“Why would I crave the nuisance of noise?”
She narrowed her gaze on him, truly wondering if he were being honest with her. “And this is why you’ve made no plans to marry?”
“A part of it.”
Then silence.
“Must you make me impolite enough to ask?”
He chuckled, and the rough sound rolled through her like fire, warming her chilled skin.
“I’ve not met a woman interesting enough to tempt me to the state.”
Her breasts were swelling beneath his gaze as if he were stroking her. How exquisite were the sensations tightening around her heart. She felt weak, undone, hopeful, and afraid. “Until me?”
“Do I find you interesting, Kitty Danvers?”
There was an invitation in the brilliant depth of his gaze. “I suspect so,” she whispered, “or I would still be in London, you would be here, and we would have never met.”
A smile curved his lips. “I might feel a touch of something unusual.” Then he sobered, his eyes serious. “I am addicted to you, Miss Danvers. And I know all about drugs.”
“Do you?” she asked archly, though her heart was a quivering mess.
“I do. For some time, opium was my best friend. Hashish my lover. Laudanum my brother, and we got together often in my despair.”
Her heart gave a sudden, sharp thud. “And now…are they still your companions?”
He smiled, barely. “Not for the last six years.”
“Why not?”
“Penny needed me…so I became present.”
And that indomitable will peeked out from the brilliant beauty of his eyes once again. He dipped his head and leaned in close so their lips almost touched, their noses brushing. “I want just one small, infinitesimal piece of your affection to carry with me always. At first, I thought your smile would be enough. Then maybe your laughter. How wrong I’ve been, Miss Danvers. Foolishly…quite foolishly, I am desperate for more.”
“I am falling for you,” she said softly, and with every honest emotion in her heart. “I want a piece of you as well. Memories that will live with me for this lifetime and the next.” But I would much prefer if you never let me go, Alexander.
He captured her mouth in a searing ki
ss. She allowed the fire of lust to consume her world, willingly burning away the doubts. His embrace was fierce, unyielding, and she shivered at the sensations rioting through her. Each kiss went deeper, lingered longer. Everything in her yearned for this, craved him.
It had been so long since she’d done something for herself.
Passion blazed between them, sweeping the last remnants of cold from her body. Kitty burned everywhere, and her needs were so chaotic and terrible, she sobbed against his lips. And he swallowed it all, every moan, every inarticulate cry of wonder and desire.
Kitty gasped when he lifted her and, in a few steps, had her seated atop the large table, the duke standing between her thighs, which she had instinctively widened to accommodate him. And through it all, he continued kissing her with ravishing tenderness.
“I am going to be very wicked with you, Katherine,” he murmured against her lips, in a voice that had gone hoarse. “If you have any objections, please voice them now while I am still sensible.”
His words set a path of fire down her throat and into her stomach. “Yes,” she said, unable to resist the needs in her heart and body for him.
He made a murmur of approval and slid his hand around her nape, then kissed her lips with such tenderness, a lump formed in her throat. Rain muttered dimly against the roof of the conservatory, but the air within felt hushed and full, heavy with expectation. As his kisses gentled, the sensations within her body exploded with pulsing heat. Then he broke away to kiss her chin, her throat, the crook of her shoulder.
Her nipples became so hard, so tight, they were a near-violent ache. “Alexander,” she moaned, low and husky.
His thumb made a slow stroke across her inner elbow, a soothing, sensual caress. The high waist of her gown was tugged down, and his mouth brushed the top of her breasts; then his lips closed over a nipple.
A wild cry tore from her throat as aching, desperate sensations began to pulse through her. “Alexander!”