Diana felt the weight of Alexander’s gaze, and it was something profoundly deep and adoring. It was a look that didn’t just see her, but cherished her, overflowing with a smoldering heat that promised she was the only world he ever cared to know.
When the last door clicked shut, leaving them in a sanctuary of their own making, the air between them thrummed with a sweet, overwhelming heartbeat.
“The night is too fine to spend indoors, don’t you think?” Alexander murmured, his voice a low, gravelly vibration that sent a shiver racing down Diana’s spine. He caught her hand, his thumb tracing a slow, suggestive circle over her knuckles. “And I find I am suddenly very tired of sharing you with a room full of people.”
Diana felt the heat rise to her cheeks, a playful spark lighting up her eyes. “Are you suggesting we abandon our own chambers, Your Grace? How very scandalous of you.”
“I am the Duke,” he countered, a boyish, wicked grin tugging at the corner of his mouth as he began to lead her toward the garden. “I believe I am allowed to be as scandalous as I please within my own walls. Besides, I have it on good authority that the moon provides much better lighting for what I have in mind.”
They stepped into the greenhouse, where the air was thick with the scent of damp earth and blooming jasmine. In the center, the heated pool hummed, its surface as smooth as dark glass. Alexander turned to her, his hands coming to rest on her waist.
“You’re remarkably quiet, Diana,” he teased, his green eyes glinting with mischief. “Not going to lecture me on the impropriety of midnight swims?”
“I’m considering it,” she laughed softly, her breath catching as he began to shed his evening coat with fluid, unashamed movements. “But I find the view far too distracting for a lecture.”
Diana watched, breathless, as the moonlight through the glass panes carved out the powerful, muscular breadth of his shoulders and the hard, ridged lines of his stomach. He didn’t stop at the coat; with a slow focus on her, he stripped away the remainder of his clothes.
Standing before her entirely naked, he looked like a statue come to life—raw, magnificent, and overwhelming in his masculinity. The silver light traced the corded strength of his thighs and the heavy, resting power between them.
His gaze raked over her, inviting her to look, to take him in.
“Your turn, Diana,” he murmured, his voice a low, velvet challenge.
With fingers that trembled only slightly, she reached for the fastenings of her gown. She let the silk fall in a shimmering heap at her feet, followed by the layers of her petticoats, until she stood before him in nothing but her cream lace shift. Then, with a daring lift of her chin, she eased that away too.
Alexander’s breath hitched, a jagged sound in the quiet greenhouse. His eyes moved over her with a reverence that felt like a physical touch, tracing the curve of her breasts to the dip of her waist.
“You are a miracle,” he rasped, his gaze returning to hers, burning with a hunger that made her pulse thunder against her ribs.
With a playful wink that broke the heavy tension, he finally dived into the water. He resurfaced a moment later, his sandy hair slicked back, shaking the water from his face.
“The water is perfect, though I suspect it would be much improved by your company. Or are you afraid I’ll splash you?”
“Is that a challenge, Your Grace?” Diana asked, a daring smile breaking across her face.
She slipped into the warmth, the water rising up her body like a silken caress, but it was nothing compared to the heat of Alexander’s hands as he immediately lunged forward to pull her toward him.
“Caught you,” he whispered, his arms wrapping around her waist to anchor her against his chest.
The buoyant water pressed their naked bodies together, skin to skin, heart to heart. He nudged her nose with his own, his expression softening into something profoundly tender.
“You are so beautiful, Diana,” he uttered. “Even when you’re trying to look sternly at me for my bad behavior.”
“It’s getting harder to be stern when you look at me like that,” she confessed, her hands finding the slick, hard planes of his shoulders and marveling at the sheer physical power of him.
“You are so beautiful, Diana,” he whispered, his green eyes dark with a raw, unchecked desire that made her feel more seen than she ever had in her life. “I look at you, and I wonder how I ever breathed a day without you.”
He kissed her then, a slow, romantic collision that tasted of deep devotion and mounting passion. Diana matched his fervor, her hands wandering over the slick, hard planes of his chest as his own palms slid over her body.
His palms slid over her body, anchoring her, and Diana felt a sudden, rebellious surge of agency. She broke the kiss, her breath hitching, and pressed her palms against his shoulders to create a few inches of space.
“You’re very used to taking charge, Your Grace,” she murmured, her entire body tingling. “But I find I’m tired of waiting for permission.”
Alexander’s brows rose, a flash of surprised amusement crossing his face. “Is that so?”
“It is.” Diana reached down beneath the surface of the water, her hand sliding over the hard, corded muscles of his stomach before finding him.
Alexander let out a low, guttural hiss of indrawn breath, his head falling back as his grip on her waist tightened until it was nearly bruising. “Diana… you have no idea what you’re doing.”
