Tall, Duke, and Dangerous (Hazards of Dukes #2) - Megan Frampton Page 0,79
a friend, someone who knows me and will understand what I want.”
A few weeks ago he’d felt as though he barely knew her, and now she was saying he understood her? He barely understood himself.
She shrugged. “Otherwise, it will all be left to chance depending on which of the flower senders I eventually accept.” Her scowl left no doubt as to what she thought about those gentlemen, which made Nash feel a strong sense of relief. “But there will be someone eventually that I might consider, and I’d rather know things firsthand rather than rely on the talk I heard belowstairs as a servant.”
He had forgotten that. She would be so much more aware of what occurred between a man and a woman than other young ladies of her class due to her upbringing. Did it scare her? Worry her?
Or perhaps pique her imagination?
Because goodness knows his imagination was surely piqued, and he hadn’t spent much time thinking about it when he wasn’t doing it before. Now it seemed that was all he thought about when the person he was doing it with in his thoughts was her.
“And besides,” she added, not realizing he’d already agreed in his mind, “you’re my friend, so I know you won’t expose me to any kind of scandal.”
“It seems we have a bargain,” he said at last. “You’ll teach me about flowers, and I will teach you how to fight and how to fu—”
“Nash!” she said, her eyes wide in shock.
He put his hand over hers, the one that still rested on his arm, and drew her into his body, locking his gaze with hers. “Fuck, Ana Maria. You need to know how to say it if you’re going to do it.”
She licked her lips, and her breath was coming faster. “Fuck,” she said at last, emphasizing the hard k at the end, a sound that seemed as though it shot straight to his cock. “You’ll teach me how to fight and fuck.”
Chapter Sixteen
You’ll teach me how to fight and fuck.
She couldn’t believe she’d actually said the words, much less want them to happen.
But she had, and she did, and now she had an additional mission: show Nash the beauty and wonder of flowers as he taught her the beauty and wonder of what could happen between two friends who were more than friends.
Friends who were going to fuck.
“Ana Maria!”
Octavia snapped her fingers in front of her face, startling Ana Maria out of her reverie.
“Of course,” she said with a smile. “I apologize, I was thinking of . . . something else.”
Octavia grinned. “I can imagine. It is a good thing I am so busy with Miss Ivy’s, or I would be insisting on all the details.”
The thought of that made Ana Maria turn tomato red.
“Ha!” Octavia pointed an accusing finger at her. “I knew it!” She rose up on her tiptoes and lowered her voice. “I find you very attractive, Lady Ana Maria. Nearly as enticing as my brandy, or not speaking when I’m spoken to.”
Ana Maria collapsed into laughter at Octavia’s very credible imitation.
The two ladies were taking afternoon tea in Ana Maria’s salon. Octavia used to have a tradition of taking tea with her older sister, but now that Ivy was married to Sebastian, the two of them always seemed to be “busy,” as Octavia reported with a waggle of her eyebrows and a gusty sigh.
Like Ana Maria, Octavia occupied an in-between place in Society; she had been born a squire’s daughter, but had accompanied her sister to London to open a shockingly scandalous gambling den, so her reputation was not what it could have been.
But on the other hand, she was the primary hostess of one of London’s most intriguing gambling clubs, so her reputation among certain types had soared.
Ana Maria got the impression that Octavia didn’t care about things like reputations, anyway, so her working at the club suited her perfectly well.
“But since I am purportedly a lady, I will not ask you about the enormous behemoth.”
“Isn’t that redundant?” Ana Maria asked, reaching for a biscuit.
Octavia gave an enthusiastic nod. “It is, but it suits, doesn’t it?”
It did.
But there was so much more to him than his size, though that sounded odd even in her own head. He was sweet, despite his protestations to the contrary; he was courteous, despite sometimes seeming like a giant at a miniature tea party; he was protective, as she knew from all of her interactions with him.
“You’re mooning again, Ana Maria,” Octavia chided.