“But what fun is that?” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Come now, love, be wicked with me.”
“You’re tempting me again.” She sighed. “Is this part of your plan to ravish me?”
“And if it is?” he asked her. “Will you allow me to?”
“Haven’t we had this conversation already?”
“Perhaps,” he said. “But maybe it also bears repeating.” He tapped the book he held in his hands. “As we both know that this is not merely lust between us, is it?”
He was referring to that infernal sonnet. “Is there something you wish to say frankly, Your Grace?”
The duke groaned. “Kingston,” he told her. “My name is Kingston.”
“I know,” she said softly. “That does not mean I can say it aloud.”
His lips tilted upward. “One day you will, and you’ll like it. You may even scream it.”
“Of that I have no doubt. You do frustrate me greatly, Your Grace. I am sure there will be a day I do say it so loudly the entire abbey hears it.”
He laughed. “Darling, I don’t think you know the meaning of frustration. At least not in how it affects me. Though I do long for the day you shout my name and then you will know exactly of what I am referring.”
Jaclyn’s face flushed as his words sank in, and she quickly turned her gaze toward the fire, desperate to avoid the provocative glint in his eyes. His presence was always so commanding, and though she tried to steady her breath, the warmth in the room seemed to grow with each passing moment.
Kingston took a step closer to her, the heat of his body almost tangible as he stood beside her, still holding the book. The silence between them was heavy with unspoken words and desires neither of them had yet dared to address. His hand, still clutching the book of sonnets, brushed against hers as he set it down on the nearby table. She could feel the slight tremor of his touch, and her pulse quickened in response. Why had he said those things? And why, despite her best efforts to remain composed, did she want to believe them? He had given her permission to use his given name. He would no longer merely be the duke or even Amberwood, and while aloud she called him Your Grace, in her mind he was now, and forever would be, Kingston. Her Kingston.
"Jaclyn," Kingston murmured, his voice softer now, almost tender, as he leaned toward her. "It is not simply lust. It is something deeper, something you know just as well as I do. It is this that frightens you, isn’t it?"
She closed her eyes, her heart aching at the truth of his words. "I don't know what to feel," she admitted quietly. "Everything has become so blurred. You... you tempt me in ways I cannot ignore, but I fear the consequences." She knew all too well what the ramifications of a scandal led to. It was why she had been sent to Havenwood to begin with. There had been no real truth behind that. She had not been dallying with Kingston then. Yet he had fought a duel because her honor had been at stake. Her foolish brother had ruined her with his demand for justice. Kingston had been nothing but honorable toward her. Even now when desire rippled over them both in waves so thick she could not breathe without feeling the tension in the air.
He stepped closer, so close she could feel the warmth of his breath against her cheek. "The only consequence, Jaclyn, is whether or not we acknowledge what is already between us. We cannot deny it forever."
She opened her eyes and met his gaze. His eyes were dark, full of emotion, and the intensity with which he looked at her made her heart race. She couldn’t look away. She didn’t want to. “I don’t know what to do with myself when I’m near you,” she confessed, her voice barely more than a whisper.
Kingston’s lips curled into a slow smile. "Then let me make it easier for you," he said softly. "Let me show you what this is between us. No more games, no more resistance."
Before she could respond, he cupped her face in his hands, tilting her chin up gently to meet his lips. The kiss was soft at first, tender, as though he were testing the waters, and Jaclyn found herself leaning into it, her body responding to him in ways she had no control over. The kiss deepened, and her hands, almost of their own accord, found their way to the back of his neck, pulling him closer.
Her heart raced, and her thoughts scattered as everything that had once felt so wrong between them seemed to disappear in that moment. She could feel the intensity of his touch, his warmth, and it was as though everything she had tried to push aside came rushing back—his desire, her own. The walls she had built around herself began to crumble, and she felt herself surrendering to him, to what he had always offered but she had refused to see.
When they finally broke apart, both of them breathless, Jaclyn’s fingers trembled as they rested on his chest. She looked up at him, her heart still pounding. She could see it in his eyes—the same desire, the same need that had always been there. "You were right," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "I cannot keep denying this." The problem was that she did not know how to define her feelings for this man before her. He made her want things she had thought lost to her.
Kingston’s smile was slow, but it reached his eyes. "Then let’s not deny it any longer," he said softly, before capturing her lips once more. And this time, Jaclyn let herself fall into it completely, surrendering to the passion they both shared. The kiss was no longer tentative, no longer filled with uncertainty—it was full of promise, of everything they had fought against but could not stop. She had known for so long that there was no avoiding what was between them. Now, there was only acceptance. Throughout the house party at Easton Abbey they had been at odds. They would bicker whenever they were near each other. She realized now that it was only a prelude. They had been fighting the inevitable. Every moment they had shared had been leading to this pivotal one. How had they gone this long without sharing such a tantalizing kiss? She could not imagine never kissing him again either.
When the kiss broke again, this time with both of them gasping for air, Kingston held her against him. "I have waited for this moment far too long, love," he murmured, his voice rough with emotion. "And now that it’s finally here, I don’t want to let you go."
Jaclyn placed a hand over his heart, her own emotions running wild. She had always known this was where it would lead. She had known, even if she had fought it, that they would end up here. But the fear, the fear that had held her back for so long, had melted away and in its place, she found something far more powerful—hope. A hope that perhaps, this time, she could have it all. Love, passion, and a future with him. Did she dare dream that all of this would lead to something she had not believed would be hers? Could he love her? He claimed that this was more than lust, but she didn’t know he spoke the truth. Though he could be speaking the truth as he saw it.
"Then don’t," she whispered, her eyes locked with his. "Don’t let me go."
“I wish it were that simple, darling,” he said hoarsely. Kingston groaned and pulled her snugly into his arms. He brushed his fingers though the loose strands of her hair and pulled back to gaze into her eyes. There was so much turmoil in those gray depths. He leaned his head against hers. “I don’t want to do it, but I must…”
“Why must you?” she asked. Jaclyn frowned. How could he kiss her like he had and then tell her that he had to let her go? Was he taking what he wanted from her and then setting her aside? What if she had given herself fully to him? What would he do after he had taken everything from her? Was she being a besotted fool?
“Because you have been so ill,” he told her. He stepped back and blew out a breath. “I shouldn’t have kissed you.”
“I am not that weak,” she insisted. “I haven’t fell this good in days.” In fact, she felt the very bloom of health. One kiss from him was like a tonic that she should have sipped from the very moment she had taken ill. “Do not push me away. Not now.”
His gaze was filled with anguish, and she knew he was about to disappoint her. It was like a bane to her soul. One that would slide over her like the illness she had been fighting for days. Only this time she wasn’t so certain she would recover from it. “I have to,” he told her. “I cannot add to your damaged reputation. Your brother…”
