When a Duke Loves a Governess (Unlikely Duchesses #3) - Olivia Drake Page 0,75
her face, all pert manners and sapphire eyes, charming her way into his heart.
Yet he oughtn’t be feverishly wondering how he could smuggle her upstairs to his bed to spend the night in a heaven of heated lovemaking. Now more than ever, Tessa must be forbidden fruit. Intimacy would lead to disastrous consequences for everyone—Tessa, Sophy, his family, himself.
He simply could not indulge in an affair with his daughter’s governess.
With the utmost regret, he broke off the kiss and pulled air into his lungs in an effort to clear his passion-fogged mind. Then he disentangled himself from her arms. “Tessa … we can’t do this.”
“Mm.” She nuzzled his throat. “But I like kissing you, Carlin. Don’t you like kissing me?”
The tickle of her warm breath on his skin sent a bolt of temptation straight down to his loins. “I like it entirely too much. That’s why you’re returning to the nursery right now.”
By a forceful application of willpower, Guy sprang up from the chaise, then offered his hand to assist her to her feet. The moment she stood upright, however, Tessa swayed against him, her fingers clutching at his shirt. An infectious giggle tumbled from her lips as she looked up at him with dancing eyes. “Oh, dear. My foot must have fallen asleep.”
At her giddy smile, he fought back a grin. “Tessa, surely you can’t be bosky from one glass of wine.”
She shook her head in vehement denial. “Oh, no, I feel perfectly fine. Though the wine was delicious, by the way. Might I have more, please? There’s really no need for me to go just yet.”
Guy wrapped his arms around her slender form to stop her from reaching down to the table for her glass. “Not another drop.”
Keeping Tessa glued to his side, he guided her to the partially open door of the study. He must ensure she made her way back upstairs without being seen. It had been unpardonably reckless of him to have engaged in that steamy embrace when anyone might have walked in.
“Oh, no! It seems Cinderella has lost her slippers.” Tessa twirled away from him and lifted the hem of her gown to allow a provocative view of slim ankles and toes clad in only white stockings. In the doing, she bumped into the door, shutting it with a click. “Perhaps you’d be so kind as to walk me back over to the chaise. I must don my magic slippers before the clock strikes twelve. Otherwise, you might turn into a frog.”
Guy was so much taken with this flirtatious side of her that they were halfway across the study again before he realized he ought to have just fetched the shoes for her. “I believe you’re mixing your fairy tales.”
She tapped a finger to her cheek. “That may be so since they’re all new to me,” she said. “I’ve read any number of wonderful stories to Sophy these past few weeks. Did you know that in Mother Goose’s Tales, there are children who live in a shoe?”
As Tessa seated herself, he knelt before her and picked up one of her plain leather slippers, so much more practical than a lady’s satin heels. “I daresay it was a bigger shoe than this one.”
“Perhaps like the ones worn by the giants in Gulliver’s Travels. Have I thanked you for sending that book up to the nursery?”
“I’m pleased to hear you enjoyed it.”
Those inadequate words couldn’t begin to describe how much Guy wanted to give her all the books that she hungered to read, all the knowledge that she had been denied, all the experiences that a woman of her keen intellect craved to learn. Though he knew it wasn’t his place to provide a governess with an education, his desire to do so persisted nonetheless, especially after what he’d learned about her today.
Then he made the mistake of glancing up at her.
Forgetting about the shoe he was chivalrously restoring to her foot, he found himself riveted by the way the firelight gilded her smooth skin and buttercream hair. A few curls had sprung loose to give her the enticing look of a woman who had just arisen from bed. Most captivating of all was the soft, sensual smile on her lips.
She leaned closer and glided her fingertips over his cheek, and that gossamer touch sent another dart of heat through him. “Please don’t ever turn into a frog, Carlin. I like you much better as a man.”