Page 14 of Her Duke of Sin: Lady Be Wicked
He shook his head. “I’ve never enjoyed chasing down animals and shooting them,” he replied in a casual tone. “I do not understand why anyone would.”
She nodded. “Even if it provides us with the food for our meal?”
“That is different,” he said. “It is a necessity. The hunt itself.” He shook his head. “That is a game designed for the sport of the individuals involved. We do not need to go that far to fill our bellies.”
Juliette agreed with his assessment. “So, what will you do when the hunt is in progress?”
He flashed her a wicked grin. “I have a few ideas.” Gideon wiggled his eyebrows. “And all of them involve you.”
Her heart fluttered inside her chest. This man… He did things to her without even touching her, and when he did touch her… Her entire body came lit up with need. In some ways, she had never felt more alive than when she was with him. The duke made her want things she never thought she could have, still might not be able to have… But she had hope and he gave that to her. There was a chance, however minute it might be, that they could be together. Not just for a brief moment in time, but for always.
“That’s…nice,” she said lamely. There was no word to describe how he made her feel. She didn’t have them to give, and she desperately wanted to say something, anything, to make him understand it. Hell, she wanted them for herself, too. Juliette was at a loss, and she didn’t like it one bit. She cleared her throat. “How long should we ride before we take a break for lunch?”
“There is a pond a little farther north,” he said. “I’ve been here before.” His grin was wide and welcoming. “We can stop there and enjoy the afternoon sunshine.”
It all sounded nice. So, so nice. And wasn’t that an inferior word…. Juliette didn’t respond because, once again, she failed at conversing with him. She would just remain quiet. For now… Maybe later she would be able to speak without sounding like the fool she believed herself to be.
Gideon did not know what was bothering Juliette, but he didn’t like it. She had gone silent a while back and he didn’t know how to bring her out of whatever mood she’d fallen into. This was all new to him and his inexperience with such situations had just become unwaveringly clear. It was as if he’d lost all of his finesse and charm and became a normal bloke with no skills with the fairer sex. He shuddered. This was not the path they would fall into. He would not lose her before they even had a chance to begin.
Finally, they reached the pond. “Here we are,” he said in as jovial a tone as he could manage. Gideon slid off his horse and tied the reins to a low branch on a nearby tree, then went over to Juliette. “Let me help you off your horse.”
Once she was standing beside him, he didn’t know what to do next. Gideon inwardly cursed. This should not be as difficult as he was making it. “I’ll retrieve the blanket and picnic basket.” He glanced around them. “Is there a location here you prefer?”
She nibbled on her bottom lip again and glanced around them. “I, uh…” Juliette frowned, then glanced up at him. “This is silly.”
He lifted a brow. “What is?”
“The way we’re acting,” she told him, then shook her head. “It’s as if we suddenly have lost all ability to use the intelligence we’ve both been blessed with.” Juliette sighed and tilted her head to meet his gaze. “Your Grace,” she began.
“Gideon,” he reminded her.
“Your Grace,” she began again, then grinned. “Will you please join me under that tree over yonder?” She pointed to a tree that shaded the area around the pond nicely. “We can have a picnic and perhaps learn a little more about each other.”
There was a lot he wanted to know about her… His lips twitched. “Darling, there’s not much I’d want more.”
She laughed and looped her arm through his. “One step at a time,” she told him. “We must do all of this properly.”
“Must we?” he lifted a brow, and it was his turn to sigh. “If you insist, darling. I am at your command.” And he was… He liked having her by his side. It was then he realized that they didn’t need to converse. As long as she was there beside him, everything was perfect.
He laid the blanket down and prepared to sit, then a cloud seemed to come out of nowhere. It was dark and gloomy, and erased all evidence of the sunshine that had been present mere moments earlier. He frowned. “You don’t think…”
And then the sky erupted with rain so hard and fast it was blinding in its intensity. He snatched the blanket from the ground and then grabbed her hand. He pulled her toward the expanse of trees, praying they would find some sort of cover from the storm. The horses would be all right under the tree he’d tied the reins to. It was her he was concerned about, and they were already quite drenched. A clearing in the trees, such that it was, came into focus. The rain made it almost impossible for him to see, but it was there. A little cabin nestled against the wooded expanse, and looked like a piece of heaven.
It wasn’t much to look at, but it was exactly what they needed. “There,” he gestured toward the cabin. The rain was falling harder now, and it was almost thunderous. “Come on, love. We need shelter.”
They went to the cabin and knocked. No one answered. He pushed open the door and found it had been abandoned some time ago. Dust covered every surface, and very little furnishings had been left inside. There was a small settee by a nearby window, a table with two chairs, one of which had a broken leg and was leaning heavily to the left, and a tiny cot at the far side of the cabin. A small stack of wood was by the hearth. He prayed there was a tinderbox available to light it.
“It’s…” Juliette frowned. “Dry at least?”
He laughed. “That’s what I love about you, darling. Always the optimist.”
She froze and gawked at him. “You love me?”
That was not how he wanted to tell her, and instead of answering her question, he strolled over to the hearth. Luckily, there was indeed a tinderbox. “I’ll light a fire. Why don’t you take our damp blanket and try to stay warm. The settee doesn’t look too terrible.”
“It looks moth eaten,” she replied dryly. “or at the very least quite threadbare. It must have been a very long time since anyone has been to this cabin.”
“Most likely,” he agreed and went about starting the fire. He was thankful he even knew how to accomplish the task. What kind of protector would he be if he couldn’t even manage this much? He was already failing at so much… Once the fire was lit, he didn’t know what else to do. They could still have their picnic, though the scenery wasn’t as lovely as it had been at the pond.
