Page 16 of The One With the Scoundrel of a Duke (Wicked Widows’ League #31)

T HERE WAS NO STOPPING Audra from finding Lucas.

Not nighttime fast approaching. Not fear’s claws sunken into her ankles.

Not the skepticism that was sure to follow.

And—ahem—not Wallace walking down the corridor with that pink leatherbound book.

And that had been a bit tempting. She had kind of wanted to ask him about it…

or perhaps, not the book itself, but more importantly where he was off to with said book.

But she didn’t. She flew right down the corridor, straight to Lucas’s room.

Determined, she didn’t let up her pace. Not down the corridor, and not in life.

She was not going to live like a victim anymore.

Yes, life had happened. It had dealt her both a wonderful and then a horrible hand.

One that she would never get over completely, but she was not going to live a shell of a life.

She wasn’t going to just tread water in hopes of just keeping her head above it.

No. This was her life. She was going to live it fully.

She was going to swim. She was going to rest. She was going to find a damn boat and throw herself into it.

With a hasty, perfunctory knock on Lucas’s door, she entered the room, not waiting for his reply. Nothing was stopping her. Not the closed door. Not her nerves. Not—ahem—Lucas in his breeches, and nothing else. Bare chest. Bare feet. And solid muscle.

Oh my.

There were so many thoughts flashing through her mind.

Like wave over wave. Her short time with him on and against the pianoforte had not been enough.

He had made her come multiple times, and even though she had decided then that that would be the first, last, and only time for them to be together, her heart had fought every ounce of that decision.

She was such a fool to think she could stay away from him. The pull was too strong between them.

Even now, knowing she needed to tell him so much, her body was shooting all kinds of pangs of desire throughout her limbs.

And her mind? It would not let up. The ache between her legs pulsated, tapped out a rhythm that only he could sing to and match.

She wanted to push him down on the bed and take her pleasure riding his solid cock.

His hands would be all over her body, squeezing her, massaging her, holding her.

Another picture crashed down on her, her on her knees in front of him, sucking on his shaft.

His hand would be fisted in her hair, clamping her in place, until he unloaded in her mouth.

She wanted it all with him, but not just physically.

She yearned for the love deep within his heart that she knew he wanted to share with someone, but hadn’t yet done so.

That he would choose her, fall for her, love her…

it was too much. No. That’s what she had thought before.

Now that she knew she deserved love too, it was perfect.

There was nothing more perfect than him. Flaws and all.

“Audra?” he asked calmly as he placed his shirt on the table. “Is something wrong?”

And yes, wasn’t that the perfect question he could have asked her.

“Yes,” she answered breathlessly. Like the weight of the world was finally going to slide off of her shoulders. Like treading water could finally cease. Like he was the boat she had been waiting for all this time. “It’s all wrong.” But the words weren’t coming to her as easily as she hoped.

“What’s wrong, darling?”

She loved that he called her that, even after she rejected him. It proved his strength and determination as a man. His kindness, his passion. She still had a place in his heart, despite not giving him what he wanted right away.

He may have been a rake, but that was in the past. The way he was with her…

she trusted him. He was the kind of man who didn’t belittle an old woman for her mistakes in a card game.

He was the kind of man who helped a friend with a special license when needed.

He was the kind of man to hold her and dance with passion.

He was the kind of man to throw himself into a river to save her.

He was the kind of man to speak his heart, damning the consequences, and more importantly, he was the type of man to stick around when he didn’t get his way.

He was the exact kind of man she wanted for herself.

“It’s all wrong, Lucas. What I said before, I was wrong. I can do this. I can do us.” He smiled at that. “If you want to…do us.”

“I want to do you,” he smirked. “And us. But I have to ask what changed your mind.”

“So much. I don’t know where to begin. I just know that I’ll never be ready. But love didn’t wait for me to be ready.”

“Love?”

“I think I’ve fallen in love with you?”

“You say that like it’s a question,” he stepped toward her, with his broad shoulders and those amazingly corded forearms, “but it shouldn’t be one.”

“No, it shouldn’t.”

“So…do you think you’ve fallen for me or do you know your heart?”

He was so close now that any words she spoke would land straight on his chest. “Yes, I know.”

He leaned in, dipping his chin. “And?”

“I’d like to get in the boat.”

“And which boat would that be?”

“Whichever one you’re on.”

Then he took her in his arms. “I like the sound of that,” he murmured, placing a kiss along her jaw. “Fortunate for us, I have a boat right here.” He was pulling her toward his bed. “It’s quite comfortable, but I think I’ve already mentioned that before.”

The kisses were coming in faster than the words now, and his hands were gripping her waist. Could feel his fingers digging into her.

So she jumped.

And as she jumped, he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his strong torso.

“Does this mean you’ll marry me?”

“Yes. I love you, Lucas. I’ll marry you.”

“Tomorrow?”

She laughed. “Whenever you want. I just want to live my life full of love.”

“That’s good because that’s all I have for you.”

And words to a song played in her ear.

Love, again and always, shall be honored.