Page 14 of A Duke for Stealing (The Devil’s Masquerade #4)

“Well, I suppose I would not be against a turn or two, as long as I do not have to be the blind man first,” Leah ventured.

“Blind Man’s Bluff it is then,” Rose agreed, turning to Diana. “Well now, darling, who is going to be our blind man first? You? Or me?”

Diana’s smile was brilliant as she pointed to herself.

“I shall go first,” she replied.

“Very well then,” Rose stated, reaching for a clean napkin to use as a blindfold. “Let us begin.”

Everett paused in the hall when he heard laughter.

He’d been looking for Rose. An invitation had come to his desk, and instead of sending a servant to alert her, he’d decided he wanted to deliver the news in person.

He’d been wary of her ever since she’d kissed his forehead in his office.

No one had ever shown him such tenderness, and it had alarmed him.

In fact, he was not used to such tenderness at all in terms of giving or receiving.

What he wanted, he took without sweetness, and the women he was used to would praise his brutality.

Yet as the days passed, Everett found himself moving away from lustful thoughts of bestial taking and instead looking up from his work with excitement every time he heard a knock on his door.

After several interruptions where Everett conjured Rose’s face and was disappointed that it was not her, he accepted something.

Even if he was wary of her, he wanted to see her.

It was strange and confusing, but as the hours passed into days without seeing her, it also became frustrating.

Still, he hadn’t wanted to approach her without a reason, and so when the invitation came, he felt he had the perfect excuse.

He’d looked in her rooms, the library, the solarium, but found no trace of her.

Finally, he found Mrs. Mulberry, who surprised him with the information that Rose was holding a party for the girls in the sitting room.

He headed toward the room immediately, ready to scold her for being so extravagant with the girls- yet when he’d heard the chorus of laughter, he’d stopped, and felt all of his frustration melt away. How long had it been since he’d heard his nieces laugh? Since he’d heard Rose’s laugh?

Quietly, he stepped toward the door and peeked in.

A smile broke through his frown as he saw Diana and Leah giggling with their faces poking out from behind the curtains, and a blindfolded Rose standing in the middle of the room with her arms outstretched.

Lopsided paper crowns adorned all of their heads, making them look even more adorable.

Even Rose, though fully grown and past the age of adolescence, appeared innocent and adorable in her lopsided pink crown.

Another peal of beautiful laughter left Rose’s smiling lips as she continued to search blindly for his hidden nieces, and it sent a shock to both Everett’s mind and heart.

How had he not noticed how beautiful that sound had been before now?

“Where are you girls?” Rose sang softly. “I can hear your giggles. Are you hiding from me?”

“We shall never tell!” Diana called out, then giggled once again as she ducked behind the curtain.

Before Everett thought to stop himself, he was pushing the door open and walking in.

Leah’s eyes went wide as she saw him, looking almost apprehensive.

The curtain then moved, as if she had elbowed her twin, and Diana soon poked her head back out; her eyes matching her sister’s as she saw him.

He could not blame them, he supposed. They were still leery of him, and that was his fault.

He decided then that no matter what his workload was, he needed to make more time for them. After what they’d lost, they deserved it. Needed it. And he did not want to be distant with them the way his father was with him, even if they weren’t his own children.

With a smile and a wink, Everett put his finger to his lips. Their wariness vanished, and they both smiled widely before disappearing once again behind the curtains. Quietly, he stepped toward Rose, stopping just a few paces away before her.

His gaze dropped to her lips. So plump and pink they were, accented somehow by the blindfold she wore. Devilish thoughts flashed through his mind then, and he imagined her wearing the obstruction for an entirely different sort of game.

“I know you are close,” Rose said, taking a tentative step forward; her arms outstretched. “I can hear your breathing.”

Everett suppressed the urge to laugh. How long had he felt such fun without a drop to drink? It had been ages since he’d been this sober and smiled at the same time.

Rose continued to make her way toward him, but instead of trying to stay out of her grasp, he stood still. He wanted her to touch him. Had craved it since their night on the dining room table. Flashes of their hot, passionate kisses flashed through his mind, stealing his breath.

Closer. That’s it. Closer… he silently implored.

When her soft, small hands finally made purchase on his chest, his body sang with instant need. Even through his shirt, he could feel her heat, and he drank it in greedily.

Before him, Rose frowned as she touched him and began to push her hands around his chest and down over his abdomen.

“What is this?” She said, allowing, prodding him.

“Girls, did you move the furniture?” She called out. “You know that is against the rules.”

Everett had to hold his breath to keep his laughter in as the girls poked their heads out from the curtain again. In unison, they called out, “We did not!”

“Well then,” Rose muttered, her searching hands moving lower down his abdomen, “What is this…”

Everett finally broke his silence with the clearing of his throat when her hand slid down his thigh and sent another shot of need straight to his loins. His body had reacted to her touch immediately, and the last thing he wanted was an obvious erection in front of his nieces.

Rose immediately ripped the blindfold off. Her eyes went wide as she saw him, then wider still when she looked down and saw where her hand was.

“Oh, goodness!” She exclaimed, her hand flying off of him as if he’d burned her; color flooding her cheeks.

“Having fun?” He asked with an amused grin.