Page 33 of The Duke's Lesson in Love

“Come in, Mary.”

“I’m happy to see you do not need the doctor, ma’am.” The older woman smiled, setting the tray of grapes, cheese, and a single tart on the table. “Could you imagine being in a new home and too lame to do nothing more than stay abed?”

“Mary, there is only one tart on the plate,” Sadie said. It smelled delicious. The crust was golden brown with blueberry filling oozing out the triangle shaped center.

Mary blushed. “I did try to bring another ma’am, but the little Lord was quite insistent.”

Sadie bit back a groan when his lordship smirked. Didn’t he intend on defending her at all? “Did this little Lord say why, Mrs. Mary?”

Sadie closed her eyes in mortification. Now the entire household thought she’d bitten the Duke.

Outrageous.

“Only that…” Mrs. Mary cleared her throat. “I will save one for you. I am sure by tomorrow you will have mended your ways. Yes?”

“Thank you, Mary.” His lordship picked up the tart. “Oh and thank Lord Edwin for not lumping me into his Mamon’s bad behavior.”

“You are a cad, Your Grace,” she said when he took the first bite into one of the triangle edges. Crumbs sprinkled her skirts, and she suppressed the urge to gather the buttery flakes under her finger tips before pressing them to her tongue. It did look delicious the way he chewed with gusto.

“Delightful,” he finally sighed. “Perhaps I will have another.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Perhaps I will go and fetch my own.” Him biting into the treat freed more of the mouthwatering aroma.

“No can do,” he said, bracing his right hand against the bed, trapping her. “Prancing up and down a flight of stairs may cause swelling while your ankle is tender.”

She could not help following the tart with her eyes. The scent was intoxicating, and she had not eaten since breaking her fast.

“I am willing to share, my lady.”

My lady.Why on earth did he call her that? Sadie shook her head, too fascinated at the prospect of tasting the desert than correcting his improper promotion of her station. “You would offer me a bite?”

The idea of sharing was as intoxicating as it was arousing. Surely this was not appropriate among the classes. The orphanage was different, sharing instead of being wasteful was encouraged. Outgrown clothing was passed down to younger children, food was shared, and on occasion of dreadful storms or night terrors, some crawled into the beds of their friends or siblings.

This was entirely different.

“Unless you prefer to see if Edwin has left you any.” He brought the tart to his mouth.

“Wait!” Ah! The man was infuriating. “I’ll have a bite, thank you.”

He smiled and she wished it did not warm parts of her body she dared not speak of. Her thighs clenched to stop the ache, but it inadvertently made the throbbing worse.

He brought the tart forward and she straightened to meet him halfway. The air between them sizzled. Her gaze touched every curve and ridge of his face—strong cheekbones where the peaks of an angular jaw lead to a chin made to cup…to draw him closer.

Finally her eyes lingered on his parted lips as if the slight opening was an invitation. She swallowed and when her gaze flickered to his, she found him staring.

The tart. Her mouth was salivating for the treat and not this man that was too tempting for his own good. Closing her eyes, she leaned closer, wanting to savor the first taste of berries on her tongue and found her mouth captured instead.

Sadie moaned; her hands flattened against his chest. She ought to push him away. End this impossible hope in her heart. He was a good father and a good landlord, but she could never have him. Could she?

Rational thought scattered as his tongue swiped the roof of her mouth, the sensation curling her toes. His kiss ignited pleasure everywhere. Fast and far, his heat devoured all of her, her heart, her mind…her soul.

Though she knew his intimacy was nothing more than infatuation, the cause of living alone on a sprawling estate without someone to love him the way he ought to be loved, and mistrust for that emotion, Sadie could not stop her fingers from curling into his green embroidered waistcoat.

For now, she had Edwin but sometime in the near future, his lordship would send the child to school and her service would be over. Her youth and fanciful notions of love and family…children of her own would go with the passage of time. For now, she could love him without expectations of it ever being returned in kind. In the end, there was no doubt her heart would break, but for today and tomorrow, she would relish their time together.

“Mmm, even better than tarts,” he declared.

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