Tillman pushed himself off the column he’d been leaning against, straightening to his full height.
‘You should be in bed,’ the duchess chastised, as she pulled up before him.‘But I will not complain at being greeted by a familiar face.Arley?’She nudged the lad’s side.‘Are you awake enough to stand?’
His Grace blinked awake, nodded his head, and mumbled, ‘I think so.’He slid from the horse and landed with a stagger.Tillman crossed the portico to open the door, then hollered into the house.Feet clattered across the floor, voices grumbled, doors slammed, and despite the hour—almost midnight—everyone seemed to emerge from their rooms.There was a certain satisfaction in hearing the old house wake up and remember that it had a new master, a new purpose in the world.
Lorelei swung herself from the horse with a stumble of her own, wincing in pain.‘He needs to eat.Cecil!’She craned her neck, bending around him as she spotted the indefatigable butler.‘He’s hungry.Bread, cheese, cold meats, anything you have.Please make sure—’
‘The kitchen has been stocked with everything His Grace may request, Your Grace,’ Cecil replied, and Tillman couldn’t help but smile at the slightly churlish edge to his tone.‘And for yourself?’
Lorelei waved a hand.‘Just wine,’ she replied, then laughed.‘Lots of wine.I want the best bottle from the cellar.’
‘Bread and cheese, too,’ Tillman mouthed.Cecil bowed, then disappeared into the house.He left the door ajar, and a slow hum and knock of activity flittered onto the stones from inside.Before too long, the noise drifted away as the staff and the young duke moved deeper into the house.Wind bothered the leaves, and they rustled as winter whispered against the branches of the trees.
Tillman gathered the reins and took the horse by the bridle.He began to walk down the drive, towards the path that led past the side of the house to the stables.
‘Mr Masters, wait!’Lorelei followed him.‘Thank you.For this afternoon.For everything.I could not have brought him home without you.And before you go… And because I fear that the woman I’ll need to be tomorrow will not be the woman I am tonight… I would very much like to do this.’
Lorelei pushed herself up onto her tiptoes to press her lips to his.Earlier, she had been full of so much hesitation and worry.This kiss fell like a leaf on a day with no breeze, and he let it settle into him.There was peace in her kiss and in the palm that she placed against his chest.And while she might not have felt certain, not yet, she was, undeniably, a woman who had discovered something new about herself.
No, not discovered.She had remembered.
He pulled back, and the kiss broke.He outlined a shadow that had fallen across her cheek and nudged her chin so that she stood fully in the light.She smiled, eyes closed, and for just a flicker, she was his.
‘I… I always noticed,’ she whispered, as she leant her cheek into his hand.‘The time you took.The care, and your patience with me.I always assumed it was out of deference to—’
‘It was never for William.’He stroked her lip.Kissed her one last time, then pulled away before he became too ambitious and would be unable to contain himself.‘As little as I think of the Duke of Stoneleigh, his horse did well this evening and needs a proper rubdown.I’ll see to him and ensure he’s stabled.The coach driver can return him on the morrow, and if the duke’s groomsman has found himself unemployed because of us, I’ll be sure to offer him work.’
He grabbed the reins and tugged.In the stable, he removed the saddle and tried not to think about the way she had winced with pain as she landed, desperately tried not to think about her thighs or how they had fared against the leather.He rubbed straw over the horse’s flanks to remove the dirt and mud, checked his feet, and topped up his chaff.Worn out with heavy fatigue from the day, Tillman made his way into the house.Through the back door.Into the hall.He moved past the doorway to the basement and paused at the bottom of the stairs.Followed the portrait frames of former dukes.He turned, then opened the door that led to the staff quarters and descended the stairs.
In the dark hallway, he stopped.A weak band of light pulsed from beneath the door to his room, and when he opened it, a small pool of light spilt from a candle on the side table.Lorelei, perched on the side of his bed, looked up.
‘I don’t know where to sleep,’ she explained.‘I can’t bring myself to lie on either of the beds upstairs.I made Arley take the guest room so that he could sleep in a proper bed, but there is not enough linen to make up any other rooms.And I know I am being precious, but I refuse to sleep on achaise longue, and anyway, the library smells like unwashed young man.I am sorry, but it isawful.Could you bear to share?There is nowhere else for me to sleep.’
Tillman set his candle on the bedside table.‘You stay here with me, you won’t sleep.Especially not after that kiss.’
The duchess stood.She came close and slid her hands along his chest, then behind his neck.Candleflame danced in her eyes.‘I was hoping you would say that.’
Chapter eleven
Consumed.That’showitfelt to be kissed by Tillman.He wasn’t careful or gentle with her.He grabbed.He grunted.He devoured.His lips met hers with a rude hunger, and his beard scratched her chin while his fist dug against her hip as he clutched her nightgown.He threaded his fingers through her hair and pressed his chest hard against hers.He demanded her body conform to his as he held her and invaded her mouth with his tongue.Even his inhale made her feel like she was air that might evaporate with his ferocity.
How glorious.How indulgent to be wanted with so much energy, so much fervour.Her heart thumped in all the places he kissed—along her shoulder, at the base of her neck.Her skin seared with the heat of it, awakening a torrent of desire deep within.
‘I’ve never undressed a man,’ she confessed between throaty breaths.‘Can I undress you?’
She toyed with his waistcoat buttons.He nodded.She slid the flat wooden button through the hole.Then the next, and the next.She pushed the waistcoat from his shoulders, leaving only his shirt.Buttons at his throat, a line down his chest and at his wrists… Where to, next?She reached for a cuff, then paused.‘Is this right?’she asked.
‘If it’s coming off, it can’t be wrong.Oh,’ he added with a smirk.‘Do you want me to tell you that you’re doing good?’
Her next breath caught, and her insides scrambled at the suggestion.‘I’ve done so little right across my life.Never known if I was pleasing when it came to… tointimacies.Or… or anything.I’d like to hear it.To know.’She took his wrist.Found the small bone button and slid it through the hole.The cuff widened to reveal his smooth, tanned skin, the bumps of sinew, and threads of veins.She looked up at him, her breath light and hopeful.
His lips curled a little.‘Keep going.’
She brought his wrist to her mouth.Kissed the warm softness of his skin.Licked.Nipped.
His sigh turned into a lusty grumble.‘I like that.Now the rest.’
His other cuff was followed by half the buttons down his chest.Then she untucked his shirt from his waistband and pushed his braces from his shoulders.She unveiled him button by button, thread by thread.Sometimes, he cooed a little when she kissed the freshly exposed flesh and whisperedthat’s good, orkeep going, but at other times, he stayed mute, only watching as he looked down at her with lowered lids.In those moments, she explored what she’d revealed with her tongue—circling the dip at the base of his neck or grazing her teeth along the undulations of bone and muscle, pushing further to elicit more praise from him.Small tufts of black and grey curls poked from beneath his undershirt, and she pressed her face against them and drew a deep breath, inhaling the exertion of his day, the lingering scent of the horses—and beneath it, him.
