Her name in his dark, deliciously deep voice dismissed any other thoughts. Even her sweet animals slid into the recesses of her mind, replaced by…
Him.
Her gaze snapped to his, trapped. “Yes?”
“You are the most ridiculous, nonsensical, vexing woman and…”
Of course he found her to be so. No surprise there. He was overbearing, arrogant, cool, and aloof, so she supposed that made them an opposite pair. “And,” she prompted when he allowed his string of insults to trail off.
“And I want to kiss you, damn it.” His frank announcement shocked her.
Against her will, pleased her.
She stared back at him, without even so much as a blink. Longing surged inside her. A frisson of something decidedly wicked trilled down her spine. She ought to say something. Anything. Deny him. Shoot to her feet and fly across the morning room, far from his tempting reach.
But Georgiana did not move. Did not say a word. Did not do anything except wait until, at long last, the man she called husband laid his lips to hers for the first time.
If you’re a regular visitor to my blog, you’re probably wondering where it went. That makes two of us! In working on revamping the website this weekend, something went wrong and, well, the entire blog appears to be gone. Cue the sad trombones.
While I’m mourning my old, pretty blog we’re working on making this one into something even better. But, good things take time so please bear with me along the way.
Thank you for making Darling Duke a #1 New Release!
In the interim between old and new, I’d like to say thank you to all of you for your amazing response to Spencer and Bo’s story in Darling Duke! I’m humbled and so incredibly grateful for your support and kind words. Since I was a little kid in first grade writing crayon stories about castles and princesses and magical teddy bears, I have wanted to be an author. That I get to be one now is still pinch-me-to-see-if-I’m-dreaming stuff, and I love every minute of it.
Even when my blog disappears. (Yes, still feeling sorry for myself over here).
“Have you finished your soliloquy, duchess?” His deep, dark voice was mocking. Cutting. “If so, perhaps you ought to proceed with bandaging the wound so that I can proceed with my day. I have business to attend to, and the visit from your animal quack coupled with your inability to perform the task at hand is quite cutting into the day.”
The sharp edges had returned to his voice. She suppressed a jolt at his innate cruelty. Had she imagined his weakness? Was it merely that she wished to find the good in him, that she wished to save him? Perhaps, as he had suggested, she did see him as one of her strays. As someone to be rescued.
She stiffened her spine, firming her mouth into a frown of her own. But she noted that he had not stopped stroking Lady P., and the feline had nestled herself into a purring, delighted mass of white fur atop his chest. Like her beloved mastiff Alice, perhaps Leeds looked and sounded more vicious than he was.
Regardless, there was no more time for dawdling or further rumination. She did have a task to perform, linen binding in her hands, and she could and would do this. She would show him that she was not bothered, not disgusted, and certainly not cowed by him in any fashion. “Your Grace, are you able to raise the limb slightly so that the bandage may pass beneath?”
“A bit.” His leg raised, bending at the knee, as he exhaled on a gust of air that bespoke the pain he experienced.
“Excellent.” She adopted a careful neutral tone, hoping that she could take a lesson from Dr. Gage and remain impervious to the thundercloud that was the Duke of Leeds. Gently, attempting to copy what the doctor had told her to the letter, she began wrapping the bandage around the duke’s thigh.
His very large, delightfully well-muscled thigh.
Want more? Don’t forget to pre-order Her Deceptive Duke! Leeds is surly and arrogant, but I think you’re going to love him every bit as much as Georgiana does.
