What the Duke Wants by Kristin Vayden Page B

him groan softly. He deepened the kiss, surprising her once more with the pleasure of it.
    His tongue tickled her lower lip, breaking the seal of her own lips and caressing the edge of her teeth.
    Never once had she imagined a tongue being part of a kiss.
    For now on, she’d not be able to imagine a kiss without one.
    Her heart beat wildly, surely pounding hard enough for the duke to feel, pressed up against as tightly as she was. Absentmindedly, she wondered when that had happened. But as he softly broke the seal of their lips, she found she didn’t care. He drew back slightly, his eyes cloudy with… passion? Was that what it looked like on a man? It was deliriously delicious, and she wondered if she looked the same. His eyes, so light normally, had darkened. His irises were wide giving his gaze a smoldering quality that burned her from the inside out. His lips were still slightly wet from their exchange. She gazed at them, wondering at their softness.
    She waited, not wanting to move but also not knowing what to say. What did one say after a kiss? The duke seemed to be facing the same dilemma for he made no movement and spoke no words, simply gazed at her as if seeing her for the first time.
    “I…I…” he whispered, his soft breath fanning across her face.
    She swallowed. Somehow, feeling like his next words would be pivotal.
    “You should dry off.” He stepped back and nodded, turning to the fire, effectively dismissing her.
    “Oh, y-yes, your grace,” Carlotta stammered, her confusion and the sting of rejection painful in her breast. Before the tears that were welling in her eyes slipped out, she turned and left with as much dignity as she could muster.
    A kiss that had tilted her world and branded her heart seemed to have had no effect whatsoever on the duke.
    And nothing could have hurt more.
     

Chapter Five
     
    Charles stared at the fire until he heard the soft click of her heels in the hall, then he closed his eyes in shame. What a miserable emotion! What a miserable situation he found himself in, over a governess no less.
    But if he were being honest, and he found that he was, indeed, being honest, she wasn’t just a governess any longer. Not after that kiss.
    Charles considered himself experienced in the more romantic arts, to say the least. He was familiar with all types of kisses; seductive kisses meant to lure a man to bed, as well as flirtatious kisses, meant to entice but innocent enough to simply tease. But one kiss he was not familiar with was an inexperienced kiss. Contrary to what he would have assumed, it was by far the most tempting, alluring siren call of all.
    Or perhaps it was just her kiss.
    She had tasted of sweet strawberries and cream, all smooth and velvety. Her lips were far softer than he expected, captivating him from the first whisper of contact. Her tentative response was nearly his undoing if it hadn’t reminded him of her purity, of her innocent nature regarding seduction.
    If her innocence was as captivating as that, then heaven help the man with whom she discovered her passions.
    Charles swallowed hard. He wanted to be that man. The thought of any other man teaching her the joys of passion made his blood boil with a fever of rage.
    Normally he wasn’t one given to extreme emotions, yet she seemed to provoke a great many within him. Just another aspect of the decadence that was his governess.
    His governess.
    As if he needed a reminder of the difference in their stations, he glanced down to his ring; the family ring that had carried though generations and generations of Clairmonts. Not once had there been a marriage that didn’t include the purest of pedigrees.
    A governess. His father must be spinning in his grave. Charles shook his head, trying to dispel the conflicting and confusing emotions and thoughts.
    This was why he chose to live in denial. Too bad that ship had apparently sailed away, along with his sanity.
    What had he been thinking to kiss her like that?