The dog stopped to look at him, tail wagging, before it ran away again, barking excitedly.
“Bloody hell, aren’t you trained?” he muttered as sweat started to prickle on his forehead.
“He thinks it’s a game,” Selina called. She reached him in a moment and grabbed his arm. “Stop chasing him.”
He glared at her. “Then how do you propose we catch him?”
“Like this.” She pulled a small cookie out of her pocket. It was left over from the picnic earlier. “Come here, boy,” she called as she sat down in the dirt. “Do you want a treat?”
He gaped at her. He had never known a lady to sit in the dirt with no regard for her dress. It was unfortunate, because there was no way her plan would work better than his own when it came to catching their ‘misunderstood duke.’
Selina smiled at the dog, which was slowly approaching, and held out the cookie. “Come on, honey! You’re almost here.” Her voice was gentle and sweet.
She held the cookie close to her chest, and the dog ran into her lap, its tail wagging. She laughed and fed it the cookie, whispering praise as she petted him.
Selina looked up at Dominic triumphantly. “Don’t you see, Your Grace? Sometimes a gentle approach is more effective than being a brute.”
A brute.
Unbidden, a memory flashed through his mind of Eugenia’s tear-stained face. “I am married to a brute!” She had cried out, only minutes before…
No.
He wasn’t going to think about that day. Not now. Not ever.
He looked at his betrothed, now petting the dog as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “Life is not that simple, my lady.”
She looked up, as if surprised by the change in his tone of voice. “It’s only a game, Your Grace.”
“You might think I’m a brute, but I am simply a realist. I do not have the luxury to live in a fantasy where the gentle triumphs over the ruthless.”
“Luxury!” She cried out. She put the dog down on the ground and stood up. She didn’t even notice it running off again. “I am not some sheltered debutante! I understand how the world works quite well, thank you! I choose to be gentle anyway. It’s not a matter of luxury! It’s a matter of strength. I won’t let my hardship change me for the worse. But I’m not sure you can say the same.”
“You don’t know the first thing about me,” he growled.
“Perhaps not, but don’t act like you know me, either!”
He stepped closer to her, their bodies almost touching—desire warred inside of him with his anger. “You won’t be able to survive being this gentle in such a cruel world,” he whispered to her.
Her cheeks flushed red as she looked up at him. “Try me,” she said, her voice slightly breathless.
Before he could think better of it, he grabbed her and pulled her close before kissing her roughly. He expected her to pull away from him, but instead she made a surprised noise before relaxing into the kiss.
Her lips tasted divine. He growled softly as he tasted them. He licked her bottom lip, and she made a sweet little noise that sent heat to his shaft. He cupped her cheek, reveling in the feeling of her soft skin, slightly heated from the flush on her face. His tongue licked her bottom lip, and she opened her mouth for him. He let out a small groan as he explored her mouth with his tongue.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, moaning softly. He could feel her hesitant hands exploring his back. Even though her touch was light over his suit jacket, it sent shivers down his spine. His hand drifted to her back, where it would be so easy to undo the laces of her dress…
Suddenly, he realized what he was doing. He pulled away from her and took a few steps back. She looked up at him with a dazed expression, her lips red and puffy from his kiss.Bloody hell, she looked beautiful…
He turned away, willing his rational mind to take over once again. “It seems we’ve lost the game,” he said. “We should return.”
Ten
It took a fair amount of coaxing to get the cocker spaniel to come out from under the bush he was hiding in, but eventually Selina managed to get him out.
She carried the dog in her arms while Dominic led the horse back to the manor. They didn’t talk the entire time.
Selina felt troubled by Dominic’s dramatic mood swings in the forest. All of a sudden, he was angry at her. And then he was kissing her before abruptly pulling away and saying they needed to go back to the manor.
