Page 49 of It's All About the Duke
The duke slowly shook his head. “That may well be what you heard, but Mr. Howard Drayton wanted us to pay him money not to tell. A handsome sum from each of us every month. He saw it as a good way to sustain his mounting gambling debts. In hindsight, we should have given in to his demands, but it went against our nature to be intimidated by the man or any man. We knew it would do no good to threaten him because he had the Prince’s ear. Now it seems we were foolish not to pay. But we had no glimpse of the future. If we’d had any idea how longthis scandal would follow us, and that it would actually outlive Mr. Drayton, we would have paid him. It would have been better if we had.”
“I suppose we all have regrets,” she commented, knowing she had a few of her own.
“Some of us more than others.”
“You say you haven’t pursued an innocent young lady for a long time, but you have been pursuing me every time you look at me, Your Grace, and with almost every word you say to me.”
She saw in his expression that her comment surprised him. “Is that truly how you feel?”
“I have no reason to lie to you about it,” she answered.
His expression turned to something between a grimace and a smile. “I’ve not deliberately done that—well, perhaps on an occasion or two. When I touched your cheek at your front door and when I had your back against the secretary in the drawing room.”
“More times than that and you know it,” she insisted, not taking her gaze from his. “I know all the reasons I shouldn’t but I want you to give me my first kiss. I believe you want that, too.”
“No doubt. I do. But I also know that I am the last person who should do it, because I am your guardian. I’m supposed to keep you safe from men just like me.”
“I trust you not to take advantage of me.”
A husky, intimate chuckle passed his lips. “I’m not sure you should.”
He reached up and placed one hand to the side of her neck. Its warmth soothed her instantly. She turned her head to more fully settle into his palm. His thumb caressed the skin under her chin before moving down the column of her throat to the top of her dress and back up again. The feather-light tenderness of his touch sizzled through her.
His penetrating gaze never left her face. “That’s asking a lot from me. From someone who’s never had to restrain himself when it came to anything he wanted.”
His touch, his expression, the way he looked at her made her breathless. Slow waves of pleasure expanded and grew inside. The heat of his touch seeped deeply into her soul.
“I don’t believe you’ve ever forced your attentions on a lady or anyone else.”
“I’ve never had to,” he answered without a hint of arrogance in his low tone.
The woodsy scent of his shaving soap stirred her senses. Marlena moistened her lips in anticipation. “I assume you’ve been kissed many times before, Your Grace, but I have not. So, of course, I’m curious about what makes kisses so stirring that poets write endlessly about them, people have clandestine meetings to kiss, and others have endangered their reputations for a stolen few.”
“Some have even risked scandal and death in order to have a few kisses from their lover, Marlena.”
“Yes, I believe that’s true,” she agreed.
“I am not stopping you from having your first kiss.”
No, he was encouraging her. His hand continued to cup her neck, and his fingers moved to caress the sensitive area behind her ear while his thumb moved up and over her jawline until it stilled at the corner of her lips. He lightly let the weight of his forearm rest between her breasts. Every soft, slow movement he made had her breathing deeper, her chest growing tighter, and the stirring between her legs feeling more wanton.
She gazed into his eyes. He wasn’t denying her, yet he wasn’t kissing her, either. She looked down. The handkerchief was there. Between them. A shield of sorts, but not one she wanted to use. The wind blew the corners of the linen but it wasn’t going anywhere unless she tookhold of it. It had saved her from her great desire to kiss him once before. All she had to do was close her fingers around it and lift it between them. She had all faith he’d back away from her.
Marlena looked up into the duke’s dark eyes again. He stared at her with such rapt attention it made her feel as if she meant the world to him, and he would do everything within his power to give her her heart’s desire.
Yet he made no move toward her to do so.
Suddenly she understood. Because of his vow or honor or whatever it was that held him back, she had to make the first move. They both wanted the kiss, but she had to be the aggressor.
So be it.
Doing her best to settle her jittery stomach, to slow her racing heartbeat, Marlena lifted her hands. The handkerchief fell away. Kissing couldn’t be all that hard to do, she told herself. People did it all the time.
Reaching up, she slipped her arms around the duke’s neck and clasped her fingers together at his nape. She lifted her face to his and placed her closed lips against his. They were warm. Soft. They didn’t move and neither did hers. Just two sets of lips pressed together.
However, she was very much aware she was kissing a man for the first time so she let her lips stay against his for several seconds to prolong the momentous occasion. Her heart was pounding to the same beat that had her stomach jumping, but she wasn’t feeling the eager, spiraling sensations of desire she thought would be a part of the mating of their lips.
When she lifted her lashes, their eyes met and held. Marlena slowly broke the kiss, let her arms slowly drop to her sides and leaned away. She looked deeply into his eyes.
