Page 23 of The Duke's Lesson in Love

Gill looked down at the boy’s sleeping face. To think he was almost taken again. Based on what Sadie said, Edwin’s bad dreams should have come during their nights on the road, but it also made sense that they manifested now in a new home. During their trip, they spent a great deal of time together, and this was Edwin's first night alone.

“I can stay with the child,” Sadie offered.

“For an hour until you make your escape to the servants’ quarters?”

She bristled, but didn’t contest his words. “You can trust that I will remain.”

“Can I?” Gill got more comfortable in the bed. Laying the child close to his side, he pulled the covers over the boy’s shoulders.

“Of course. Edwin has been my charge since he was a babe.”

“Now he is my responsibility.” He pulled the covers to his waist, his hand roughly rubbing the coarse hairs on his chest. “And so are you.”

“I can manage for myself—” Her eyes widened before she turned away.

“Every member of this household is under my protection,” he said, cutting off her objection. That much was true. Time. He needed time to convince her that she was more than a servant, that the family she imagined when she looked at Edwin was possible. She loved the child and he could not ask or hope for a purer emotion. Love failed him in the past, but he vowed his son would never experience the pain of abandonment.

He wasn’t the best of men but since time wasn’t an option he would use what he had available, and her weakness for his son was the best weapon in his arsenal.

He snuffed out the candle. “Goodnight, Miss Fields.”

Gill laid in the darkness, waiting for her to stomp from the room. Slam the door in her anger at being dismissed. Yet, he longed for her to stay. To have her fragrance wrap around him. Ever since he had woken to his bedchamber smelling of bath oils, knowing it was his nightshirt protecting her damp, womanly figure, Gill was entranced.

“Will you at least put on a nightshirt, Your Grace?”

“This is how I sleep, Madam.” He smiled when the sheets ruffled and she began fidgeting on the other side of the bed. “And I very much doubt your robe will fit. However, I am happy to try it on if you wish to disrobe.”

Her groan was born of restless irritation and frustration. “You are incorrigible.”

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