Page 36 of The Scottish Duke's Deal
It was fierce.
It was a claim, a question and an answer all at once. His mouth met hers with raw intent, with possession veiled in silk and fire.She felt it like a jolt. Like her own breath turning traitor. Her body stilled then ignited.
It was devastating.
His mouth claimed hers with a hunger that startled her—as if he’d been waiting for this, starving for this. She gasped, and he took the sound like an invitation, deepening the kiss. His hand moved to her waist, drawing her flush against him. Heat exploded in her body.
She had never been kissed. Not like this. Never touched like this. Never wanted like this. And if she had been asked to describe it, she would have failed. His lips were rough, insistent. His body was solid against hers, every inch of him reminding her just how real this was.
It was ruin.
It was surrender.
And she never wanted it to stop.
He kissed like a man who didn’t believe in second chances. Like a man who had chosen this, chosenher, and meant to claim what he had decided was his.
His fingers slid into the loose edge of her sleeve. Not far. Not improper. Just enough to set her skin on fire.
Her hand fisted in his coat. Not to push him away. To anchor herself. To hold on.
When he pulled back, it wasn’t far. Their breath mingled in the space between them. Her lips tingled. Her body trembled, but she didn’t move.
“Still think I chose you for convenience?” he said, voice hoarse.
Ten
“Hold still,” Kitty murmured, tugging the silk ribbon through its final loop. “I swear you’ve shrunk since breakfast.”
The room smelled of lavender and old wood polish, and Eleanor could hardly breathe. Her corset was laced too tightly.
“I haven’t,” Eleanor replied, voice light though the breathlessness made her sound uncertain. “You’re just more nervous than I am.”
Kitty gave a small laugh, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself. I’ve already done the bride part. This time, I get to fuss from the sidelines.”
Eleanor glanced toward the tall mirror across the room. Her reflection stared back: a stranger in white silk and pearl pins. Her ash-blonde curls had been swept half up, soft ringletsframing her face. A duchess in the making. The thought made her stomach turn.
“One week,” Kitty said quietly, stepping back to admire her handiwork. “Exactly one week since that man stood in my drawing room and proposed to you. And Norman—oh, Norman was so relieved he looked as though he’d finally gotten a good night’s sleep.”
Eleanor’s lips curved. “He didn’t even pretend to be surprised.”
“No. Because your brother is not blind.” Kitty smiled faintly. “You were the only woman the Duke of Stormglen looked at that night. Everyone noticed.”
Eleanor looked down, her cheeks warming.That night. That kiss. It had burned through every thought she possessed, seared straight through hesitation. She hadn’t given the marriage a second thought. Of course not, when he’d looked at her like that after the trail of fire he left on her skin.
The silence stretched between them. Outside, a carriage rolled past, wheels grinding against gravel. Kitty turned away, smoothing invisible creases from the edge of Eleanor’s gown.
Eleanor watched her in the mirror, her reflection too composed to be real. She barely recognized herself beneath the silk and pearls. Would she vanish beneath the weight of a title? Would she remember who she was, once she became someone else’s wife?
“I feel as if I’m giving up something,” she said quietly. “Not just my name. Something more than that. I don’t know if I’ll ever get it back.”
Kitty’s hands stilled.
“You know,” she said, voice softer now, “when Norman proposed to me, I thought it was the end of everything I’d wanted. I thought I was giving up my freedom, my independence, my—” she hesitated, eyes flicking to the window, “—my old dreams. But I was wrong.”
Eleanor turned to her. “Were you frightened?”
Kitty laughed again. This time, it was quieter. Sadder. “Terrified. I thought he was saving me from scandal because he pitied me. And in a way, he was. But he also started loving me along the way. I didn’t understand that at the time. I just… kept waiting to feel like myself again.”