Page 15 of Disguised Desires of a Scarred Duke
Tendrils of her silky brown hair fell loose from the thick knot gathered at the back of her neck. The sheer white ruffled neckline of her dress hinted at the bountiful breasts below it as Eleanor bounced her way down the stairs and started walking in William’s direction.
He was so mesmerized again by her sensual shape and her lavender perfume floating on the breeze that William didn’t move in time to avoid the same collision as when they first met.
“Oh, my goodness, Sir! Please forgive me, I didn’t see … oh, my. Mr Black? Is that you?”
William held Eleanor’s arms as she pressed her hands into his chest. Both stood still with shock as if trapped in a time warp and reliving this same moment all over again.
“Yes, Miss Whitfield! I was coming to call on you. My apologies for the surprise. Are you going somewhere? Shall I walk with you?”
Eleanor stared at his face like when they first met, but this time, her attention moved away from his eyes to scan along his scars as if noticing them for the first time.
“Oh! Yes, I was just going to pick up a basket next door from Lady Gale. She has fresh peaches to share. I so love peaches, Mr Black. Don’t you?” Eleanor’s voice was barely a whisper as she continued to study William’s face like a map she was trying to navigate.
The duke started to loosen his grip on her arms as his stomach cramps disappeared. He stood quietly for a few more seconds to let her take in every hard-earned flaw on his skin.
“I agree, Lady Eleanor. Peaches, like a woman, are soft and juicy and sweet.”
“Though sometimes sour when bruised,” Eleanor said as her eyes returned to gaze into his.
“No one would dare bruise a beautiful peach on purpose, m’lady. Peaches are for appreciating. Enjoying.Savouring.” William let go of Eleanor and offered his arm. “How about a walk to the park? With your maid accompanying us, of course.”
Eleanor smiled and nodded, then turned back towards her home. “I would like that. Let me get Lottie, and we’ll join you.”
Twenty minutes later, Eleanor was holding onto William’s arm as her maid walked a few paces behind them.
“Do you live in London full-time, Mr Black?” Eleanor asked as she cupped a yellow rose from a bush, then pulled it close to sniff.
Seeing the petals flutter beneath her pretty face made William’s pants tighten at the crotch. His lust for Eleanor was so quick to surge through his body that William paused their forward motion to catch his breath. He looked away quickly and tried to think about something he hated that would decrease his desire for the woman at his side.
Liver for breakfast. Itchy wool long johns. Financial ruin.
That last one did the trick. For now.
“Yes, currently, I’m here full-time. And you?”
Just then, Eleanor looked down at her feet to avoid the gaze of a couple walking past in the other direction.
William stiffened but said nothing. He’d rather think that she was avoiding questions from others about his peerage than embarrassed by his looks. But William was also certain she didn’t want to be seen with him in public, and he wasn’t sure what to make of that yet.
“Here’s the park. Shall we sit by that tree for a moment?” William asked, then guided them towards a stone bench in the shade of a tall oak tree.
He looked back at Eleanor’s maid for a quick second, but the young woman was distracted by another maid saying hello.
Tired of making small talk and acting like nothing was stirring like a hurricane in his loins, William led Eleanor over to an overgrown lilac bush where they couldn’t be seen easily from the street.
“Miss Whitfield, forgive me. You are an enticing woman, and I have been thinking of you for days, but I am far too attracted to you to see you again. I’m also convinced that you’re shocked by the look of me, which is understandable.
So, I think it’s best if I stop this ridiculous charade and leave you be. My apologies if this is too forward, but if I don’t walk away from you right now, I will need to kiss you. I’d like to think of myself as a gentleman who wouldn’t do such a thing, but I don’t trust myself.”
Lady Eleanor took in a sharp breath and reached up to touch the longest scar on William’s cheek.
“Then kiss me, Mr Black,” she said, stroking his skin and audibly breathing more quickly now. “I see only a handsome man with obsidian eyes that visits me in dreams.”
William felt the throbbing ache of his desire for her return in an instant. His body buzzed with arousal and the need to feel Eleanor’s soft form encased in his arms.
He pulled her into his chest and stroked her pretty lips before covering them with his own. But his hunger was too strong for closed-mouth innocence. William parted her pretty pink lips to slide his tongue between them and taste her wet and minty mouth.
Eleanor clung to his shirt, balling the fabric in her fists as she opened her lips to receive him. She returned his kiss with the same feverish want that made her as breathless as it did the man who was hiding his identity but boldly showing his very real passion for the woman in his embrace.
