Page 106 of The Texan Duke
Somewhere, perhaps down deep, so far deep that it was near her toes, she should feel shame. She was, after all, engaging in the most horrendous act. Didn’t all mothers warn their daughters about the dangers of giving themselves too easily?
If so, Connor needed to come with a warning label: Here is a Texas man of strong emotions and thoughts. He will overwhelm you with one look and cause you to throw away all the rules you learned about proper behavior without a thought. Be near him at your own peril.
Yes, definitely, Connor should come with his own warning.
That’s not to say that she would have been more cautious. She had a feeling that she would’ve been foolish around him no matter the circumstances.
She’d always considered herself a strong person, someone who was capable, for example, of standing up to the Duchess of Lothian. Granted, she didn’t often have the opportunity to combat the duchess directly, but there were dozens and dozens of occasions when she had nodded in agreement at what Rhona had said, turned to leave, and decided to follow her own course.
Her strengths around the duchess, however, were not replicated around the new Duke of Lothian. She had—as had been amply demonstrated—absolutely no resolve around Connor. All he had to do was smile ever so slightly or even crook his little finger, and she was his to do with whatever he desired.
She turned her head slightly when he propped himself up on his elbow and leaned over her. See? All he had to do was look at her in that way, and she would’ve done anything he wanted.
“I’ve always thought you beautiful,” he said, the words wedging their way into her heart. “But never more so than now.”
She was filled with such lassitude that her hand seemed to weigh more than it should when she raised it and placed it on his shoulder. His chest was so magnificent, but so were his arms. Every part of him was muscled and tanned.
“Do you strip naked to work in Texas?” she asked.
“Just my shirt,” he said. His right hand reached out and cupped her breast.
No, they couldn’t start this again. She had a great many duties to perform. She would leave his hand where it was for the moment, but only a moment.
“You’re not tanned anywhere,” he said, smiling.
Since she was completely naked, he could certainly tell.
“A lady is supposed to avoid the sunlight,” she said.
“Is that the proper thing to do?”
He tilted his head just so, as if he were considering her words.
“Indeed it is,” she said.
“Your face isn’t all that pale. I’ve seen you go out without a hat.”
“One of my many flaws and failings,” she said. “I’d rather not wear one. Perhaps, if I ever visit your Texas, I will become as tanned as you.”
“Now that’s a thought. We have a great many hills in the southern part of the ranch. There is this one that has a flat top on it. It would be the perfect spot to do what we’re doing now.”
His thumb was strumming across the top of her nipple. She decided that it would be wiser to remove his hand. Otherwise, she would never be about her duties.
He seemed to know the battle she was waging with herself, because when she removed his hand he just returned it to her breast.
“I really have to get up now,” she said, sitting up. Where had her modesty gone? It was hiding somewhere, and in its place a curious sort of pride, especially when Connor was looking at her in that way.
She wanted to freeze the moment and keep it exactly as it was, the better to recall it years from now after he had returned to Texas and she had gone on to live somewhere else.
“What do you have to do that is so important?” he asked, his hand stroking down her spine. He really did have to stop doing that.
“I’ve decided to offer the position of companion to one of the maids. That way, I’ll have someone living in my house with me. It won’t be so lonely. Of course, I have every intention of getting one of Daniel’s puppies.”
Suddenly, he stood, reaching down with his hand to help her stand.
For a moment, she stayed where she was, her gaze fixed on him, tall, commanding, and naked. What woman wouldn’t look her fill?
“I suspect I’m not the only person to tell you that you have to be the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.”
