me what I seek, I shall be forced to approach the miller’s son, George. He’s a nice boy but I doubt very skilled. But even if you do refuse to participate in my ruin, we could be friends. And as friends, you can, at least, have a nice chat with me and educate me a little so I am no longer ignorant. Surely, you do not approve of ignorance?”
George.
The miller’s son.
The miller’s son was a dead man.
Derek felt himself grow very still, a characteristic he usually avoided by using large gestures and loud intimations. “Let me understand you. You’re going to. . . You’re going to. . . “
“Give my innocence to the miller’s son.”
Derek swung his gaze to Angus then the snug of onlookers. Christ. Was she mad? Or was she in jest? With Lady Rosamund, it was impossible to tell and it hit him then that, in many ways, she was as enigmatic as he.
His own intelligence seemed to desert him in that single moment and instinct took over. Someone had to save her from herself and apparently it was going to be him.
Derek grabbed her hand, yanked her from her seat and started for the stairs.
“What are you doing?” she gasped.
He said nothing when she began tugging on his hand. Apparently, she didn’t like be ordered about. He stopped and faced her.
“You don’t wish to go with me?” he confronted. “Fine. Get out of the pub. But if you stay, you’re going up those stairs.”
She smiled and headed for the indicated stairs of her own accord, tightening her grip on his hand. “If you’d like, you may throw me over your shoulder.”
A strangled sound filled his ears. Had he made that noise? By God, he had.
He should be running away from her, not dragging her up to a private room. But he needed to make her understand that she had to stop this course she seemed set on. He didn't yet know what he was going to do but he was going to bloody well do something. He was going to terrify her if he had to. Clearly, the only way to get through to her was to show her what she thought she wanted was not actually what she wanted.
That is the last thing he told himself before he headed down the upstairs hallway and pushed her into the first room. Without warning, he slammed the door shut, shoved her up against the door, and seized her mouth with his.
Chapter 6
This! Oh, this! This is what she had been waiting for. The Duke of Aston’s hard body pressed against hers. Between the door and his massive frame, there was nowhere to go. Luckily, she had no desire to be anywhere else.
In fact, the pure delight of his mouth on hers and his hands on either side of her head, placed firmly on the wood paneling was so glorious she felt she might expire on the spot.
No one had ever kissed her like this.
No one had ever evoked such sudden and sheer bliss.
His mouth took. It ravaged. It claimed. And oh how she loved it. She loved it so much, she did all she could to meet his passion and claim right back.
If she could have she would have grabbed hold of him in that moment and never, ever let him go because he felt. . . Well, he felt absolutely perfect.
As it was, she tilted her head, giving him better access to her mouth and she met his searching tongue boldly with her own.
A soft growl rippled from his throat and he nibbled her lower lip.
“What the devil have you done to me?” he asked as his ragged breath puffed softly against her temple.
“I?” She had done nothing. She’d just been herself and asked for what she wanted. Was that so shocking? Yes. She supposed it was.
“Yes, you, woman.” He pressed his forehead to the crown of her head. “You’re going to be my undoing, aren’t you?”
A smile pulled at her lips. “Yes.”
And she knew it was true. For all that she’d pursued him for a fling, she knew that he was meant to be in her life. Somehow. After all, one did not meet men in lochs for absolutely no reason.
Perhaps it wasn’t for love everlasting. But they were meant to change each other. Of that, she
George.
The miller’s son.
The miller’s son was a dead man.
Derek felt himself grow very still, a characteristic he usually avoided by using large gestures and loud intimations. “Let me understand you. You’re going to. . . You’re going to. . . “
“Give my innocence to the miller’s son.”
Derek swung his gaze to Angus then the snug of onlookers. Christ. Was she mad? Or was she in jest? With Lady Rosamund, it was impossible to tell and it hit him then that, in many ways, she was as enigmatic as he.
His own intelligence seemed to desert him in that single moment and instinct took over. Someone had to save her from herself and apparently it was going to be him.
Derek grabbed her hand, yanked her from her seat and started for the stairs.
“What are you doing?” she gasped.
He said nothing when she began tugging on his hand. Apparently, she didn’t like be ordered about. He stopped and faced her.
“You don’t wish to go with me?” he confronted. “Fine. Get out of the pub. But if you stay, you’re going up those stairs.”
She smiled and headed for the indicated stairs of her own accord, tightening her grip on his hand. “If you’d like, you may throw me over your shoulder.”
A strangled sound filled his ears. Had he made that noise? By God, he had.
He should be running away from her, not dragging her up to a private room. But he needed to make her understand that she had to stop this course she seemed set on. He didn't yet know what he was going to do but he was going to bloody well do something. He was going to terrify her if he had to. Clearly, the only way to get through to her was to show her what she thought she wanted was not actually what she wanted.
That is the last thing he told himself before he headed down the upstairs hallway and pushed her into the first room. Without warning, he slammed the door shut, shoved her up against the door, and seized her mouth with his.
Chapter 6
This! Oh, this! This is what she had been waiting for. The Duke of Aston’s hard body pressed against hers. Between the door and his massive frame, there was nowhere to go. Luckily, she had no desire to be anywhere else.
In fact, the pure delight of his mouth on hers and his hands on either side of her head, placed firmly on the wood paneling was so glorious she felt she might expire on the spot.
No one had ever kissed her like this.
No one had ever evoked such sudden and sheer bliss.
His mouth took. It ravaged. It claimed. And oh how she loved it. She loved it so much, she did all she could to meet his passion and claim right back.
If she could have she would have grabbed hold of him in that moment and never, ever let him go because he felt. . . Well, he felt absolutely perfect.
As it was, she tilted her head, giving him better access to her mouth and she met his searching tongue boldly with her own.
A soft growl rippled from his throat and he nibbled her lower lip.
“What the devil have you done to me?” he asked as his ragged breath puffed softly against her temple.
“I?” She had done nothing. She’d just been herself and asked for what she wanted. Was that so shocking? Yes. She supposed it was.
“Yes, you, woman.” He pressed his forehead to the crown of her head. “You’re going to be my undoing, aren’t you?”
A smile pulled at her lips. “Yes.”
And she knew it was true. For all that she’d pursued him for a fling, she knew that he was meant to be in her life. Somehow. After all, one did not meet men in lochs for absolutely no reason.
Perhaps it wasn’t for love everlasting. But they were meant to change each other. Of that, she
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