress, closing her eyes to the pleasure of his touch. Firm, warm fingers.
“Make it again for me, hmm?”
His hands released her left foot and reached for her right. But instead of listening, she protested, forcing out a small grunt until his hands were back on her.
“Greedy, aren’t you, Jo?”
“Friends share, Alfie.” She pressed her bottom into the mattress, rolling her head to meet his heated stare.
“What I’m about to do to you isn’t what friends do.”
“No?” Anticipation raced up her spine.
He dropped her foot and crawled over her, covering her body with his. “I’m going to make you mine, and I don’t intend to share. Fair warning.”
“Now you sound like a duke.”
He bent his head and raked his teeth over her exposed shoulder. Another breathy moan escaped her.
“Comes with the territory. And based on your pulse at the bottom of your throat, I’m guessing you enjoy it when I tell you what’s going to happen.”
“Are you teasing me?” The words skipped out of her mouth as his tongue traced up the line of her throat.
“Never about you. We can stop whenever you’d like, sweet. But let me taste you again, let me?—”
She nodded before he could finish, raking her fingertips through his hair to draw him in for a kiss. Her lips searched his, desperate suddenly to feel more. She wanted everything with Alfie.
