Diana took another sip of wine in an effort to steady herself. “It was an observation made in the heat of competition.”
Alexander finished untying the ribbon and lifted the lid of the box.
Inside, several pieces of dark chocolate rested in delicate paper wrappers, their smooth surfaces catching the firelight with a soft sheen. The scent rose faintly in the warm air between them.
Alexander glanced at her, his voice dropping to a low, velvet rasp. “You have not touched them yet.”
He reached for a piece at the same moment she did. Their hands brushed—a spark of static that made her breath hitch—and Diana withdrew her hand as if burned.
“I can manage perfectly well on my own, Your Grace.”
Alexander tilted his head, his gaze never leaving her mouth. “Let me.”
“Why?” she whispered, the word feeling heavy in her throat.
“Because,” he said, his voice softening, “you deserve to be spoiled, Diana.”
For a moment, she couldn’t speak. Thought scattered, slipping just beyond her reach, leaving her suspended in something shedid not quite recognize. All she knew was that what he was offering felt unreal, almost ludicrous in its softness, and she resisted the childish urge to pinch herself, to break the dream, for fear it would vanish the moment she did.
A faint, humorless breath left her. “No one has ever found that necessary.”
His gaze sharpened with a depth that unsettled her. There was curiosity in it, perhaps, or something closer to anger, that made her pulse quicken.
“That does not mean it was not deserved. You deserve that, and much more,” he said, and her throat tightened at the certainty in his voice.
There was no artifice in it, no polite flattery meant to soothe. He meant it. And that, more than anything, stole the air from her lungs.
She looked away, the firelight catching along the curve of her cheek. “It means no one ever thought me worth the trouble, I suppose.”
The words slipped free before she could stop them.
Silence settled between them. When she looked back at him, he was still watching her, his gaze steady, and for a moment it felt as though the world had narrowed to the space between them,stretched thin and fragile beneath the weight of everything unspoken.
When he spoke again, his voice had softened, stripped of all edge. “Then allow me to be the first man with better judgment.”
The words hit her with the force of a physical caress. No one had ever spoken to her with such quiet devotion. For a heartbeat, she simply stared at him, her defenses crumbling like dry parchment.
Slowly, almost in a trance, she allowed her hands to fall back into the silk of her lap.
Alexander held a single piece of chocolate between his thumb and forefinger. “May I?”
She nodded, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs.
He leaned forward, closing the space between them until she could feel the radiating warmth of his chest. The firelight licked at the sharp angles of his face as he brought the chocolate to her lips.
She opened her mouth, and his fingers grazed her lower lip—a touch so light it was agonizing. The chocolate was cool at first, then exploded in a velvet, bitter sweetness that melted across her tongue.
“It is… very good,” she murmured, her voice sounding thick and unfamiliar to her own ears.
“You eat it as if it were a chore, Diana. So slow. So controlled.” Alexander’s gaze never left her mouth. He picked up a second piece but didn't hand it to her. “Have you never just reached out andtakensomething? Simply because you wanted the taste of it?”
The challenge prickled against her skin. “I was taught that restraint is a virtue.”
“Restraint is just another word for starving yourself,” he murmured. He moved the chocolate closer, the scent of dark cacao mingling with the cedarwood of his skin. “Release yourself, Diana.Enjoyit.”
He was tempting her, dangerously so. His voice was a velvet lure, pulling at the threads of her composure.
I’ll show you restraint,she thought.
