“I could kiss you,” Meredith murmured dreamily.
“Could you?” He found himself teasing her with a grin. He guessed that she was half-asleep, possibly even dreaming given her expression and her barely open eyes.
“Hmm…” she almost purred. “But I’ve never kissed a man before… I fear I might be dreadful at it.”
“I doubt that. Ladies tend to be natural kissers.” He reached over her to fluff the pillow behind her head. Suddenly, she reached up and curled her fingers in his cravat, pulling him down to her. He nearly fell on top of her, but braced one of his arms on the pillows beside her in the nick of time. And then…
It all happened too fast, their lips brushing against each other and that sweet perfume of hers blended with the taste of oranges and innocence on her lips. His heart clenched as something within him filled with sunlight, pouring a quiet, exquisite joy through his body and into the depths of his very soul.
He couldn’t resist the temptation of kissing her back. At that moment, he did not care that it crossed a line. She was in his care, but she was also a grown woman with a sound mind and no blood relation to him. And she had kissed him first.
Lord, the taste of her was intoxicating. When her soft lips parted, a sigh broke away from her lips. He opened his eyes, and was startled to find she’d fallen asleep.
Well…that was a first for him. His kisses had never put a woman to sleep before. Darius frowned as he studied Meredith’s sleeping face before he bent and pressed a kiss to her forehead. An unexpected wave of tenderness filled him. No wonder his uncle had cared for this woman. There was something about her, like the pull of gravity that drew him to her and made him desire to hold onto her forever.
“Your Grace?” the maid said softly as she entered the bedchamber, bearing a pitcher of water and a glass on a tray.
“Ahh, Nell, thank you.” Darius hastily backed away from the bed. “Please let Miss Montague sleep late tomorrow. If you do not mind, I would like to elevate you to be her lady’s maid. I can hire someone to see to your duties.” He gingerly touched his cravat. Part of the once carefully folded cloth had come undone when Meredith grabbed him. Had the maid noticed?
Nell’s gaze thankfully wasn’t on him or his somewhat mussed wardrobe.
“Thank you, Your Grace. I would be honored to tend to Miss Montague.”
“Excellent. Right, well… I’ll be off then. You may undress her.”
Darius fled the room, but the taste of Meredith’s kiss was imprinted on his lips forever.
4
It was a little past midday when Meredith woke with a groan as she realized she had slept in. But her bed was so soft and warm, and she felt truly at peace for the first time since Uncle Ben had fallen ill. She rubbed her eyes and stared up at a ceiling painted to look like a windswept clouds. A solemn string of thoughts paraded through her mind as she simply lay there, the birds singing outside her window.
For the last two months of Uncle Ben’s illness, she had worked tirelessly to care for him. She had gotten a stiff neck and aching back after a month of sleeping in a chair at his bedside each night and waking at the slightest sound he made.
Now Uncle Ben was gone forever. There would be no more quiet mornings reading the paper over breakfast, no ride through the fields or shared readings from novels by the fire. She was in a strange city, under a strange roof, in a strange bed. The life she’d come to love at Burton House was over.
A deep well of grief filled her chest. She hadn’t known sorrow could carry such a terrible weight. When her mother had died, Meredith had grieved, but she hadn’t mourned her passing like Uncle Ben’s. Perhaps it was because she’d always believed her mother blamed her for so much that had gone wrong in her life.
She’d never said so openly, but a kept woman was easier to see to than a kept woman and a bastard child. Meredith had loved her mother, but the day Meredith had moved in with Uncle Ben it felt like she finally been allowed to breathe, to exist without apology.
And now she was a burden again. What role would she play in Darius’s household? Would she be afraid to take up space, or would the darkly handsome Duke of Tiverton let her share his world and experience a different life, one that held perhaps just a bit of adventure?
Oh Lord… Darius…
She’d had the most wicked dream about him last night. He had been carrying her in his arms like some dashing knight, and she’d pulled his head down to kiss her. She’d been bold, eager, and he responded in kind, showing her that kisses were just what she hoped they would be. What a wonderful dream.
But it was only a dream, and thank goodness for that. If her new guardian knew she had fantasies about him, he might throw her out of his house…
Or, a little voice whispered wickedly, he might seduce her.
She was innocent in the ways of men, but she had seen the way he looked at her last evening. He’d desired her, or at the least, she’d inspired some passion within him. She’d never wanted to inspire that in a man like Harry, yet it was different with Darius because she desired him as well. What would it be like to be the object of Darius’s desires? To taste the magic of love and passion with him?
But as quickly as the thought was born it was snuffed out. Darius couldn’t marry a woman like her. It would be beyond scandalous. She would ruin his family’s name and destroy every connection in society he possessed if he married her. A duke could not marry an illegitimately born woman with no family.
But she had to acknowledge in her heart of hearts, she would have loved to have been courted by him…to be loved by him and love him in return.
But it was a fantasy, a fool’s dream, and she was not raised to be a fool.
Meredith pushed the covers of her bed back and slipped off the fourposter bed. She pushed the tall sash window up so the fresh air could pass through the room, then pulled up a chair to sit next to it and take in the scent of the blooming flowers below.
