Debating with herself, Alice wondered if it was the right thing to do—admittedly, she needed help with Rutledge, and the Duke had a social and financial cache she had no hope of holding. But why did she feel as if she were making a deal with the devil?
“It is to be one kiss andonekiss only. No touching or anything else of the sort. And it ends when I say it ends,” Alice said suddenly.
“Agreed.”
He lifted his hands to her jaw, tipping her head slightly back and anticipation pummeled through her like a herd of bison. This was truly going to happen, her first kiss; she could read the intent in his eyes.
Worry pounded through her breastbone—was she going to do this right? How was one supposed to kiss?
With his thumb on her cheekbone, his lips descended, landing on hers so gently he stole her breath for a second time. His kiss was warm and firm, but her anticipation clogged her throat.
She shivered when his tongue swept against her bottom lip. On a tremulous sigh, her lips parted and senses spinning, he let his tongue plunge boldly inside. The taste of him was foreign, deliciously male.
He kissed the way he did everything else: with absolute authority… and she felt ground-shifting pleasure.
Somewhere in the far recesses of her mind, she registered that her first kiss was unlike anything she could have imagined. Instinctively, she followed his lead, letting him in deeper, meeting his tongue with her own.
The shivers that ran through her scared Alice to her core and she had to pull away, terrified about her reaction to him. Her woman’s place was uncomfortably damp.
“Enough,” she gasped. “Enough, I need to go. Please let me go.”
He stepped away, “There is nothing keeping you here, Alice.”
Gathering her skirts, she ran.
Pressing a hand to his mouth, Edward wondered what had just happened—what was this sudden burn under his breastbone?
He’d kissed many women before,de rigueuracts of an unrepentant rake,but hardly had any woman managed to evoke any other emotion than lust; Alice though, Alice had his chest twisted in knots.
If she had not run, I know I was going to take her so hard we might not even remember our own names, let alone the conflict with Benedict and Rutledge.She would have been screaming so loudly, we’d be married by tomorrow.
Rubbing his face, Edward left the leafy nook and headed back to the garden party, but took a circuitous route, giving Alice enough time to return to her family.
He stepped into the garden at the same time as the hostess’s footmen called everyone for dinner. He drifted to the back porch as Benedict ducked out under the threshold and jerked to a stop at seeing him.
“Edward?” His brows shot to his hairline. “What are you doing here?”
“I’d come to see you play croquet, but evidently, I was too late,” Edward fibbed. “I suppose I should leave.”
“No, no,” Benedict shook his head. “Come in. I am sure the lady of the house will be happy to have the most elusive Duke in London as her guest.”
Holding back an exasperated eye-roll, Edward inclined his head. “Did you come out here for something?”
“Miss Penelope, Alice’s sister, asked me to find her a bangle she believed she’d dropped when she was out here,” Benedict said, “You can head inside.”
“No, I’ll look with you,” Edward replied, suddenly wanting a reprieve from seeing Alice again.
Five minutes later—conversations about Alice, her family, and her injured cousin in passing—with the retrieved bangle in hand, they entered the manor home and strode to a drawing room where Alice’s cousin was lying on a chaise, her ‘injured’ ankle up on an ottoman.
The older lady turned a curious eye to him while he forced himself to not look at Alice at all.
“My lord?” She asked while rising to her feet.
“Mrs. Agatha Thorpe, it is my pleasure to introduce you to my brother, Edward Landon, the Duke of Valhaven.”
Audible gasps emanated from three women while Alice’s lips tightened; they got to their feet and Edward was not surprised tosee the injured girl move so smoothly. Of course it was deception and he hoped his brother saw right through it.
“Eliza,” the mother squawked. “You shouldn’t be on your feet. You are hurt.”
