Scoundrel of My Heart (Once Upon a Dukedom #1) - Lorraine Heath Page 0,16

to part those luscious lips in invitation, to stroke his tongue over hers, to deepen the kiss until her fingers clutched his shoulders and her sighs wafted around him.

He watched the delicate muscles at her silky-smooth throat work as she swallowed. Had she ever pondered what a kiss between them might be like? Would she object if the hand he’d clasped around her nape drew her in closer? To ensure it didn’t, he eased it away and clutched the back of the bench instead. “If you truly want to know, meet me on the front drive after everyone has gone to bed tonight. With no chaperone.”

She blinked, studied him. “That would be scandalous.”

“Only if you’re caught.”

She touched her tongue to her upper lip, before gnawing on the lower. God, she was considering it. A strange sense—he suspected it might be elation—coursed through him. He’d expected her to dismiss his challenge out of hand, not contemplate its merits. “If you meet me, you can write to Kingsland that you’re an adventurous sort.”

“You think I’m not normally?”

“Are you?”

Slowly, she shook her head, seemingly embarrassed by the confession. “I never do anything I ought not.”

“Whereas I do everything I ought not.”

“Is it more fun, I wonder?”

“It gives me stories to tell.” He bent toward her. “Don’t you want a story to tell, Lady Kathryn?”

He couldn’t have felt her gaze traveling over his face more solidly if she’d used her fingers to trace every line, dip, and curve of his features. Why he suddenly yearned for a more intense scrutiny from her was beyond comprehension. He wasn’t usually slow-witted, but he couldn’t seem to think beyond her, beyond this moment, wondering what might be ruminating in that clever mind of hers. Would the duke appreciate a woman who could bring him to task? Would the duke want a woman who made him wonder what the devil she was thinking?

“Why are you being so accommodating, providing me with information on how I might snag Kingsland, especially when you seem to have such a low regard for him? Do you wish to see me miserable?”

It was the last thing he wanted for her. “Just because he selects you doesn’t mean you will be forced to marry him if you decide he’s not for you. Although, perhaps you’ll be well suited.”

She ran her finger along the edge of her escritoire. “But why are you offering advice? Why are you helping me to secure him? We were always at cross-purposes before.”

“Perhaps I decided that it’s time we weren’t. Besides, I already explained that I’d rather you help me up the stairs if I’m drunk.”

“But in the morning, I’ll return to my parents’ residence, so I won’t be about to help you. What do you gain?”

Why was she being so suspicious? Why could she not simply accept his help and her good fortune? “A waltz.”

Obviously displeased with that answer, she furrowed her brow and puckered her mouth. “But you could have had that by merely asking. Why have you never asked?”

“You always were quite clear regarding your aversion to second sons.” And he’d always taken it personally, although now he understood her reasons. Didn’t mean he liked them, but he understood them.

“Not an aversion, but it would do me no good to encourage one. I’m sorry if I gave the impression that you were somehow . . . less.”

“I never took offense.” Lie, but he saw no point in making her feel badly about it, when conditions over which she had no control had been placed on her.

She scrutinized him with a deliberation he’d never observed in her before, and he feared she was attempting to delve into his soul, wretched and mired as it was.

“Oh, there you are!” Althea called out as she rounded the curve in the path that allowed for some privacy for lovers who took advantage of the bench.

While he simply leaned back and crossed his ankles, Kathryn gave a guilty start and jumped to her feet as though being caught so near to him was a sin. Or maybe it was her musings that had bordered on the sinful. Maybe she hadn’t been searching his soul but had been contemplating sending her fingers on a search over his person. “I was working on my letter to Kingsland.”

“Then, I suspect you could use a bit of a respite. Shall we go for a ride in the park?”

“That would be lovely.”

“Griff, would you care to join us?” Althea asked. “Your presence would save me having to