His lips claimed hers again, and the resurgence of sensations made her legs tremble, her knees nearly giving out from under her.Her hands slid up over the supple fabric of his coat so she could wrap her arms around his neck.The kiss deepened, his tongue thrusting into her mouth, dancing with hers, and Johanna found herself backing up step by step until she was crushed between him and the wall.
She rather liked being crushed.
If this was what being with a man was like, it was not so bad…
Though she knew her reaction was because it wasthisman.Her savior.Her knight in shining armor.He’d saved not only her, but her entire family.
It would not have been like this with any other man.
But with Matthew…
She wanted him.And she wanted to give him everything.
He was hard, all over, as he pressed against her, rocking his hips into her body and making her gasp as his lips moved from hers to leave a fiery trail of kisses along her jaw before he reached her sensitive throat.Johanna closed her eyes, tilting her head back to give him better access as one of his hands slid down to cup her bottom, while the other moved up to stroke the side of her breast.
Every part of her was on fire.Throbbing.Aching.Needing.
“Charlotte!”Rose’s scolding tone had Johanna jerking back to her senses and the realization that she and the duke werestillin the hallway.Both their heads whipped around, his hands frozen in place on her body, but thankfully, the end of the hall was empty.
“Not here,” the duke muttered.And groaned.Closing his eyes, he lowered his forehead to hers.
“Your Grace?”she whispered back.
His eyes flew open.
“Matthew,” he told her, softly but firmly.“You call me Matthew.”
The sudden fluttering inside her chest had nothing to do with her physical reactions to him.
“Matthew.”
“Matthew.Unhand that girl, immediately.”Lady Stark’s appalled tones made both of them jerk upright, and the duke practically flew back, several steps away from Johanna.The world felt cold without him pressed up against her, though the throbbing did not immediately go away.“You are not ravishing her before your ring is properly on her finger, young man.Now scat.”
The imperious older woman waved her hand.Despite her obvious displeasure, the duke managed a bow as he sighed with resignation.
“It is not ravishing her if she agrees to it, Grandmama,” he said cheekily, striding forward to give Lady Stark a kiss on the cheek.“And Iammarrying her, as quickly as possible.”
She made a hmphing noise as he passed by her.Turning, the duke—Matthew—looked at Johanna over his grandmother’s shoulder and seared her with that single glance.What he had been going to do, Johanna was not entirely certain, but she wished he’d been able to do it.She would certainly have agreed to it.
“To bed with you,” Lady Stark said, waving her hand at Johanna.“You two will behave under my roof.”
“My roof, technically.”Matthew’s voice drifted back down the hall, even though he’d turned the corner.
“Do not worry, I do not blame you,” Lady Stark told Johanna, continuing on as if she had not heard the duke, even though her hearing seemed to be perfectly fine.“That grandson of mine is a charmer through and through, and it is not as if you would know how to repel such advances.If you even wanted to.”
Johanna’s cheeks felt as though they were on fire and not in the way the duke had made her feel on fire.She had not wanted to repel his advances, and she was very much afraid Lady Stark knew that Johanna would have let him do whatever he wanted, right there in the hallway.That’s how out of control she’d been.
“You will learn,” Lady Stark said, nodding firmly.“There is a proper way for a duke and duchess to behave, and making love in the hallway is certainly not it.”
“Yes, my lady,” Johanna finally managed to respond, faintly.
“Now, go to bed.Tomorrow will be busy.”
The only problem with Lady Stark’s command was that once Johanna was in bed, her body still itched and yearned, and she had no idea what to do about it.It took much tossing and turning before she finally managed to fall asleep… and once she did, she dreamed of the duke and his kiss.
ChapterThirteen
Johanna
