Page 11 of The Duke’s Hellion (Duke Dare #3)

A fter that morning, Sam needed a quiet walk in the garden. His body was charged and he needed a few minutes of peace. Mimi being afraid—no, terrified—of dogs was playing in his mind. She was a strong, independent woman. It was odd to think of her having a weakness that debilitated her.

As he strode down one of the more isolated paths, he heard an odd sound.

A grunt.

He moved closer to the rose bush blocking his view.

He was pretty sure there was a stone bench on the other side.

The perfect place for an assignation, but who would be doing that in the middle of the day?

Joan and James most likely. Reassuring himself that nothing was amiss, he was about to turn when he heard the voice more clearly this time.

“Right there…” came the tight plea.

But that was not the voice of Joan. And he knew that not because he knew Joan’s voice so well, but because he knew Mimi’s voice, and this was hers.

He moved even closer to the rose bush. What the hell was she doing? And who was she with? She was obviously over the dog incident, thankfully.

“God, why are you so hard?” her voice complained on a small whimper that sent a jolt straight to his cock. She shouldn’t be saying those things to anyone else. No, she shouldn’t be saying those things to anyone at all.

He didn’t want to be listening to this. He shouldn’t be eavesdropping. She almost sounded like she was in pain, but then again, there was a fine line between pain and pleasure.

“Just a little bit further…” Her voice was now settling itself into his bones. His muscles were involuntarily twitching in ways he needed to stifle.

“Bend…”

Bend? What the hell was she doing? And with whom?

There was a burning rage…an inferno of fury that was simmering, about to explode.

Unleash on the man she was with. Likely that addlepated idiot Roger.

Boring, bland Roger. The bacon brain hadn’t even noticed her fear of dogs.

He had played it off as some kind of dislike, or perhaps he hadn’t even recognized anything was amiss.

He had actually encouraged the dog to play, but based on Mimi’s eyes, a dog playing, and a dog attacking weren’t different things to her.

He had been the one to step in. Thank God he did.

He was pretty sure he had prevented Mimi from a mortifying experience, at least, more mortifying than it was.

But then when he turned around she had swooned? What the deuce was that about?

“Yes! There it is.” Pleasure riddled her tone and addled his brain.

This woman was an innocent and he was overhearing her in the throes of passion, albeit slightly odd phrases. But who was he to judge?

He really shouldn’t interrupt this. Then again, he really should. He had to. This woman couldn’t keep herself out of trouble.

Sam rushed around the bushes fighting all ten steps as to whether he should march in with eyes open or not. But as he always did in life, he chose eyes wide open.

“Mimi, I must insist you stop—”

“Sam?” Mimi’s eyes flew up to what he could only assume was a disheveled appearance.

Upon choosing eyes wide open, he had decided that raking his hands through his hair five times was necessary, as well as loosening his cravat slightly.

It had grown deucedly more difficult to breathe with each step that brought him closer to her.

A clatter caught his attention. Her bow dropped to the courtyard floor.

His eyes flickered around. She was alone.

With her bow. Nothing was amiss. Except her heaving bosom, which, really, he couldn’t help but notice since her breaths were so short and shallow, thus causing a slight jiggle in places where he really shouldn’t be looking, and causing a rambling in his brain where order normally reigned. “Wh-what are you doing?”

“I’m restringing my bow.” Her brows furrowed. “Should I stop?”

“N-no.” He shook his head.

“You don’t just get to barge into my life and take over, telling me what to do and what not to do. I’ll restring my bow wherever I damn well want to.”

“Yes, of course.” Her response, part of it made perfect sense.

Certainly, the woman could restring her bow wherever she wanted to, so long as it wasn’t a euphemism for something else.

But the part about him barging in on her life?

As if that was something he did often. That part made no sense.

What was she upset about? Hadn’t he just offered her protection in more than one way?

Couldn’t she just be grateful? This woman was driving him to drink.

*

She didn’t need it, she kept telling herself, but she took a nap after everything that had taken place that morning.

The incident with the dog had left her shaken on so many levels, and she had tried to regain her equilibrium by focusing on a task she loved and knew could absorb her full attention.

Only to be interrupted by Sam. He was everywhere, upsetting everything.

So yes, she probably did need a nap actually.

Before all the events of the evening could take place, Mimi didn’t see any harm in resting her head a little.

Perhaps her pride a little as well. But mostly her heart.

If only she had known what kind of dreams would visit her in her short repose, she might not have been so quick to toss her tresses on the pillow.

Then again…she may have chosen to do so for a longer period of time.

And now as she sat running a brush through her hair, she could no more prevent the thoughts of the dreams from entering her mind than she could stop air from entering her body.

It had been so vivid. They had been on a beach.

She was wading in the water, watching a storm approach.

A voice shouted at her, and she promptly ignored it.

The shouting continued until the body was right beside her and she could no longer pretend at anything.

He asked her what she was doing here, but she gave him no reply.

With closed eyes, she faced the water, letting the waves lap at her feet.

The water was cool, refreshing. She waded deeper into the receding waters.

She remembered what came next as if it had been a reality. A growl and a sudden move. Strong arms. A warm body.

She couldn’t finish the thought as the memory produced a shiver up Mimi’s spine. Her grip on the brush tightened so that she didn’t drop it.

Back on the beach, she saw the dream in the mirror. Sam threw her over his shoulder and hauled her back to the sand. He was reprimanding her, though she didn’t know what for. His voice was harsh, yet it was washing over her like the waves, tickling her feet.

He stopped. Placed her on the ground, but the momentum had caused her to stumble back.

In an effort to regain her balance, she reached for him but only managed to grip his shirt.

Not expecting her quick movements, he tumbled down with her.

His arms bracketed her on either side, his weight inches above her.

But her body was aching to feel his heaviness now that she knew what he felt like.

She wanted to feel the weight of him, the strength of him, the man-ness of him, all over her.

The image in the mirror was blurry, her eyes stung. The ache between her legs. The tremble in her hand. Her lips parted. Just as she had felt upon waking immediately, now again, she wanted to touch herself—

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

The brush clattered down on the table.

“Mimi,” Nobi’s voice rang out, “are you ready for this evening?”

Her sister entered the room, Mimi was too stunned to approach her. She needed a moment to collect herself.

Nobi gasped. “You’re not even dressed.”

Mimi shook her head. The nap was supposed to have offered her a reset; instead it only further confused her.

“I didn’t know which dress to choose.” That was true.

What she didn’t offer up was the reason for her indecision.

Which color, which style, which cut would look best on her?

Normally she would answer that for herself.

Whatever she wanted to wear she would wear.

There was no question of impressing someone else.

For the first time ever, only the other night, she had chosen a dress for someone else.

She had hoped to capture Roger’s attention.

At the time she had wanted to prove to herself that she could do it (wear a scandalous dress) and get what she wanted (Roger pledging his undying love for her).

But tonight…tonight when she was about to pick out a dress, she stopped herself.

For the first time, as she grazed her finger along the satin dresses, she wanted to know what someone else might think about her.

It wasn’t about herself or impressing anyone.

It was about one man’s true opinion of her.

And she wanted it to count. She wanted…she took a deep breath in…

she wanted him to see her. Fully. That meant seeing past the dress.

But that was the vexing part of it all. Roger was her destiny. Fate had pointed him out. Yet…every encounter since the store had not lived up to her expectations. If fate was handing her her future, shouldn’t love be blossoming?

“Mimi, did you hear me? I asked you what you are going to wear.”

“I don’t know.” She felt a bit dazed. From the afternoon. From the dream. From the realization about her wardrobe.

“This isn’t like you. Are you all right?”

“Which dress do you think suits me best?” Mimi asked her sister.

Nobi crouched in front of her, meeting her eyes. “I think you suits you best. Just be yourself, dear sister. Don’t worry about what’s on the outside. It doesn’t matter. It has never mattered to you. Why should it now?”

Because my future is on the line. Because love is on the line. Because my life is hanging in the balance of this decision. Was what she wanted to say…but she couldn’t. It sounded too vulnerable for the moment.

“It shouldn’t matter, should it?”