Page 81 of The Scottish Duke's Deal

“Then don’t treat me like merely Penelope’s father one moment,” Ramsay shot back, “and dismiss me the next.”

She looked away, her jaw tight, her arms folded across her chest like armor.

His voice dropped, roughened now. “You’re afraid.”

“I am not,” she said quickly, too quickly.

“You are,” he pressed, stepping closer. “Because if you admit it feels like a family… then it hurts more when I leave.”

She flinched. He saw it, and stepped in again, closing the space between them.

“If you want me to stay,” Ramsay said, low and certain, eyes fixed on her mouth, “say the word.”

Eleanor blinked up at him. Her pulse surged in her throat. “I don’t know what I want.”

“Liar.”

“I’m not—” she started, but the protest came out breathless.

“I know what I want,” he murmured.

Her breath caught.

And he took another step.

“I want you.”

Eleanor backed up, her skirts brushing against her ankles, until her heel caught on a patch of uneven ground. She wobbled?—

But Ramsay’s hand was there. At her waist. Firm, steady. Branding.

She froze.

“You don’t mean that,” she whispered, throat tight.

“I do,” he said simply.

She swallowed. Her mouth was dry, too dry. Her pulse thudded in her ears.

“You say these things?—”

“Because I feel them,” he said, stepping in. No hesitation. No smirk. Just truth, warm and rough and terrifying.

“You kissed me,” Eleanor’s voice trembled, barely more than a breath.

“Aye, I did.” His voice was low, rough like gravel.

“And now what?” Her voice cracked.

Ramsay’s thumb traced a slow line beneath her ribs, fingers dragging fire up her spine. “Now,” he murmured, “I ask if you’ll let me do it again.”

Her breath caught. Her chest ached like it was breaking open from the inside. Her hands trembled at her sides, fingers curling against empty air.

She stared at him. Not just his face but the look in his eyes. That maddening, unbearable look of fierce hunger barely held in check. “You’re leaving,” she whispered, voice breaking.

“Not today.”

And then, he reached for her. And this time, she didn’t stop him.