“That perhaps I misunderstood Viscount Denningcourt when he said they were necessary.”
The corner of his mouth lifted in doubt. “How so?”
“Necessary in that you needed them and wouldn’t want to live without them, and now—”
“And now what?”
“I know why someone might desire them, crave them.”
“And you’ve never felt those yearnings for kissing before?”
“Not until now.” Loretta lifted her head and placed her lips on his. She felt him smile and heard him chuckle before he joined her kiss.
The pressure of their lips became harder, deeper, and longer. His hands continued to caress her breasts, her waist, and over her bottom, cupping her to the hardness beneath his trousers. Loretta welcomed the urgent, demanding passion she sensed in him.
She didn’t know how it had happened but she realized her hands were inside his coat, feeling the corded muscles in his shoulders and back beneath the fine fabric of his shirt. It was magical. Heavenly and exciting to explore the breadth and shape of his strong body. This unexpected opportunity might never come her way again. She wanted to go wherever this new discovery, this awakening of senses she didn’t even know existed, was going to take her.
But then slowly, leaving short kiss after short kiss uponher lips, the duke raised his head and looked down into her eyes. Her heart fluttered, her abdomen tightened again, and her womanhood clinched. He was questioning her with his expression, asking with his eyes if he should continue being the rake who was seducing her—caring not that she was an innocent, a lady—or if he should be a gentleman and step away.
They both knew the folly of continuing, and that was why he silently asked. If they carried through with this encounter and she invited him into her bedchamber, she would be forever changed. He would not. She would no longer be an innocent maiden. That she could accept, but what would she do if he left her with a child because of their union? Again, the duke’s life would not change. He would go about his daily routine and Society wouldn’t blink an eye should they find out. She, on the other hand, would have to tell her uncle she was with child.
He’d banished her to Mammoth for not marrying the man he wanted her to marry. That was already a burden that she had struggled to bear. She didn’t want to think about what the earl would do to her, how he would treat her if she was expecting a babe. There was no way she could rely on her brother for help. He was completely supported by the earl, too. On her own, she would have no way to care for a child.
With that stark realization, Loretta knew what she must do.
It took all her courage and then some, but she gave the duke one long passionate kiss and then pushed out of his arms. Backing away from him on unsteady legs, she moistened her lips and managed to say, “I need to check with Mrs. Huddleston on how my second unexpected guest for the evening is doing.” Loretta pulled on the waistline of her dress to resettle it over her bosom.
The duke held his questioning gaze steady, relentlessly on hers. “I’ll go with you to check on the lad before I go up.”
“Are you sure?”
“I want to tell your housekeeper to feel free to call on me during the night if she thinks I can be of help to her.”
“That’s very kind of you.” Loretta took in a deep breath and held it for as long as she could before adding, “Before we go, you need to know that the answer to your question is yes.”
A spark of surprise gleamed in the duke’s eyes, and he took a step toward her. “I’m glad. Which room is yours?”
He was such a fearless rake. So clever. So enticing.
She was tempted to put all her earlier worries aside and go with her heart’s desire.
Almost tempted beyond her strength to say no.
But thankfully her sanity and willpower hadn’t completely left her. With an inner strength she would have sworn a few moments ago she no longer possessed, she smiled softly and said, “I think you must have forgotten what question you asked.”
His brow wrinkled, and his head tilted just a fraction. “No, Miss Quick. I’m quite sure I left you with no doubt about what I was asking of you just now.”
“Yes, but I was answering your earlier question about whether my vow to never marry was also a vow of chastity.” Trying to leave all uncertainty out of her voice, she finished by saying, “And the answer is yes.”
The corners of his eyes narrowed just enough to be perceptible, just enough to let her know he didn’t like her answer. “I must admit I’d forgotten that question was even between us—anymore.”
Once again Loretta had no one to blame or to thank but herself for the position she was in. And such a tumultuousposition it was. This was her opportunity—maybe her only opportunity—to lie with a man. A man she greatly desired, but Loretta wasn’t naive or simpleminded to the hazards. She had already thought about the realities of what was between them. Whether or not she ever saw him again, there could be a great cost for a night in his arms.
It wasn’t a risk she was willing to take.
The silence between them stretched to an almost unbearable length until finally she found the courage to say, “I was wrong. I shouldn’t have let you kiss me, but—”
The duke scowled and shook his head. “Please don’t blame it on the brandy I gave you to drink, Miss Quick.”
