“An excellent suggestion.” Came the commanding voice nearest the exit. “And you shall be the seeker,” he directed Katherine. Katherine was beaming. Her cheeks had turned slightly pink, and twisted her right hand over her left forearm near her abdomen, and noticeably let out a soft sigh.
What the… why was Gregory encouraging this children’s game. Mary could hardly contain her bewilderment. She strained to catch Gregory’s eye but could not bring herself to try and fail.
Instead, she looked at Margaret. She didn’t know what message she was sending to her friend, she only hoped they would both make sense out of it.
Accepting the duke’s decree to play the game, guests ambled out of the room while Katherine closed her eyes and began to count.
Gregory had probably taken too much port. Or maybe it was the four shots of whiskey that did it. Why did he agree to this inane game? He had only wanted to escape the room and shut up Miss Katherine. Hide and seek at least meant he could escape the room and not be dragged into a less isolating game like Blind Man’s Buff. He should have left and gone to his room. He should have said to hell with what the guests would say if he up and left without so much as a by your leave. He should have pulled ducal rank and justified doing anything other than what he chose to do at that moment. But he didn’t.
Instead, he heard Katherine, somehow, nearly at one hundred already. He did not want to spend the next forty minutes, or next any amount of minutes, seeking hiders alongside Katherine, so he snuck into the nearest broom closet and pulled the door closed. At least, he tried to pull the door closed. Rather than reaching behind and feeling a doorknob, he felt fabric. And a soft warm body beneath. His brain caught up to his nose and he knew who it was, cinnamon.
“What are you doing here?” Gregory whispered as harshly as a whisper could sound.
“Ooompf!” She tripped over a rag on the floor and the two of them flew to the back wall. Her delicate hands were on his chest, he nose was in her hair, and one of his hands was somehow on that perfectly fitted waist again.
“I’ll tell you wh–”
“Sh!”
“Oh dear!” An overly loud Margaret emphasized. “I can’t believe you found me already.”
“Behind that fern in the hallway was not the most assiduous hiding place.”
Margaret faked a laugh, “Yes, I have much to learn about the game of hide and seek. Show me the great ways of seeking, and we shall find everyone in record time.” She announced all of this right outside the broom closet, inadvertently obscuring the door.
Gregory reached stealthily for the doorknob and held on with his corinthian strength. It would not do to be caught in such a confined space with Mary furled up in his chest. It would not do at all. Was this girl attached to his chest? Did she possess some kind of electromagnetic device he had just learned was discovered a few years ago?
“Let’s go down the hall. I’m sure others have found a much more astute hiding place than here in the hallway.” Their footsteps could be heard clipping down the hall.
Gregory breathed. A short breath. But some relief was better than no relief. For reasons unbeknownst to him, he didn’t move either of his hands away from their current positions.Hold the door closed, and hold on to this tiny waist.With a mind of its own, his thumb brushed almost imperceptibly up and down her waist.
Her breath caught and then Mary spoke. “What is going on with you? You are so angry and rude. Can you not let things go? What happened to you? You were always the confident one. The one who did everything right. Always holding on to what is proper and good. Who are you?”
Who was she to question him and his choices. He was the duke here. He had an estate to manage. She was just his sister’s friend. There was no attachment between them. If he wanted to behave like a rogue, that was his choice. If he wanted to check in on the estates and return to the continent, he could. If he wanted to throw all caution to the wind, he would.
“I don’t care anymore. I’m only here to ensure the estate doesn’t collapse.” But he was just regurgitating words he had told himself over and over again. Right now in this moment he wasn’t thinking about any of that. He was only envisioning her cascading hair over her creamy shoulders. He was thinking about whether or not he had enough room in this broom closet to lift her legs to straddle him while he squatted against the wall and let her ride his engorged member.
“It’s all I need to care about now. I can’t squander what…what…” he floundered for words and tried to grasp on to reason again. But he was grasping her waist so tightly now he thought she might push his hand away any second. He could feel his arousal thickening.
“I will not let this go to waste. But I don’t care about what’s proper anymore. To hell with proper.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Believe this.”
With that he dipped his head and kissed her.
Chapter 4
Theplanwastofollow him and call him out on his bad attitude. The plan was to finally stand up to him and tell him what an odious man he had become. The plan was not going according to plan.
His mouth descended on her in a hot flood. His passion encased her in fire. She could feel it spreading between her legs. This was not proper. This would not help her in finishing her play. This was all too much. She pulled back. He pulled her closer.
She felt a tingling between her legs and wanted to relieve it. Instinctually she wanted to press up against Gregory’s hard body. She should not be giving in to these wanton desires. She was a lady. Her parents had instilled her with good morals.
“Mary, believe me.” She shook her head and he rested his forehead against hers. She couldn’t tilt her head away; rather, she felt pulled to incline her head at more of an angle to give him better access. What harm could one kiss do? She could smell the bay rum and whiskey. She could feel his hard body crushing her, and then it softened an infinitesimal degree, and she melted.
He felt her melting against him. He thought she felt soft before, but now she was fresh baked bread with honey sinking into him. He wanted to unleash his pent up fury and passion and just let her take it, the same way he had just loosed himself upon her. But when he felt that softening, something softened in him as well. He nipped at her bottom lip and he felt her short breath. He nipped again, and she drew closer. He placed another soft kiss in the corner of her mouth. She moaned. He felt aflame, leaned into her ear, nibbled, and whispered, “Mary.”
