What the Duke Wants(23)
“Dear Miss Lottie. I can assure you that anything you were about to disclose is likely already known by me. Murray is entirely predictable.” He shrugged his broad shoulders.
Carlotta tried not to notice how his jacket accented just how broad they were. So she pried her gaze from his jacket to his eyes.
Which was a mistake. They were warm, inviting, and harboring a delightful twinkle. It was a deadly combination, so she glanced to his lips, which reminded her of their kiss. Was there anywhere she could focus her attention that wouldn’t cause her mind to freeze up like a shallow puddle in January?
Desperately trying to gather her wits, she blurted, “Murray sneaks the girls sweets.”
She glanced down to the floor. Clearly, it was the only safe place to rest her gaze, everywhere else simply was too much.
****
“Pardon?” Charles felt his jaw drop. When Carlotta said his butler led a secret life, he was anticipating… well he wasn’t sure what but it was not that he was smuggling sweets to the girls.
In fact, he didn’t remember ever seeing Murray around the girls.
“Are you quite sure?” Charles asked, his tone disbelieving.
“I had the same response,” Carlotta replied with a wry grin. Her berry red lips were twisted up to one side and her green eyes danced with delight.
“I say… I didn’t think he had it in him.” Charles shook his head then turned his attention to his old butler once more, studying him in a new light.
“Yes. Bethanny said that they reminded him of his granddaughters.”
“Murray has a family?”
“It would appear so.”
“Oh, I suppose I never really thought about it.”
“Apparently,” Carlotta murmured. Charles rather thought he wasn’t intended to hear, so he pretended that he did not.
Just like he pretended not to smile.
Charles watched Carlotta as she tilted her head, studying Murray. Her neck was graceful and slender. Her body radiated warmth that wasn’t felt as much as sensed. It warmed his soul. Her lips drew his attention once more as they tipped into a small smile, one of innocent amusement.
It had been a long time since he saw a smile like that.
Oh, he had seen plenty of smiles. Too many. Most of them directed towards him with some degree of selfish intent. But a smile that was innocently taking joy without requiring anything in return… that was as rare as hen’s teeth. Especially in the ton.
So he stared at her, memorizing the way her cheeks curved causing her eyes to squint slightly. Like a refreshing breeze in the stifling heat of summer, he let her fresh innocence wash over him.
Until she turned.
Clearing his throat, he tried to appear as if he weren’t caught staring.
Which he most certainly was.
But being a duke did have its advantages. If he didn’t speak of it, then most people would pretend it never happened.
“Why were you staring?”
Of course, most people didn’t include her. No, that would have been too bloody lucky.
And apparently, all luck had flown out the window once she had arrived.
“I was… taking delight in how my butler clearly amused you.” He spoke smoothly, praying urgently that she’d not question his answer.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, but she nodded. “We are all ready to depart, your grace. The girls… they were wondering if you were going to see them off?”
“The girls?” he asked, searching her eyes intently for a hint of whether she was wishing for his presence as well.
“Well yes…” Her brow furrowed as she met his gaze.
And because he couldn’t help but ask, “Just the girls?” He leaned in, closing the distance and inhaling the alluring scent of apricots and fresh laundry.
“I—I—” she stammered. Her eyes widened, her sooty lashes brushing her winged brows as she struggled to answer his forward question.
He shouldn’t have glanced to her lips. It was a miserable idea. Come to think of it, he didn’t actually think about glancing there, but was drawn outside of his own will. He needed to see them. To commit them to memory. She was leaving.
Of course, she was leaving at his behest; however, that didn’t mean he didn’t wish the circumstances were different.
Why couldn’t she have been an impoverished earl’s daughter?
Her lips parted as she took in a deeper breath.
This time Charles took a split second to think, to consider exactly what he was doing even as he proceeded to close the distance between their lips. He could have backed away, he could have quipped something witty with his devil may care attitude.
But he didn’t.
Damning his own weakness, he admitted that he was indeed powerless against her.
And as his lips brushed hers, he thought that maybe, being powerful was overrated.
She stiffened as his lips caressed hers, causing him to hesitate before deepening the kiss. His body demanded more, aching for more but he held himself firmly in check.
Of course, now his self-control decided to make an appearance.
He teased her lower lip with his tongue, inhaling deeply so that the full effect; her scent, her taste, the slight sound of her breathing all added to the symphony of her kiss.
He’d never heard more beautiful music.
She relaxed slightly, just enough to encourage him and he pressed his lips slightly firmer against hers, increasing the pressure and sliding his tongue along the seam of her lips. She trembled, but didn’t back away. His hands moved to her shoulders, resting on them and memorizing the texture of her dress, the shape of her arms as his hands traveled down to her fingers, where he held onto her dainty glove-covered hands.