Page 80 of In Need of a Duke
“But you did.”
“I know, love.” He pressed his lips at the nape of her neck in a soft kiss and felt her body shiver beneath his touch. His thumbs grazed over the graceful curve of her shoulders as he slid her dress down her arms and let the fabric pool at her feet in a soft whoosh.
“Turn around.”
But Charlotte remained stuck, her hand resting just above her breast and gazing at their reflection in her vanity mirror.
“Sometimes, since you’ve returned, I think of that night. Of what I could have done or said differently for you to change your mind.”
He placed his hand against her stomach, and she briefly closed her eyes and fell back against him.
“I don’t think anything would have changed my mind then. I was hurt and my pride won.”
“You? Proud?”
He bent down and kissed her neck, then nipped her earlobe with his teeth as she laughed. “Minx.” Her hand reached around and clasped his waist, drawing him toward her. If they hadn’t a place to be, the pretending could be over. But there was a reason he had purchased several yellow gowns.
“Now turn around.”
She did, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes on him. “Am I to know where I am going?”
“That depends. Do you wish it to be a surprise?”
She raised her arms instead of answering, allowing him to slip on the first yellow gown. It flowed down the full curves of her body.
“I don’t believe we need to try the others,” he said.
She looked down, then back up, concern in her eyes as she rubbed her palms over the front of her gown.
“It is a beautiful dress, but if you do not like it…”
“One, you look gorgeous. And two, I purchased these dresses so you might feel beautiful, not for you to look pleasing to me. I have…” he cleared his throat. “You are like lightning, Charlotte. I saw you across the ballroom that evening, and you struck, burned me to the ground. I am yours and have been yours since that day. That is the power you possess over me.”
He bent down, grasping her hand and placing a chaste kiss across her smooth knuckles. Ian rested his head against her stomach as she stood before him. His heart raced in his chest, not out of excitement but out of fear.
“I will buy you every damn gown in this city, then begin over on the continent, if I must. What do you want, Charlotte? Tell me and it’s yours.”
“For you to want me, Ian.” She tapped on his shoulder. “Look at me, please.”
He doubted very few dukes kneeled before their duchess, but Ian wasn’t in the mood to entertain the relationships across theton. He had allowed far too many opinions to seep into his mind as it was and rip away what he held most dear.
He looked up at her, lost himself in those bottomless blue eyes that reminded him of the churning water off the Amalfi Coast.
“I want only you,” he said, his voice rough.
She cupped his face in her hand. “It’s a beautiful dress. Thank you.”
“Very well.” He stood, then cupped his hands behind her bottom and picked her up, backing her against the vanity. “Now we can take it off and try the others.”
“What of dinner? What of my surprise?”
He buried his head to kiss her collarbone, his hand cupping her breasts. “They can wait.Please, Lottie.”
“You wicked man, they cannot, and you know full well.”
He hated it when she was correct, which was often.
“Then help a poor man out and make me remember.”
