Page 17 of I Never Forget a Duke (The Night Fire Club #1)

I t was good that the distance between Adele’s room and Hugh’s was a few steps across the hallway, because a longer walk might have caused Adele to lose her nerve. As it was, she hesitated before knocking on his door. And then her fist seemed to fall upon the wood.

He opened the door wearing only his breeches and stockings. Adele was momentarily dumbstruck by the wide expanse of his finely muscled chest, his athletic body, and the dusting of hair across his torso.

He smiled.

“May I… speak with you?” she asked.

“Of course. Do come in.”

Adele stepped into the room and saw that one of the earl’s old trunks was open to the side with Hugh’s new clothes neatly folded in it.

“You are packing,” said Adele. “I did not mean to disturb you.”

“You aren’t. I am happy for your company. What did you want to speak to me about?”

Adele took a deep breath. Here went nothing. If he refused what she was about to ask of him, it wouldn’t matter, because she would never see him again past tomorrow. And if he said yes, well, she would cherish the memory of this night for always. “I have something of a proposition for you.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Indeed?”

“I have given this some thought, so I do not wish you to think I arrived at this idea on a whim.” And she had thought about this quite a bit, nearly constantly for the last two days, and thought her logic infallible.

Hugh looked mystified. He sat on the foot of the bed. “What is it?”

She was nervous. She could not predict what he would say, but she would hate herself if she did not ask. “I will bungle this,” she said.

He reached for her hand and wrapped his much larger one around her fingers. “I will be patient.”

“I don’t want there to be any expectations between us. I do not know what the future holds. If it should come to pass that we are separated permanently tomorrow, I do not want to have any regrets.”

He nodded, though he still looked confused.

“We are… that is, you find me attractive.”

“Yes. Immensely.”

“I came to you tonight because… well, I never had a chance to… that is, I was once engaged to be married, but that relationship was never consummated. And now that I face a prospective future life in which I may never know the touch of man, well, that future is unbearable to me. And I thought that, since you are here and we both find each other… attractive… that perhaps you would…”

She looked at his face but could not read it. Her mouth went dry and she could no longer speak. She’d put all of that in the room, and he only stared. Mortified, she dropped her head.

“Forget I spoke. I will just…” She started to leave the room.

Hugh still had a hold of her hand and pulled her back. “What is it you want, Adele?”

She loved how he said her name, like she was precious to him. “This is your last night with me, and I would like for us to spend it together.”

He nodded. He tugged on her hand so that she was sitting beside him. Then he kissed her softly, and she thought she’d been spared mortification. Her heart beat faster and stronger in anticipation of what was about to happen.

Hugh ran his hands through her hair and let a few strands slowly trail through his fingers. “You never wear your hair loose like this.”

“No, I… it would be bold of me to… that is—”

“I like it this way.” He turned his head slightly and focused his gaze on her face.

His eyelids lowered, and she realized he was looking at her lips.

Then he bent his head and captured her mouth with his, kissing her a little more strongly this time.

He plunged his fingers into her hair and cupped the base of her head with his hand.

She opened her mouth to let him in and put her hands around his neck.

Then he pulled back slightly. “Are you sure? Do you know what you’re asking me? ”

“Yes. I’m certain. That is, I’ve never… but I want to experience this. I can’t go to my grave without ever…” Adele struggled to even find the words. Hot embarrassment burned her face.

Hugh nodded but was quiet for a long moment.

“You have…” Adele continued to blubber. “That is, you must have some experience… er, bedding women. I know you don’t remember, but…”

He smiled. “I think there is an instinctual element to it. That is, I cannot precisely remember any prior encounters, but I feel that I must have had them. More to the point, Doctor Willis warned me that I might have certain… male problems, let’s say, as a result of the head injury, but I am happy to report that I am not experiencing those problems.”

Adele had only the foggiest notion of what he was talking about. She’d received a cursory talk about what happened between husbands and wives from her mother weeks before her scheduled wedding, but had no clear frame of reference.

She let out a breath. “I want one night with you. That is what I am asking.”

“Then one night is what you shall have.” He let out a sigh. “It is less than I would have hoped for, but realistically perhaps all we have. Is that is what you are telling me?”

“Yes.”

He touched her hair again. “Then I shall endeavor to make this night far surpass your expectations.”

He kissed her, which was a good start. Adele didn’t really have many expectations, except the few things she understood about how things should be between men and women and her own body talking to her.

As Hugh trailed his fingers down the sleeve of her dressing gown, she felt warmth bloom in her chest and her heart begin to pound.

Unable to resist, she put her hands on his chest. “Is this all right?”

“Yes. Please, touch me anywhere you like.” He leaned close and nipped at her jaw.

She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.

As he slid her dressing gown off her shoulders to reveal her nightgown, he said, “Please do anything to me that strikes your fancy. If I do not like it, I will tell you. And I expect the same for you. If I do anything that you do not like or that does not feel good, tell me and I will stop. Is that a deal?”

“Yes,” she said breathlessly.

“Good. Because a night like this should be about pleasure. I want you to feel good. Understood?”

“I understand, yes.”

“Perfect.”

He stood and held out his hand for her. So she stood up next to him, and as she did, her dressing gown slid off her arms and onto the floor.

“Leave it,” he said. “Raise your arms as if you and I are about to waltz.”

She followed his instruction and spared a thought for some fantasy world in which Hugh and Adele waltzed in a crowded ballroom with all of the ton looking on.

In her fantasy, the crowd tittered about what a beautiful couple they made, how happy they looked together, how plain Adele Paulson had blossomed in her marriage to the Duke of Swynford.

She closed her eyes and touched his chest again, sliding the palms of her hands over the hard planes of it, and hooked her hands behind his neck.

“This is not proper waltz technique,” said Hugh.

“Do you mind?”

He grinned. “Not at all.”

He put his arms around her and swayed gently, as if they were dancing.

Then he pressed a hand against the small of her back and pressed her against him.

Only her delicate nightgown separated her bare skin from his, and she pressed against him, from her breasts to her knees.

He kissed her as they swayed back and forth, which made Adele feel more certain of her decision.

Whatever was about to happen would be magic. She wanted to remember every second.

Her nightgown was a flimsy thing. She’d chosen to wear it because it was barely there and she thought he might find it enticing.

It was a little big on her, though; she’d likely lost a little weight in the time she’d been working for the countess.

But that meant that Hugh could easily slide his fingers under the fabric near her neck.

He undid the buttons that went down the front of the shift like he was unwrapping a gift.

She gasped at the realization that he was about to see her nude.

“Do not feel shame,” Hugh said, gently removing her fingers from where they clutched her gown closed. She hadn’t even noticed she’d done that. “Never feel shame. You are a beautiful woman. And most men love women’s bodies.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Most men?”

“Somehow I know that some men also like men’s bodies. Which is not… that is, I do not know if I am supposed to know that or if it is socially acceptable, but… well, suffice it to say that I love women, and what I know of your body arouses me, and I would like to see more of it. Do not feel shame.”

Adele was so touched she couldn’t speak.

She was nervous, but she would push any shame away.

Instead she dropped her arms and her breasts seemed to burst out from between the buttons.

Something changed in Hugh’s gaze, darkened it.

He ran his hand over one breast and her nipple hardened under his palm.

He bowed his head and kissed her as he slid the nightgown off her shoulders and it pooled at her feet.

Instead of shame, she felt arousal. She’d experienced desire before, but this was something else entirely.

As Hugh scooped her up into his arms, she felt her skin tingle everywhere, but especially near her breasts and between her legs.

She wanted more of whatever this was, wanted it to grow stronger, wanted to go somewhere with Hugh.

He gently lay her on the bed and gazed at her for a long moment before his hands went to the placket of buttons at his waist. He leaned down and a little awkwardly removed his stockings and tossed them aside, then began to unbutton his breeches.

Adele stopped breathing.