Page 15 of The Mistress (Foxgloves #1)
AMELIA
“ T his is far more extravagant than I expected,” Amelia whispered to Thomas and Lydia as he escorted them around the Humphry’s Garden Party. She eyed the decadently dressed people promenading and laughing delicately in their pale-colored dresses and coats. The dresses were stylish but more appropriate for the day compared to the silks, skirts, and rich colors she’d seen at the Welsey’s Ball. The party surrounded an unnecessarily ostentatious fountain, taller than any man present. Servants circulated carrying equally decadent food that looked too pretty to eat and that would almost certainly make Amelia’s stomach sick with sweetness. She felt just as overwhelmed as she had when they had entered the Welsey’s ballroom, but at least she could breathe the open air here.
Had that really been only five days ago? Things were moving quickly. She had first met the duke almost two weeks ago, and in that time, they moved closer to each other with every interaction. He had yet to state his intentions to Thomas, which the latter had told Amelia and Lydia with poorly disguised annoyance after the duke’s departure from Coventry House the other evening. After all their conversations, the ease with which he’d stepped into their group, his desire to share his hidden sadness with her, and his parting words, Amelia found it easy to keep the promise she’d made the Duke of Birmingham. She trusted what she knew to be true. She trusted him, too. He was approaching their relationship in the way he believed right and good. He didn’t realize, or perhaps didn’t want to take for granted, how unconventional Thomas was as a guardian.
“It is little wonder why you never had us attend these events before, Thomas,” Lydia added in agreement as they continued to stroll around the Humphry’s garden. “Or why you avoid them with such enthusiasm yourself.” She eyed a cluster of young ladies watching them with indiscreet smiles and whispers.
“You get used to it,” was all Thomas supplied.
“I very much doubt that,” she muttered. She, too, had been irritated by the duke’s slow pace, but she kept that secondary to her unwavering support of Amelia.
Amelia couldn’t stop her eyes from scanning those in attendance looking for the Duke of Birmingham. It took her a few minutes before she found him already striding towards them. She felt the knot of tension ease in her chest. It wasn’t that she disliked these events so far, but she had yet to get her bearings within them. The ton also seemed less than accepting of new faces. Being with the duke allowed her to get her feet beneath her and concentrate on him, rather than paying mind to anyone else.
He walked directly up to their party, his dark hair tousled attractively from the light wind, adding an almost carefree effect to his sternly handsome face. Almost . None looking at his beautifully chiseled features, sharp emerald eyes, and rich attire would think him carefree. He was too strong, too powerful, too overwhelming to be anything else. And it was those same qualities that wrapped her in their safety when she was with him.
Amelia drank in the sight of him as he joined their group.
“Thomas,” he said with a nod before turning to her sister. “Miss Lydia, you look lovely as ever.”
“Thank you, Your Grace,” Lydia answered, appraising him with a greater hint of curiosity today.
“Miss Becham,” his already deep voice lowered intimately as he turned to Amelia. The sound embraced her senses, making her want to sigh in relief. His bright green eyes locked onto her, and she had that recurring sense of being trapped within his gaze. Only now, she was no longer unnerved by it. Rather, she let herself belong there, caught in that sea of crystal and green.
“Your Grace,” she smiled at him softly and watched his cool eyes warm in response. That also seemed to be a recurring response. One he had to her, and she absolutely loved it. Loved that her smiles made such a difference to this hard man. “It is wonderful to see you again,” she told him.
“Would you care to join me in a promenade?” he asked, offering her his arm. She took it without hesitation, and he led her away from Thomas and Lydia. Amelia expected them to follow, but she turned a moment later to see they had begun to stroll in the opposite direction. Likely to give Amelia and the duke their privacy while also enjoying some of their own.
Amelia felt the duke’s presence surround her. The rich material against her fingertips. The hard muscle she felt beneath it. The spiced, masculine scent. She loved that, as well. It was unique and wholly him. Deep, rich, and entirely male. It made her want to sink completely into it and breathe him into her every pore.
“I have missed you,” she said quietly, basking in the comfort of being with him. And she had missed him, even if it had been only two days since she last saw him. Her time with him was always so short. She wished she could have more, and less publicly so they could build on that trust they were starting to create between them.
“I love your honesty, my dear,” he replied. “Promise me you will always be this honest and never hide yourself from me.”
She scoffed. “I doubt it would be possible for me to hide from you, Your Grace, even if I wanted.”
“Gideon,” he corrected her as they continued to walk. She noticed and appreciated that he was leading her away from the other guests so they could speak more comfortably. “And why is that?” The smirk he gave her made her heart beat faster, and she felt the flush creeping over her skin.
“Because of you,” she shrugged lightly.
She saw a flash of confused amusement pass over his face before his arm slipped from beneath her hand to hold it instead. Having led them slowly away from prying eyes, he now whisked her hurriedly into a small maze built on Lord and Lady Humphry’s grounds. He didn’t say anything, just pulled her along as he searched. Amelia grabbed the skirts of her new pale yellow day dress and followed him willingly, giggling.
A moment later, he found a suitable spot. A small alcove built off the main path in the greenery with a stone bench nestled within it. Easy enough for passersby to miss if they weren’t looking directly at it. He led her over, and she took a seat before he did the same, angling his body towards hers.
He still held her hand in his as he grinned at her, clearly having as much fun as she was. His thumb began drawing circles on her skin, igniting it in the way she was coming to expect from his touch.
“You were saying?” Gideon prompted, his eyes focused intently on her, ratcheting her heartbeat back up and amplifying the sensations already coursing through her.
“Yes,” her voice came out breathy from the combined exhilaration of their hurried steps and his touch. She cleared her throat before continuing. “Because of who you are. To me, I mean.” She could feel the blush darkening her skin and moving down her neck.
“And who am I to you, Amy?” His voice came out low, as if they were speaking in secrets.
“I do not know,” she sighed, feeling vulnerable and safe with him. She looked off into the garden path as she continued, “But I do know you see me. All of me. Parts of me that I didn’t even know existed until I met you. You exposed me, even to myself. How could I ever hide from that?”
His free hand moved to cup her chin, tilting it up and urging her to meet his eyes. She did and practically preened under the fiercely possessive look she saw in them.
“You can’t,” he confirmed in a rough voice before moving his hand to the back of neck and pulling her lips to his.
He kissed her like a man lost to his desire, intensifying the heat that had already been growing under her skin from his excruciatingly soft touches on her hand. She felt a moan escape her, and his hand released hers to grasp her waist and pull her against him. His tongue coaxed hers into a heated dance, and the hand at her neck squeezed. She felt all the tension in her body fall away as she turned to liquid in his hands. Soft and pliant and his.
Amelia felt that need in her blood grow. The need for him. The need for more. Her hands moved over his chest, his muscles firm under his fine clothing. Moving on instinct, she curled one hand around the rich fabric, while reaching the other up to weave her fingers in the silky strands of his hair. He deepened the kiss with a groan, and warmth pooled between her thighs in answer.
He was everything. Everything, everything, everything. His hands on her, his lips on her, his tongue against hers, his scent around her. She was overwhelmed by him, and still she craved more. She craved all of him. All that he was to consume all that she was. And she wanted to devour him in kind.
She had never felt this before. This world-ending, all-consuming need. It had begun with that first kiss and only grown. Grown and grown, her body struggling to contain it.
His lips moved down her neck to below her ear, and she tilted her head so he could nestle into her. A sharp gasp left her as he found a particularly sensitive spot.
“Your Grace.” She didn’t recognize her own voice, nor did she know what she was saying or why.
Lifting his head slightly, his voice was a rasping whisper in her ear. “ Gideon ,” he reminded her before biting her earlobe. The whimper that left her was desperate and needy as the fire intensified in her core.
“Gideon,” she breathed. It felt right to say his name. She loved the feel of it on her tongue.
“Yes, Amy?” he murmured seductively between kisses, moving down to where her neck met her shoulder. She trembled in his hands.
A set of giggles broke through her lust, and she immediately shot back, extricating herself from Gideon and putting distance between them. Her head turned to the main path just as Gideon’s snapped up in the same direction. A small cluster of girls was scurrying away, their hands covering their mouths as they snickered at what they’d discovered them doing. Amelia and Gideon were so tucked away in the maze that the girls must have followed them in here.
“Oh, dear,” Amelia said, turning back to him. She wasn’t too upset. Yes, she would have much preferred their rendezvous to remain private, but she was far too warm and relaxed to mind the prying eyes and indiscreet giggles of some young girls. Besides, the duke, Gideon , had made clear time and again that she was his and he would care for her. She trusted him to remove any blemishes made to her reputation.
It was with that trust that she looked at him now. She noticed the annoyance etched onto his features as he stared after the girls. His expression was stern, mouth thin, when he finally turned back to her.
He blinked, taking in her face. Once. Twice. His gaze softened at whatever he saw there, and his voice held a small note of wonder when he eventually spoke.
“You are magnificent, Amelia.”