Page 21 of Her Rake Fiancé

He passed her the leash, and their hands brushed. Her gaze locked with his, a million unspoken words swimming in those clear gray eyes.

Under the wall of drooping willow branches they stood together, panting hard, their chests heaving in unison. Hercules sat by Jane’s feet, watching her face with adoration, his tail wagging at a furious pace, seemingly unbothered by the dramatic events.

“Thank you,” Jane said, her voice barely above a whisper. Her gaze filled with gratitude, and something else—a shared understanding that they were in this together. “Thank you, Lord Richard.”

The look in her eyes stilled his breath. Yes, this was a world that was far from perfect, filled with injustice and pretense. But at that moment, under the shelter of the tree with Jane so close, Richard couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

He couldn’t resist stepping closer to her and brushing his knuckles over her cheek. She stopped breathing. So did he. He couldn’t drag his gaze away from hers, warmly gray now, dark and glistening like thawing ice on a lake. The touch of her skin against his sent a hot longing through his body.

A gentleman didn’t touch a lady like that. But he liked it. He couldn’t drag his fingers away from her. As far as the whole world knew, she was his fiancée.

She swallowed as he came ever so slightly closer. He picked up a stray lock of her hair and tucked it behind her ear.

“Does this feel right?” he asked. “Tell me the truth.”

“Yes,” she breathed out.

“You know,” he said. “You are quite in danger here. I do have a bad reputation.”

Heavens, but how smooth her skin was, how warm and right under his touch. He took one more step closer and now was pressed right against her, the trunk of the willow tree behind her. She was smaller than him, looking up at him with her eyes so big and innocent and glistening.

“Have you been kissed before?” he asked.

That mouth of hers, round and pink, her lips looking so plush. Would they feel and taste as delicious as they looked?

Her lips parted slightly in a quick expression of surprise. “No.”

Of course she hadn’t. He liked the idea of her first kiss belonging to him. Of all her firsts being his.

“Never been kissed before?” he mused. “We’re pretending to be in love. For practice, you must know how it is to kiss, Jane.”

Jane…her name felt sweet and right on his tongue. Her eyes dropped to his mouth, and her pupils dilated. She liked that, too.

She wanted him to kiss her.

He leaned down to her…

Only to find empty air.

She stepped to the side and out of his grasp.

“What are you doing, Lord Richard?” the vixen demanded angrily.

He blinked. “What did it look like I was doing?”

“We agreed—no touching, no kissing. No nothing.”

He cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. “We did. And yet, you let me touch you just now.”

“Well…” She cocked one eyebrow. “I shouldn’t have. For a moment, I forgot I was in the presence of a rake. Of course you wouldn’t care about my reputation, only about your own selfish pleasure.”

He slowly shook his head. “Jane…what can you know about pleasure?”

Her cheeks were set ablaze so quickly it was like watching fire engulf a piece of paper.

“Let us go, Hercules,” she said as she threw one last, furious glance at Richard.

As she turned around to walk away, he cried after her, “Do not forget you are invited for tea to meet my family.”