The two actions were ill-timed. They collided. Legs became tangled and almost toppled them to the floor. Their arms grabbed each other as they attempted to save themselves from falling. Her breasts pressed against his chest. Full, lovely breasts, he noted, but there was no time to savor the moment because Lady Redhill answered the woman in the hall with an impervious, “I go where I please. Stand aside, Dame Beatrice, or I shall elbow you back.”
The library door slammed open, and Oliver took the only action that made sense to him. He swung Lady Celeste around in his arms so that she was hidden in the shelter of his body, hisback toward the door. He did the most logical thing for a man and a woman to do in a firelit room.
He kissed her.
3
She was beingkissedby theDragon.
Celeste’s brain spun with the realization.
And he was very, very good at kissing. He hadearnedhis reputation. This kiss was beyond anything Celeste’s fevered imagination could have conjured. His mouth perfectly fit hers.
On a sane and practical level, she understood he was shielding her identity in the only obvious way Lady Redhill or anyone else would believe. He might even be attempting to protect his reputation as well. Men didn’t seduce the Harrington sisters.
That didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the experience.
She lifted herself on her tiptoes so she could meet his kiss. She liked being enveloped in the warmth of his body. His clothes smelled of sandalwood, soap, and maleness.
Her lips melded against his. She couldn’t stop them. Or prevent herself from leaning closer to his strength. He was a solid, muscular wall providing a haven from Lady Redhill’s gossip and possible ruin. Not that she was particularly worried about those things right now. She was enjoying the kiss too much.
As if from a distance, she caught the sound of Dame Beatrice chastising Lady Redhill for barging in on the couple. Meanwhile, his hand found her waist. Had he purposely placed it there? She liked the weight of his touch even as it pulled her intimately closer. A new, more intriguing desire began to build. She breathed him in?—
He broke off the kiss.
For the space of a heartbeat, Celeste tried to follow his lips. But then, with what sounded like very real annoyance, he barked out, “What is going on?” His arm tightened around her so that her face smooshed against his white shirt and black, patterned silk waistcoat.
“Leading astray another young lovely, Your Grace?” Lady Redhill asked with a snide sniff.
Reality, in the form of her ladyship’s voice, raised its ugly head. Celeste came to her senses. Was a kiss enough to make her family the topic of gossip for ages to come? The duke’s hand prevented her from bolting.
“What I do is not your concern, my lady,” the duke drawled. “Now leave us.”
Lady Redhill did not obey. She turned to Beatrice. “I wonder whyyouwere standing guard?”
“I-I wasn’t standing guard,” Beatrice stuttered in annoyance. “I just saw no reason for you to be in the library.”
“Next, you will be telling me the Duke of Salcombe was sitting in the dark, reading.”
“He does read,” Beatrice said as if offended for His Grace.
“Although I preferotheractivities in the dark,” the duke corrected in a lazy, silky voice. “Now, begone, Lady Redhill. Go find your fellow petty hens and tell them what you saw. It will not be news. You tell me often that I already have a wicked reputation.”
“But the woman you are with?” her ladyship hedged.
“Is my affair.”
There was a long, combative silence.
Celeste tried to relax. It was difficult. Her mind reeled at the horror of possible outcomes—although that kiss might have been worth the ruin.
Then, Lady Redhill conceded stiffly, “I do beg your pardon, Your Grace. I should not interfere with your ’sport.’ Come, Dame Beatrice. Let us enjoy a walk down the hall.”
The door closed, and Celeste’s knees almost buckled. Fortunately, the duke still had his arm around her waist. He turned and sat her in his chair. She gratefully relaxed until she realized he was furious, the lines of his face harsh in the hearth light.
“Was allthisa scheme to trap me into marriage?” he snapped.
His anger stunned her. “No,no, my only purpose was to ask you to support my charity.”
