Page 12

B eatrice looked over her shoulder. It wasn’t that she was scared to wander the streets at night, she had done it several times by now. However, she never snuck to a Duke’s house and asked to see him.

She crossed her fingers as she knocked, hoping she had the right address.

She cursed herself for not giving herself enough time to plot this adventure better.

She should have waited until tomorrow night to do this so she could have taken her time when she snuck into her mother’s study to go through her correspondence for an address.

But Beatrice was done waiting. Now she was standing in front of large, darkened door, hoping she read the address she found on a discarded envelope right. She dug in her pocket for the envelope and pulled it out just as the door opened.

“Who goes there?” A tired voice mumbled through the darkness.

“Um, it’s Lady Beatrice Morsey.” Beatrice shuffled her feet and tried to peer through the crack of the door. “I’m here to see Duke Graham… that is if he is not indisposed.”

A ragged sigh floated through the sliver of an opening. “Unfortunately for me, he is never indisposed.”

The door widened and Beatrice was met with a man most likely in his late seventies with bags under his eyes. He barely lifted his arm as he ushered her in.

“Come in then. I’ll take you to him, but you’re out of luck if you want anything. I won’t wake up Mrs. Sanders.”

Beatrice was too busy trying to calm down her racing heart to be offended by the butler’s demeanor.

She waved him off. “That’s fine. I won’t be here long.”

The butler huffed. “They never are.”

“What was that?” She asked.

The butler shuffled past her, ignoring her question.

Beatrice held her cloak close to her as she followed the butler down the dimly lit hallway to what she assumed was Graham’s study.

He opened the door without a knock and held his arm out in front of him. On a normal day Beatrice would find the butler’s actions disrespectful and off-putting, but due to the nature of her visit she had other things to worry about.

She stepped into the study lit by a single lamp on the Duke’s desk and a dying fire in the fireplace. The low light cast shadows that danced around the room as the Duke sat his desk flipping through papers, mumbling to himself.

Beatrice turned to the butler but the door was already closed and the butler gone. She retuned her gaze to Graham and opened her mouth to say ‘hello’ but something stopped her.

Her eyes caught the movement of his arms as he turned a page in a ledger book. His forearm muscles, bare from his sleeves rolled up, flexed causing her stomach to flip.

When was the last time she saw a man’s forearm? Nervous laughter almost bubbled out of her but her curiosity tempered it. Her eyes tracked the veins and muscles as they moved and flexed against his taught skin as he lifted heavier tomes to skim through.

She never thought that a man’s arm could be so fascinating, yet here she was salivating over one.

The Duke leaned back in his chair, his hands immediately coming up to rub up and down his face. As his body pushed further back into his chair his shirt pulled against his chest and abdomen showcasing a tight and muscular frame. A small squeak escaped her lips causing Graham to drop his hands.

His eyes zeroed in on hers.

“Lady Beatrice, to what do I owe the honor of your presence at,” he squinted at his time piece, “one in the morning?”

Beatrice licked her lips. This is what she came for, no point in delaying the inevitable.

With a deep breath Beatrice took a timid step forward.

“I’m here to accept your offer.” Once the words left her mouth she felt bare and exposed.

Her hands fiddled with the belt at her hip.

“That is, if it is still something you wish to offer.”

Graham’s eyes darkened as his lips slipped into an easy smile. “I make a lot of offers, mouse, you’ll have to remind me of which one you are referring to.”

Impatience and embarrassment flashed through her body. Of course he was going to make her say it. There was no confusion as to why she was here.

Stealing her spine she took another step towards the sitting Duke.

“I want your help completing the items on my list.”

Graham licked his lips, his fingers slid underneath a book to pull out a familiar square of paper.

My list.

Beatrice’s heart thudded at the sight of her list in his hands once more. There was something intimate about a man holding on to her deepest and darkest wishes. Even more was that she was coming to said man to help her fulfill them.

“This list?” He purred.

Beatrice sighed. This man and his games. “Yes. That list.” She said pointedly.

Graham considered the list in his hands. “Before I concede to my offer, what made you change your mind?”

Her body tingled at the memories of her own wandering hands exploring her body enflamed her cheeks. She turned her head slightly as she dropped her eyes.

There was no fooling Graham. He gasped. “You are a daring creature, aren’t you?”

Graham stood and sauntered to where she stood, refusing to meet his eyes. He placed a single finger under her chin to pull her head up. Her eyes lifted to his. To her surprise she didn’t find ridicule or jest, but pure interest?

“Did you touch yourself, little mouse?” His voice was gruff and caused Beatrice to shutter in his grasp.

She nodded slightly.

Still holding her chin by his finger he took a step closer to her, their bodies almost touching. Beatrice’s body thrummed from the heat growing in her belly.

“And did you like it?” His words brushed against her lips causing that growing heat to ignite a fire within her, causing licks of flames to turn her body into molten lava.

Again, she nodded within his grasp. No words would come. She was completely entranced by this man and his words.

“One last final question, my little mouse, did you think of me?” His lips touched hers as his whispered words created shock waves that shook her to her very core.

With one slight nod from Beatrice Graham’s lips fully connected to hers. Her knees gave out from the intensity of his attack but his arms reached around her waist and pulled her to him.

He picked her up and pushed her up against the door to his study. Her mouth opened for him, welcoming in his exploring tongue. She moaned against his kisses as her hands trailed up his muscular arms, oh his delicious arms , and found purchase in his hair.

She gave a slight tug. His answering growl into her mouth had her squeezing her legs together. Her core was exploding with sensations that had her body moving against him in ways she never thought to before. Much like how her hips bucked against her own hand earlier in the night.

Graham pulled back, setting her down on the ground. He leaned his forehead against hers.

“My offer still stands, however, I have my own list that you must follow.”

Beatrice would have vowed to never read another book again if it meant she could kiss this man again. Instead of offering him anything, she once again shook her head.

She was starting to think she had forgotten how to talk around him.

“You must do everything I say, like you did tonight. Can you be a good girl and do that for me?”

Beatrice’s eyes rounded as she licked her lips. His words made her feel dizzy. She shook her head in agreement, unaware of what that could possibly mean. She just knew that he seemed pleased with her and that was all she wanted in this moment. Well, that and another kiss.

Her eyes drifted down to his lips, plump from their kiss. She would agree to much more than just her compliance if it meant he would kiss her again.

“Without question.” He added.

His clarification cleared some of the blissful fog that had infiltrated her mind.

“Without question?” Her unused voice squeaked.

It was Graham’s turn to just stand there and nod his head.

Every so slowly he lifted his head up and down.

The stubbornness she inherited from her mother clawed from deep within, pushing her to fight against his command.

She was not some pliant young woman. She had ideas and intentions and no man was going to stand in her way.

Her eyes dropped back to his wet lips and that stubborn little voice was squashed by desire.

She bit her lip and shook her head, secretly hoping that her compliance would award her another kiss.

Graham dipped his head. “Good girl.”

Gooseflesh erupted across her skin and once again her legs squeezed together hoping to relieve the growing tension that brewed between them.

“Uh-uh.” He shook his head. “I need you to say the words, Beatrice.”

This blasted man!

Beatrice whimpered. She began to feel overcome by sensations. Her clothes felt too tight, the air too thick, his presence, too overwhelming, his scent, too intoxicating.

She closed her eyes to calm her senses.

“Open your eyes, little mouse. I want to look in your eyes as you agree.”

Beatrice opened her eyes at his direction.

“I will do as you say without question.” She surprised herself with how stable her voice sounded considering her insides were shaking like leaves on a tree during a storm.

He raised an eyebrow.

Confused she tilted her head until his meaning dawned on her. She cleared her throat. “I, uh, will do everything you say… like a good girl.”

Pleasure and desire flashed in Graham’s eyes.

He took her head in his hands, tilting it to take her mouth at a delicious angle. He pushed her back against the door once more. Her hands came up and held onto his bare arms as his tongue pushed into her mouth.

Feeling his muscles flex under her touch caused her hips to instinctually push against him. The world melted away around her as her body molded against his hard, lean one.

His mouthed moved down her throat and left a trail of heat in its wake.

Beatrice whimpered against his assault, her mind at war between wanting his kiss on her lips or for him to continue on his journey south.

Her core was clenching, needing attention and the idea of him moving down her body had her raising up on her tiptoes to help him move faster.

She could feel a smile warm his lips as he placed a gentle kiss on her décolletage before fully standing. Her eyes opened up in confusion.

“What… why did you stop?”

Graham righted her cloak with a wolfish grin on his face.

“Think of that as us signing our contract.”

Beatrice stared up at him with longing. “But there is nothing stopping us from starting now.”

Graham let out a small chuckle. “You are ever the eager one, aren’t you?” He walked over to his desk and flipped open a book.

Beatrice remained leaning against the door, her fingertips touching her still tingling lips.

Graham nodded at his book as he pointed to a page. “There are some things I need to get in order but I will send word when it’s the appropriate time to see to the rest of your list.”

Beatrice stood and fiddled with a button on her cloak. “That’s it? I just wait?”

Graham sat in his chair like he didn’t just upend her world with a kiss. Was his body throbbing like hers? Was his mind whirling with what could have been?

She considered him. He looked calm and collective. Beatrice didn’t know whether to be impressed or insulted. Her eyes drifted around his study. It was full of books and trinkets from various landmarks, proof of a man well-versed in life and experience.

If she was going to enter into this agreement with him she needed to step up to his level. If he was cool and collected after they sealed their deal with a kiss, then perhaps she should follow his lead.

She stood straighter and buttoned the rest of her cloak. “Very well. I will await your word. Until then… goodbye.”

Beatrice hesitated before she turned, hoping he would call her back.

When he only looked on with a cunning smirk she dipped her head and turned.

She clenched her core as hard as she could as she walked out, hoping to give off the air of confidence.

Her knees were still shaking and her heart was racing but she was determined to prove she was up for the challenge of whatever he had in store for her.