Page 29 of The Duke's Lesson in Love

Gill had no illusions of his parents’ manipulation. They had pitted them against each other as a means to make Gill compliant. Instead their harsh measure served to harden his heart.

Taking the stairwell to the second floor, he went directly to the nursery. His heart caught in his throat. “Don’t move!” Standing on a three-legged stool, Sadie tried to free the blanket from over a standing wardrobe.

The footrest rocked, and she yelped, grasping the blanket to steady herself. Her weight against the thin fabric and the unsteady balance toppled the stool. She fell.

“Are you alright?”

“You startled me!”

The moment he reached her, Gill scooped her into his arms, settling her onto his lap in a nearby settee. “Don’t ever do that again,” he growled.

She held his gaze as his chest heaved from his ragged breathing. The drumming in his ear, the pent up need to hold her washed over any rational thought as his mouth slammed hungrily against hers.

The kiss was meant to offer him reassurances, not feed the flame of his desire. But as her arms circled his neck, nothing other than the taste of her mattered. The crush of her lips… their tongues dancing with wicked promises.

He was famished.

The more she gave, the more her soft sultry curves beckoned, the greedier he became. His hand caressed her slim waist to cup her breast.

She gasped and his shaft hardened as he caught the sound. Yet, he wanted more. Demanded every cry of pleasure.

“Mamon Sadie!”

Gill rested his forehead against hers as the nursery door was pushed open. Sadie’s eyes widened at their compromised state, but he made no effort to uncouple them. He was done giving up what mattered to him. Done making sacrifices for people long dead.

Sadie’s unconditional love for Edwin reawakened his belief in that emotion he thought he never deserved, the very emotion that left him aching and cold.

“Sorry, Your Grace. I tried to stop him,” Mary said when Edwin dodged her grasp.

“It is alright, Mary, you may go.”

“I heard a crash!”

“Your Mamon fell.” Gill loosened his grip but did not move Sadie off his lap.

Edwin threw his arms around her shoulders.

“I am perfectly all right…see.” She pushed out of Gill’s arms. He reluctantly let her go when she tried to stand. Sadie winced and stumbled.

Cursing, Gill stood, lifting her against his chest. Ignoring her protest, he exited the west wing and headed for his room with Edwin on his tail.

“Lord Gilleasbuig, you cannot bring me to your rooms,” she whispered.

“Why not?” He knew perfectly why he shouldn’t, but he had never followed constraints before, so why should he now? Before she formulated a response, he pushed his door open and seated her with her back against the headboard, while he sat at the opposite end of the bed.

Taking her injured foot into his hands, he quickly discarded her slipper, dropping it onto the floor. He could not stop his racing pulse or his eyes from devouring the shapely appendage. Her white stocking was their only barrier between his seeking fingers and soft skin.

He hated and envied the thin undergarment all at once.

“Does this hurt?” His thumbs kneaded the arch of her foot.

“Only a little,” she said and his gaze snapped at the three husky words.

One hand moved up her ankle—each press wrung a new tremor from her that met his shudders in savage delight—to her shin. “How about now?”

She swallowed and again his eyes fastened on the subtle movement. “No,” she breathed.

When he reached the curve of her calf, his touch lingered, skimming the lace edges of her stockings. The pads of his fingers barely grazed her skin, teasing her and himself before he slowly pulled the flimsy garment down.

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