Page 30 of Her Rogue of a Duke
Yet, when she had teasingly hooked her leg over the edge of the tub and flashed him that sultry little smile, he had found what very little restraint he had left, faltering. Something had overcome him. Something dark and primal. He had needed to claim her body right then and there, and the fact that he had held back from taking her completely was a testament to his iron will.
Why could he not seem to control himself around her? No other woman had ever challenged his self-discipline to such an extent. Despite his repeated resolutions to keep his distance, he foundhimself irresistibly drawn to her, captivated each time they crossed paths, and yearning for their next encounter. Even now, he was waiting with bated breaths for her to return.
He gazed down at the dress in his arms and envisioned how it might look wrapped around her delectably petite figure. He knew she would look dazzling, but the thought of her dancing with another man while adorned in the gown he had chosen twisted a coil of jealousy in his stomach. This unfamiliar surge of possessiveness frustrated him. He was not a man prone to jealousy, nor one to fixate on a woman, especially one who was his neighbor and had made it abundantly clear that she held no such feelings for him. Yet here he was, grappling with emotions he'd never expected to confront.
Nevertheless, herrejectionseemed to be in word only, as her body was proving time and time again to not only desire him, but to practically crave him. The manner in which she responded to his touch, to his kiss, and to his whispered words in her ear made it clear to him that she wanted him almost as much as he wanted her. But… Joshua was more than well aware, especially when regarding his past trysts, that simply because she might have been attracted to him physically, did not necessarily mean she harbored any real feelings for him.
Or, rather, it did not mean that shelikedhim—as he was beginning to believe, somewhat begrudgingly, that he did, in fact, likeher, despite how easily she was able to infuriate him.
Shaking his head to dispel such thoughts from his mind, Joshua edged closer to the door to try and make out what was going on in the room beyond.
“Really, you needn’t worry about me, Abi,” he heard Francesca say with a friendly laugh. “I am not ready to dress. I will call for you when I am.”
“If… if that is your wish, my lady,” another voice said, presumably Abigail, the maid. “I could at least replace the water in the tub—"
“No!” Francesca interrupted, her tone panicked. Joshua winced, fearful she was going to give them away. Regaining her composure, she quickly said, “I mean, not yet, please. I am still enjoying the steam trapped in the room. It is helping me to breathe a little better. I have been a bit sniffly the past few days, you see.”
Joshua was silently impressed with her quick wit. He waited to see if the maid took her word for it.
A brief silence followed, before the maid finally responded, “Understood, my lady. Ring for me when you require assistance.”
“And not a heartbeat sooner,” Francesca chimed, and Joshua found himself breathing an almost audible sigh of relief.
He listened as the outer bedchamber door was slammed shut, then took several steps back so he was not hit when Francesca flung the bath chamber door open. She had replaced her towel with a dressing gown that was cinched tight around her slim waist.
Giving him an exasperated look, she released a long breath. “That was close,” she sighed, shaking her head. “Too close. We should not have put ourselves in that situation. That was careless of us.”
Joshua silently nodded. But he had no intention of feigning regret for their encounter, for he genuinely didn't feel any. He did not, and he would not pretend to. Should he have joined her in the bath and touched her as he had? Perhaps not. It was far from proper and gentlemanly of him to have put her in such a compromising position, but he could not get the look of her face consumed by absolute pleasure out of his mind.
A part of him knew, deep down, that given the chance to see that expression again, he would take it in a heartbeat.
“Yes, careless,” he agreed with a sigh. “We shall need to be more careful next time.”
She blinked at him, flagrantly stunned. “Next time? Joshua, there cannot be a—”
“Actually, the reason I came to see you in the first place was to bring you this,” he said, cutting her off calmly. He extended the gown toward her with a boyish grin.
Her reaction was one of confusion, her gaze flitting between his face and the dress. “What… what is this?” she stammered.
“A gown,” he simply stated. “I purchased it for you.”
Her eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Why would you do that?”
“For the grand ball tomorrow night.”
“I have dresses already.”
He shook his head and smirked. “None like this.”
Gently, he unfurled the dress, revealing it in its full splendor. Francesca’s eyes went wide as she gazed at it. Tentatively, she reached out and ran her hand lightly along its delicate lace sleeve.
“It is beautiful—no, magnificent,” she whispered. “I… I do not think I have ever set my eyes on a gown as splendid as this, let alone worn one.”
Joshua swallowed past the lump in his throat as he watched her reaction, her face lit with awe.
“The, uh, seamstress will be here tomorrow,” he said, practically choking on his words. “You will need to try it on to see if any adjustments are necessary before the ball.”
She arched a brow and studied him a moment longer before finally saying, “Thank you. This is very generous of you, Your Grace. I… I was not expecting something like this.”