What a Duke Dares (Sons of Sin 3)

She stared up with a sweet entreaty that, if he was less upset, would have him back on his knees. “We wait.”

“I can’t wait.” He made a sweeping gesture. “I need everyone to know that you’re mine. Living without you this last week nearly broke me.”

“Please don’t be angry,” she said softly, changing her grip into a caress.

“How long until you turn twenty-one?” Although even then if Sophie married without Leath’s approval, there would be a brouhaha.

Devastation darkened her blue eyes. “Nearly two years.”

Two years? That was an eternity. He stared at her in anguish. “I can’t bear to think I might lose you.”

“You’ll never lose me,” she said with a certainty that should have surprised him, but didn’t. She was young, but she was steadfast. Which was a double-edged sword. A flightier girl wouldn’t spare a thought for her brother. “We can continue as we are.”

“Meeting in secret? Lying? Snatching moments that only serve as a painful reminder that moments are all we have?” He swung away. “The longer we wait, the more the world believes that you’ll marry Desborough.”

“Do you want me to release you from our engagement?” she asked miserably, stepping back.

A cold wave of dread turned Harry’s blood to ice. “Do you want that?”

She looked on the verge of crying. “Of course not.”

He crossed the chasm separating them and discovered it only measured a pace. He seized her in his arms and kissed her hard. For an instant that lasted an eon, she resisted before kissing him back with a fervor that threatened to send everything but passion to hell.

She leaned back to see his face. “I want to marry you, but I don’t want my selfish pursuit of happiness to burden my brother with more scandal.”

“Does that extend to marrying Desborough?” Harry asked harshly. “When I met you, you were crying over your brother’s plans. Don’t pretend that suddenly you’re prepared to play the dutiful sister.”

With a sigh, she laid one hand against his cheek. “I was prepared to play the dutiful sister. That’s why I was crying.”

Fear dug its talons into his aching heart. “You can’t enter a loveless marriage to save Leath’s pride.”

She stiffened. “You demand so much.”

His hand tightened on her waist as if Leath emerged from the undergrowth to steal her away. “Meeting like this does us no credit.”

Temper lit her face to vivid beauty. “You should be used to deception. I’ve heard gossip.”

Harry’s resentment of Leath ratcheted up another notch. “I’ll wager most of it came from your brother.”

When Sophie avoided his gaze, he knew he was right. “Did James lie?”

Harry had never been ashamed of all his dashing widows and bored wives before. He was ashamed now. “Hell, Sophie, you’re the only woman I’ve ever loved.” His voice shook with sincerity. “That’s what’s important. That, and how these meetings stain your character and mine.”

Resentment shadowed her expression. “You’re cruel.”

“No. I’m a man in love.” He paused. “I want to shout that love from the rooftops, not meet you in corners as if my feelings are a dirty secret.”

“Harry, I’m sorry.” She rose on her toes and peppered his face with kisses. Each one eased his outrage, until he caught her and pressed his lips to hers.

“I can’t be angry when you kiss me.”

“Th

at’s good.” She trailed her lips along his jaw with a tenderness that melted pique. “When we’re married, I’ll kiss you all the time.”

She spoke as if merely by promising to marry him, their difficulties vanished like mist across the morning meadows. He wasn’t nearly so convinced that delay would change her brother’s mind.

For the sake of his future and his love, Harry must brave the dragon and claim the maiden.