Page 10 of Seven Nights with the Wicked Duke (Regency Beasts #3)

" W ho should I say is visiting, miss?" the aged butler of the Emerton estate asked. He looked down at her, his face a blank mask.

"Tell the Duke it's Lady Cecilia," she answered. Her heart thudded loudly in anticipation of the coming evening as she didn't know what to expect.

It had been a difficult task sneaking out of her estate with her brother's ever-watchful eye on her but she had managed it and that was why she had come so late.

The man nodded and led her into a receiving room to wait and she took the time to admire the elegantly furnished space.

The duke's home was well managed from the little she had observed on the outside and inside, his staff were doing a good job as well.

The wood floors shone from a good polish and the air was fragrant with spices and something floral.

"His Grace will see you in the dining room, Lady Cecilia," the butler announced returning to the receiving room and she rose to follow him wondering why he would ask to see her in the dining room.

When she stepped in, she eyed the intimate setting and table laden with small portions of a variety of dishes that appealed to her eyes.

She had included attending a luxurious dinner on her list but seeing it in the duke's estate surprised her. She hadn't expected him to begin so quickly. She wasn't even properly dressed for the occasion and ran a hand down her simple evening dress.

The man she was to meet came into the dining room dressed casually in a pristine white linen shirt, exposed at the neck and dark breeches that clung to his shapely legs. She eyed the smooth skin visible at his collar and swallowed, lowering her eyes.

"Good evening, Cecilia," he greeted, coming to her. "Shall we?"

He took her arm and he led her to one of the seats and helped her into it and she moved dazed by his attentiveness.

She had heard about his seductive ways that made even the most proper women lose their inhibitions but this charming gentleman before her surprised her.

She felt flustered and she didn't know why. She had known him for so long he should have been nothing more than a brother to her yet under his regard, she blushed like a girl before a gentleman she fancied.

She didn't fancy the duke, not in the least but he was starting to see him as a man and she didn't like that realization.

"Tell me about your list, Cecilia," he requested suddenly, surprising her.

"What inspired you to make it? I can understand the last item on your list and I would love to see you do it, but the others I cannot understand.

What would make an innocent debutante want to experience such scandalous things outside marriage and not inside it as she was taught? "

She forced herself to swallow the morsel she had been chewing, taking a sip of her wine.

"I am hardly a debutante, Your Grace," she said with a pointed look. "I have had two seasons."

"You're digressing," he tutted. "And you do not look much older than the debutantes."

"Still, it's no reason to treat me like a girl fresh from the school room. I am a woman capable of making her own decisions."

He eyed her, lingering at her cleavage and she felt as though she was back in that dark corridor with him. She didn't lower her eyes, noting he too remembered. He hadn't treated her as a little girl that night and he should remember that.

"You do not have to convince me of that," he conceded. “Still, you should tell me your motivations."

"It is not an interesting tale," she deferred, not knowing why she suddenly felt foolish telling him.

He gave her a blank stare that had her shaking her head.

She sighed and began her tale, being honest because she knew anything less wouldn't suffice with him. Somehow he would probe and point out any untruths and he could change his decision about helping her. He was just that insufferable.

"You know how my brother insists on finding me a husband himself," she said. "I can hardly trust him to find me someone who won't bore me to death and I do not want to be one of those wives who seek pleasure outside their marriage."

He nodded his understanding.

"After he threatened Lord Boxworth, who had been my beau, I was so angry and I decided I was tired of being sheltered by him," she said.

"I have read a lot of books but I have never felt that burst of attraction or desire as they described with any of the men my brother has introduced me to and I do not expect to.

I hope to find and experience the rush so it would give me memories for my lonely days of rebelling. "

"This is still an extreme way of rebelling," he remarked.

"Indeed but I was really upset with him and I just… I'm tired of being good all the time yet not deserving of his trust."

He went silent and the food she had once been enjoying tasted like chalk as she remembered what had led her into this situation in the first place.

To think the reason for her upset would be lounging at home sleeping in peace.

"I have some ground rules we will observe if I am to help you with your list, Cecilia," he told her. "I am in as much danger as you and I will not be forced to marry you because of a scandal if anyone were to discover us."

She nodded, understanding his reservation but she thought he had already agreed to help her and told him as much.

"That does not mean we will be careless," he answered seriously. "There are too many eyes and ears looking for the next scandal."

She had never seen this side of the man and she was tempted to laugh to ease the tension but she didn't dare.

She nodded instead.

"You are only to come here at night. How you choose to do so concerns me not but you are to ensure you aren't followed," he started.

"Also, I expect complete obedience from you.

If you are uncomfortable when we begin, you can tell me to stop but when I tell you to leave, you are to do so without question. Am I understood?"

She scoffed unable to help herself.

She didn't leave her brother's tight hold just to go into another's.

"Yes, your highness," she joked. "Shall I also polish your boots?"

He sent her a hot glare that kept all other jokes in her mind.

"Come here, Cecilia," he ordered.

She raised a brow at his tone.

He called her as though she were nothing more than a hireling to do his bidding and while it irritated her, she found it intriguing as well especially the sound of her name on his lips.

"Why?" she asked.

"Do not make me repeat myself, Cecilia," he growled. "I told you the rules already and you are not to disobey me. Come here now."

She rose reluctantly with a pout and moved to his side of the table, wondering what he wanted to say to her that he couldn't from where she sat.

"I'm here, now what…"

He pulled her on to his lap with one hand, holding her in place with the other hand.

"Your Grace, this is hardly proper," she protested. "What if someone walks in?"

He speared her with a look and took a sip of his wine.

"I believe we are past the point of propriety, little mouse," he chided. "I already told my staff we are not to be disturbed."

She felt some unease leave her but she was still uncomfortable with the thought of being in his lap. She had said she wanted to do certain scandalous things but that didn't mean it was with her brother's closest friend.

"I have my own demands if I am to help you with the list," he stated suddenly, placing his cup down.

She hadn't exactly expected him to help her without expecting anything in return so this turn of events didn't surprise her as much.

"Of course," she answered. "What are they?"

He didn't answer but held a fork with a piece of fruit on it to her mouth.

She eyed the morsel and looked and him and he nodded encouragingly.

He was feeding her now? With his own fork?

She had felt earlier she had made a deal with the devil but now she could confirm that indeed she had. He was pushing her beyond her normal boundaries and she was powerless to stop him.

She accepted the morsel and he turned to pierce another for her as casually as if they had always done so.

"I would like you to model for me," he said. "I want to paint a portrait of you. Preferably nude. But yes, a portrait."

"A portrait of me?" she echoed, trying to understand what he had just said.

"Indeed," he answered.

"In the nude?"

"Indeed."

"You would understand if I refuse, wouldn't you?" she scoffed. "Why would I ever agree to such a ludicrous idea?"

"No one will ever see it," he answered, rubbing circles into her thigh with a free hand. His eyes followed the movement of his hand as though it fascinated him. "Think of it as another secret thing you and I share."

And they shared scandalous secrets indeed.

His hand on her thigh caused heat to shoot up her legs to the core of her where a pulse she hadn't felt before beat. She felt uncomfortable as liquid heat pooled there and squirmed in his lap.

"But you would see it. See me. In the nude."

His intense green eyes shot to hers, filling her with dark promise.

"That is the point, is it not?" he asked. "Do not worry, I do not intend to behave in an untoward manner. Not even if you asked me."

She had never cared for the color of eyes before now but his eyes reminded her of the fields outside their estate in the country, her favorite place to be in the spring.

"All right," she agreed, surprising herself.

Somehow she trusted him to keep it purely between them and also she was curious about his artistic talent. There were many sides to this duke and each one he revealed to her fascinated her in turn.

"I expect you to employ the utmost discretion, Your Grace," she told him pointedly.

He nodded and eyed her lips, visibly fascinated. The way he looked at her left her breathless and wanting. She had never been so appraised by a man and she didn't know how to process it.

"I should…" she started to say, but before the words were fully formed, the duke claimed her lips in a kiss that stole her breath.

So this was what kissing felt like?

The Duke was punishing in his kisses but there was also tenderness in the way his lips caressed hers. Soft yet firm. He nipped her lips lightly and she gasped at the sensation that travelled all the way to her toes so she did the same to his lips, enjoying the way he groaned into her mouth.

He buried his hand in her hair, the other going to her thighs and she followed his lead, moving one hand to his hair and the other to his jaw. He groaned when she fisted his hair and pulled.

"Will you keep doing everything I do?" he asked against her lips with a smile.

"Indeed," she said with a smile.

He smiled and nipped her lip softly.

"You are a most willing student," he remarked.

"And you a good teacher," she praised, smiling against his lips when he kissed her again.