Page 12 of The One With the Wayward Duke (The One With the Wanton Woman #5)

I F MISTER HIGH AND Mighty All Revered Protector Your Grace the Duke thought he was going to get away with treating her like that, he was dead wrong. It took one second of her looking at the closed door to make up her mind and run after him. Sanity be damned.

Blasting through the door she caught him unaware. Perfect. That was exactly how she wanted him.

Wait. How had he already managed to undo his cravat in that short span of time?

He must have had his fingers on it the second he turned around.

And oh…that exposed patch of skin…her nipples perked up.

They were more than a little alerted of the fact that he had some chest hair peeking through the opening in his shirt.

“Did you just come in here to blink at me? Or did you have something to say?”

“Blink?” Her eyes shuttered closed and open again. “I mean, what?”

“What are you doing here, Freya? You already made up your mind about me.”

“Did I?”

“Didn’t you?” He threw his cravat onto one of the night tables and then took both hands to scrub his face.

“I did.” Wait. That’s not what she meant, was it? “I mean, I thought I had…erm…parts of me had.”

“What are you talking about?”

If she only knew…so far her heart was confusing the hell out of her.

She thought she knew love. But she couldn’t have been further from the truth.

She had only been in love with the idea of love, and the men that had supposedly loved her had only loved one dimension of her.

Whether that was her looks, the image she presented to them, or something else superficial.

But then Tobias came along. From the moment they met, she had felt safe with him.

Something in her spirit knew something about him.

It was like immediately upon knowing each other they were already sharing a secret.

Little did they know that the secrets they actually held were each other’s worst nightmares.

She was the runaway bride he resented. He was the domineering man she wanted to be free of.

And yet…as confusing as her heart was…her mind was pretty sold on him. Never mind her traitorous body. That part of her had come to its own conclusions upon their first touch. Now that her mind was catching up, it didn’t seem like there was any going back.

And all she could think of was that patch of hair. His touch. And a pink leatherbound book full of ideas that all of a sudden she felt compelled to try with him.

It couldn’t be that easy though, could it? A person didn’t just run into love, did they? But maybe it made sense. If one ran away from the counterfeit enough times, surely they would run into the real thing eventually.

And she had to know. She had to finally make the choice, speak up, make the first move, say the first words.

She wouldn’t be the one responding this time.

She would be the one initiating. And as hard as it was for her to say something—anything—she forced herself to take control of her life, so she said, “You’re not supposed to be the one. ”

“Which one?” His eyes looked wary, as though he wanted to just sleep away this day. She couldn’t blame him, but she didn’t want to sleep it away. She had other plans, and she only hoped he might come to feel the same way.

“The one I want to do…certain things…with.”

“What things?”

But she couldn’t answer that yet; instead, she declared herself. “I’m supposed to choose who I…fall for.” And though it required significant effort, she maintained eye contact with Tobias as she awaited his reply. Widened eyes and a slack jaw gave her a small margin of hope.

“It doesn’t work like that.” He took a step closer, his eyes darkening. “You don’t get to choose.”

“How do you know?” It was barely a whisper.

“I know perfectly.”

“How?”

His face was inches from hers, and she could feel his warm breath against her cheek as he answered, “You think I would have chosen to fall for you?”

It was hardly fair for her to feel offended, but she did all the same. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly how it sounds. I wouldn’t have chosen to fall for a woman who just left her groom at the altar. Now would I?”

He felt the same way as her? Already? In a single day, no less. His feelings must have been mirroring hers, to some degree, all day.

“What does this mean?”

“What do you want it to mean?”

“I can’t follow my heart anymore, Tobias. It’s been leading me astray this whole day. Longer than that.” She exhaled to steady the racing heartbeat she felt within her veins, like hundreds of horses in a stampede. And this time she was pretty sure she knew their destination.

“If not your heart, what else is speaking to you then?”

This was the moment of truth. Could she make the move that she had been desperate to make with a man despite not yet finding the right one? And now here he was in front of her. The least likely candidate, yet the most appealing. Never had she been so drawn to a man, as if she were under his spell.

What else was speaking to her? Besides the universe offering him up to her on a silver platter? Well, there was one part of her speaking quite loudly, but she decided to generalize.

“My body.”

His hands were at her waist, and her fingers slipped easily over his chest. His mouth tucked against her ear and whispered, “Follow your body then.”

Moving up on her tiptoes, she pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. “Let’s follow it together,” she murmured.

Her body tensed awaiting his response. She could feel his chest puffing out in an inhalation and then slowly releasing the breath. His heartbeat rapped against her fingertips, the same ones itching to sneak under his shirt.

He widened his stance and she felt enveloped by him. His size. His strength.

“Do it.” Two words and she was undone. Her body melted against his, her fingers dove under his shirt. The ache between her legs pressed into him. She was met by his lips on her throat. His hands in her hair. His hardness against her stomach. A place she was desperate to feel.

More. All. Everything. Everywhere.

She moaned her desire, and he gripped her more tightly.

One hand sliding down to her bottom. Her breath caught.

Frantic for more. Overwrought with tension.

Her aimless impulses left her distraught.

But then she recalled the book. It empowered her, bolstered her confidence.

She remembered that her room had a settee, so his must as well.

As fate would have it, it was behind him.

She pushed him down into the chair and stood between his legs.

“Take this off of me,” she commanded him. His fingers flew to the few ties and buttons holding her together. Quickly, he unwrapped her, his fingers grazing every available inch of her along the way.

When he was done, he looked up expectantly.

“You’re the sun…and I’m orbiting around you.

” His hooded eyes caressed her body and she felt seen.

Appreciated for who she was, even though he knew the worst about her, he still saw the best in her.

Feelings were stirred up within her, threatening to boil over.

Stifling them was her only option in this moment. She would be a fool to say more.

But there was something else she wanted, though she couldn’t say it. She pointed to his breeches, indicating that they needed to go.

“Say it,” he hissed. “Tell me exactly what you want.”