Page 73 of Courting Scandal With The Duke
‘Oh, I desire you also, Your Dukeness. And yet here we are shilly-shallying around having conversation.’
This time a little flippancy was needed. She’d learned how to do that early in her life. To guard her heart from pain.
‘Your Dukeness?’ He laughed, a low rumble in his chest against her ear. ‘What am I to do with such a saucy wench?’
She tilted her head and smiled up at him. ‘Your wish is my pleasure.’
He hissed out a breath. ‘Do you have any idea what those words do to me?’
She smiled innocently. ‘Naturally, I do.’
He groaned. ‘Then my wish is to see your hair down around your naked shoulders—as a start.’
She pulled the single pin strategically placed to hold the coiled locks in a bun at her nape.
Tenderly, he ran his fingers through her hair and brought it forward over her shoulders.
He nodded. ‘Lovelier than I had imagined.’ He lifted a brow. ‘But that is only the first part of my wish. Next…’
As if some mischievous deity peeped in through the window and approved of the unfolding scene, a beam of sunlight pierced the window and fell on Barbara’s face.
Xavier caught his breath at the gleam of gold on her skin. Like fairy dust. For a moment he was dumbstruck.
Inwardly, he shook his head at the fanciful notion.He forced himself to speak, yet words did not seem to express the feelings inside him.
Perhaps it was just as well.
‘I love how your hair waves at the ends.’
‘It is a terrible bother,’ she said, picking up a strand from her shoulder and looking at it with a frown. ‘I have sometimes thought about cutting it.’
‘Never,’ he said, horrified by the idea.
‘It is just hair. It takes ages to dry when I wash it. And ages to get the tangles out. You have no idea.’
He wanted to sit and brush the tangles out for her. To help her dry it before the fire.
He blinked. Never in his life had he felt such a peculiar longing. ‘I think you would be sorry if you cut it.’
‘No. I think you would be.’ She laughed and pressed her forehead to his. ‘Is this why we are here, to discuss my hair?’
He closed his eyes briefly. ‘No.’ He kissed her deeply and lost himself in the taste of her sweet mouth, the feel of her lips on his, the touch of their tongues, the feel of her back beneath his hands and the sensation of hers around his waist.
He wanted to be closer. Her narrow skirts impeded his desire. He reached behind her waist and tugged at the end of her gown’s laces.
He could not hold back his huff of impatience. ‘Why does ladies’ attire have to be so damnably complicated?’
She turned her back to him. ‘You will find it easier if you can see what you are doing. I assume youknow how it works?’
Slightly affronted by her question, he quickly pulled free the ties, eased the gown off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor.
She stepped out of the puddle of cotton at her feet.
He frowned. There were no ties for her stays.
She spun around and he saw the fastenings were at the front between the rise of her full breasts. She undid them before his brain had a chance to direct his fingers to the task.
She cast them aside in a swift, practised movement.
