Page 71 of In Need of a Duke
“Oh,” she laughed. “Now I know you are still drunk, surely. You haven’t had a kind thing to say?—”
“I don’t wish to talk about what happened. It won’t do us any good now. So, this morning…” He reached his hand up and dragged it along her thigh, pushing her chemise away in the process.
Maybe she was teasing him, but she wiggled her hips.
“Easy now.”
“You were saying?” she challenged.
His hand climbed higher, over her hips and full stomach, farther still as she leaned forward, urging him on, and cupped her breast in his hand. He stroked her nipple beneath the fabric.
“I wish to start fresh. I am here in your bed. What will you do to me now?”
“I have plenty to do today, and I hadn’t planned on spending the morning in bed with you. I hadn’t planned on you last evening either.”
“What a happy surprise for you.”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “I think it best you kiss me now before you say anything else.”
“Still drunk, remember?”
Charlotte bent down and cupped his face in her hands. “For now, I wish to kiss you until I forget all the reasons why I shouldn’t.”
“I can do that, Honeybee.”
She pressed her lips against his, and if he hadn’t been dreaming, the rest of the morning he surely was.
Charlotte satbeside him in the carriage, her hand over his on the bench seat between them as she gazed out the window.
“I am so proud of Lily. She is doing a fantastic job managing the school. I assist when I’m in Town if needed, but she has it well in hand. I don’t believe I’ve seen her happier.”
The gentle sway of the carriage was enough to make Ian swear off drinking again for the foreseeable future. Still, he turned his attention to his wife and smiled.
“Are you proud of it? Of the work you’ve done?”
When she turned back, she first looked at their overlapping hands before meeting his stare. “I think every girl deserves the chance to better herself outside of preparing herself to be a wife and mother. Women are much more than the roles we play in life. And Lily agrees. It was her idea.”
“I am looking forward to seeing it.”
“Yes, but are you looking forward to seeing Lily?”
“I will be amenable as long as she doesn’t also possess a giant beast that will assault me when I’m covered in bee stings.”
She laughed, shrugging. “I did tell you about the bees.”
“You know well enough that I have a stubborn streak.”
“Is that so? This is news to me.”
He chuckled, biting his lower lip. He wished to draw her up in his arms and kiss her until touring the school was the furthest thing onher mind. But not now. They had spent nearly another hour in bed this morning kissing and teasing one another, and though he was stubborn, he would remain patient.
Slowly, Charlotte was returning to him, allowing herself to be the woman he first fell in love with.
He was sure of it.
The carriage rolled to a stop in front of one of Ian’s properties, one long forgotten and nearly neglected. His father had had a fondness for gathering real estate in his portfolio, and upon his death, Ian had inherited everything. Stonehurst among many other houses around England and numerous buildings around London.
Moore Hall was a squat brick building with a black lacquered door, sitting proudly in a busy square. Two potted plants in giant urns sat on either side. It had always looked plain, but Charlotte had certainly improved upon its appearance.
