Page 18 of Kiss the Duke Goodbye

Laughing softly, she crossed to him with threads of love weaving through her heart. His jacket and greatcoat lay in a wad at his feet, his waistcoat and cravat scattered about. He’d unbuttoned his shirt, exposing the dark wisps of hair trailing to his belly. The bottle of whisky she’d bought last week sat, half-empty, on the table by his side. The chemist she’d purchased it from claimed that Islay, a Scottish island located in the Inner Hebrides, produced the best in the world.

She wanted her duke to have the finest of everything. Love did that to a girl.

Sighing, she went to her knee beside him. Hadn’t he read the note she’d left with Mrs. Newton? The trip to Surrey and back was set to take the entire day, and she hadn’t wanted him to worry. Nor had she wanted him to come along, even if he stayed in the carriage. Dealing with her father as a grown woman rather than an apprehensive child was an undertaking she had to accomplish on her own.

The visit had gone better than she’d anticipated. She’d cut the strings to one life and tied them to another. Walked away from a past that didn’t deserve more contemplation.

“Knox, darling,” she whispered into his ear. She pressed a kiss to his lips and took a joyous breath. He smelled of her expensive Scotch, leather, and the faint scent of vetiver.

He murmured sleepily, reaching around her to draw her close. “I’m dreaming.”

Tickling her nose against his cheek, she smiled. “No, you’re not.”

He blinked, slumber flowing from his eyes. They were wide andoh, so green. Like blades of grass in the spring. She’d never tire of gazing into them. “I thought you’d left me.”

She thrust aside the flicker of irritation with her housekeeper. He’d never gotten her note. Mrs. Newton was only protecting her from a powerful man she assumed was going to bring her employer trouble. Like the rest of the world, the two souls in this room were the only ones who’d ever understand. Cradling his jaw, she turned his lips to hers. The caress was soft, tender, and knowing. “Why would I ever leave you?”

Turning in a fury to his side, he caught her face in his hands and swept her into the most possessive kiss of their relationship. She fell into him, over him, where they tussled, fighting to deepen an embrace that merely ended with them toppling to the floor.

“Heavens, you’re heavy,” she whispered in a gusting gasp.

He shifted to bring her under his long body, nudging a table away irritably with his boot. “You’ve always liked it before,” he said against her lips, trying to dive in where they’d left off before the tumble.

Alas, she knew wherethiswould end up. They were the worst two for maintaining decorum once the kissing started.

She pushed his chest, forcing him back. “Knox, I have to talk to you.”

He paused, that haunted look returning to his face. Her heart ached for the boy who’d been so easily disregarded that the man thought it was an available option. “I don’t know if I want to hear this. If I can.”

Wiggling from beneath him, she hushed him by placing her hand over his mouth, where he promptly gave her a good nip with his teeth. “Ouch, you arrogant beast!”

He rose to his feet, exhaled sharply, and began to pace the room. He made it to the chess set where he fiddled with a pawn, a queen, then a rook. His instruction was ongoing, though his play had not improved.

Settling against the settee, Clarissa let him fidget. For a minute or more before she spoke. “I have a proposal to make.”

Halting, he propped his hip against the escritoire they’d nearly taken down that first night. She would never be able to work there without thinking about him exploring the most intimate parts of her and making them blossom, coming tolife. His lessons had been thorough and welcome. For this, too, she thanked him.

He’d captured not only her mind and heart—but her body.

He whipped his hand in a fast circle and gave his bootheel a pop on the carpeted floor. “Out with it. You’re killing me in slow degrees. A thousand cuts, don’t they say?”

Drawing her legs to her chest, she arranged her skirt carefully around her. She didn’t need him going off-course. There was plenty of time for thatafterthey’d decided their future.

Although Knox’s gaze tracked her like he held a bow in his hands and she was the target. He swallowed, shifting his legs to hide a reaction there was no use trying to hide, the darling man.“I’m losing focus, love, I have to admit. Maybe it’s the whisky. Or maybe it’s simply you.”

She smiled, pleased. Lifting her skirt, she gave him a brief, tantalizing view.

He groaned, but took her signal, staying where he was. His shaft, however, was an impressive sight, tenting his trousers.

Out with it, Clarissa, she reminded herself.

Hugging her knees, she propped her chin atop them. Nerves were racing through her belly and zipping out her trembling hands. “I went to visit my father. That’s where I was all day. He’s in the country, in Surrey.”

Knox cursed, impatience he rarely showed roaring to life. Growling, he shoved off the desk. “You went to bloody Surrey without me? To see that blackguard?”

“This was my battle to fight, Knox, not yours.”

His chest fell on a sigh. “Why, Clari?Whydid you go to him?”