Page 28 of A Christmas Temptation for the Duke
“I…” Alison hesitated, knowing well enough that the Earl spoke sense, while unable to admit as such because there was just something about him that made her want to argue. “I have thanked you. I have made it clear how grateful I am for all your help. But that does not mean that you suddenly own me.”
“I never said that I did.”
“Yet you refuse to allow me to leave.”
He groaned as she could see his frustration rising. “When will you understand that I only want what is best. I do not want tohave to force you to stay here, Lady Alison. Please, do not push me.”
Alison’s heart was still thumping hard in her chest. Her entire body was trembling as if it might explode. Doing what she could to not break her stare, she turned to face him. “And what if I do? Are you going to lock me away like a prisoner?”
“Where you get this absurd notion of me…” His grip tightened. “I am only trying to help.”
“I don’t want your help.”
“You don’t know what you want, and that is your problem.”
“What I want is to be allowed to leave. What I want is not to be treated like a child.”
“I am not treating you like a child,” he said. “I am only trying to –”
“Yes, help me. You said that already. Which you have done. Which you no longer need to do. Now, let me go.”
“I will not.”
“And what if I scream?” She flashed her eyes, daring him to challenge her. She wanted him to. Alison could not explain it.She could not reason it. But in that moment, despite what she thought she knew, the last thing she wished was to be let go.
There was just something about the way he looked at her. How insistent he was on keeping her around. She was not used to anybody giving a damn about her wellbeing. In her world, there was not a soul alive who might have worried about her as he now was. Andthatwas what excited her most.
She held the Earl’s rueful glare. She bared her teeth. She raised her chin in defiance. Body trembling. Skin prickling. Never one to be noticed. Never one to be told what to do. That he sought to control her like this was… was…I can’t describe it. All I know is that I want more.
“Don’t do it…” Eyes flicking down to her lips.
She leaned back, nearly shrinking. But his eyes flicked to her lips again. His grip increased and he pulled her into him. And on instinct, as stubborn as she was, she opened her mouth to scream just because she wanted to see what he would do to stop her.
Not so much as a sound escaped her lips because the second her mouth was open, the Earl pulled her into him as his mouth pressed against her lips in a fiery kiss.
Her eyes widened in shock and her heart might have leapt from her throat, was his mouth not there to block it. She lurched back, tugged her arm away, tried to fight him off… only to succumb tothe kiss as fire leaped from his mouth and down her throat and set her insides alight.
She moaned as she gave in.
She relaxed as she opened her mouth further so his tongue could slip inside her.
She shuddered and stepped into him, her free hand moving to his waist, her eyes snapping shut so that she could give in completely to a kiss she did not think she wanted but now knew would be the end of her if it ended.
And when the kiss ended, when the Earl pulled away, she gasped as if a piece of her was being torn from her body.
“There.” The Earl dropped her arm and looked down at her, as smug as ever, and beyond satisfied with the reaction he had gotten. “That is one way to keep you from doing something foolish. I can’t help but wonder why I did not think of it sooner.”
Alison did not know what to say. She gaped at the Earl, her mind fractured so it was all she could do to stare.What… how… I don’t…
“Now, are you going to do as you are told and spend the night?” he asked her simply. “For you own safety, might I add. Again, that is all wish for you. Even if you refuse to admit it.”
She could not speak, so she offered a vague nod.
“As I thought.” A satisfied smirk twisted across his lips. “I will have Godfrey make your room.”
Still, she was unable to speak. So, she nodded again, her chest hurting from the way her heart thumped.
“Stay here,” he commanded. “I will be right back.” He stepped around her, paused, and turned back. “Perhaps wait by the fire. It is rather chilly, and I do not want you getting sick.” He raised a questioning eyebrow, daring her to argue, and she nodded again. “Good,” he said, his smile dripping with satisfaction at having gotten his way.
