Page 16 of Dukes for Dessert

David felt his heart beating faster, a smile pulling his mouth, as though he’d single-handedly discovered the remains of a Roman palace.

“You believe there’s more down there?” he asked, Pierson’s enthusiasm contagious.

“Somewhere.” Pierson spread his hands and waved them over the mounds. “A beautiful floor, walls painted in glorious colors, a heating system …”

His voice grew more animated with each word until he leapt into the air again. He came down and ran off across the green with the lightness of a man half his age.

“I did it!” his voice trailed back to them, and then loudest of all, coupled with another jump—“Eureka!”

David and Sophie burst out laughing. Her eyes were alight, her nose pink with cold. She was vibrant color in a sea of gray, a glow in the endless twilight of David’s life. They stood very close, the moment of discovery and elation warming the air between them.

David swept his arms around Sophie and dragged her to him, his mouth coming down on her red parted lips.

5

David’s mouth was hot, skilled, strong. The air was frigid, but Sophie knew only David’s warmth, the bulk of his body shielding her. His fingers pressed her cheek, much as they’d done a few days ago when he’d softly touched her.

He didn’t command or possess, didn’t demand Sophie respond. He simply kissed her. She tasted the coffee he’d drunk this morning, felt the scrape of whiskers his razor had missed.

The space between them filled with an energy that brushed Sophie even through layers of fabric. She parted her lips and leaned into him, hungry. She hadn’t realized how hungry.

David started as she rose to him, but then he took her mouth in a deeper kiss, his tongue finding hers. The hot friction made Sophie’s knees buckle, but David’s strength held her steady.

Her mouth was stiff, her return kiss clumsy. She was out of practice, and she’d never been kissed like this before.

David didn’t seem to notice, or care, about her lack of expertise. He had enough of it for both of them. His kiss caressed, gave, was all about pleasure. He knew how to touch, to draw forth fire.

Sophie no longer used the formal Mr. Fleming in her mind. He was David, had always been for her, but Sophie hadn’t been able to admit it.

His thumb pressed the corner of her mouth, opening her to him. He cradled her head, her hat sliding sideways, curls loosening from their pins.

Sophie craved the kiss, David’s warmth, himself. He was another lonely being crying out, and Sophie responded with eagerness.

She closed the fraction of space between them to seek the greater warmth of his body and slid against him, David so tall. Sophie rose on tiptoes, tilting her head so she could continue the kiss.

His arm came behind her, and she felt herself bending back as David slid one hand up to cup her breast through her thick coat. A tingle of fire raced from nipple to heart, and Sophie let out a moan of need.

In the next moment, she stumbled, David’s embrace gone. She clutched at her hat and righted herself with difficulty, dragging in a burning breath.

David’s eyes were wild, like stormy skies. He’d lost the tweed cap he’d donned against the cold, and his hair tumbled in the wind.

“Damnation.” His voice was cracked, the self-loathing blatant.

“David …”

“No.” David took a hasty step back, narrowly missing the hole he’d just dug. “Don’t speak to me. Don’t even look at me.”

“David.” Hurt cut through Sophie’s haze of elation. “I’m not an innocent miss fresh from my debut.”

“Aren’t you? As near as. Bloody hell.”

He darted a worried glance behind them, but a quick look told Sophie that Uncle Lucas was still dancing around, waving his arms, celebrating his Eureka.

“No need to swear at me,” Sophie said, her heart pounding. “I am my own woman. I may kiss whom I please.”

“The devil you may. If any other man kissed you like that, I’d kill him. I’m near to strangling myself with my own hands.”

“Don’t say such things.” Sophie’s eyes widened in alarm. “Not even in jest.”