Dating the Duke (The Aristocrat Diaries 2)

“Yes, Mother.”

“Good. Now, I’m off to fetch Olympia and take her to ballet class.” On that note, she turned and swept out of the library, shutting the door behind her and leaving me feeling just as admonished as I’d felt as a much younger boy when she made that same threat.

Absolutely nothing had been resolved, either.

If that didn’t sum up how this whole situation with the cats was going, I didn’t know what would.

“That told you, didn’t it?” Adelaide said, still typing furiously, still wearing the headphones.

“I thought those were noise-cancelling?” I turned to her.

“Didn’t turn them on,” she replied, lips curving up as she kept tapping at the keys.

How could she do that without looking at the keyboard?

“So you heard all that?”

“Yes. I particularly enjoyed the part where she threatened to give you “a bloody good hiding.”” The small smile on her face broke into a big grin, and she glanced at me. “I’d pay good money to see that, you know.”

“I can give them out, too, you know,” I replied, staring at her. “I’ll put you over my knee if you keep messing with me.”

“I’d like to see you try.” She snorted and pulled off the headphones. “Can my characters finish kissing now, please?”

I walked across the library to where she was sitting at one of the tables. I gripped the back of her chair and leaned over her shoulder to read what she was writing. “He leaned over from his position behind me and gripped my chin, tilting my head back so he could kiss—”

“Shut up!” She shut the top of the laptop down and leaned around to glare at me. “Don’t read that!”

“Isn’t that the point of books? To be read?” I grinned down at her. “I was reading it.”

“Yes, but I don’t want you to read that.” She pointed at the laptop. “It’s awkward.”

“Why? Because it’s kissing? Are you afraid I’ll think you’re basing it off your dreams?”

“Oh, give over with that.” She nudged me and turned around, lifting the lid of the laptop again. “You’re in my personal space.”

“Your dreams say you like that.”

“Oh, my gosh. They didn’t mean anything. If anything, it means I’ve spent far too long as a single woman if I’m fantasising about you.”

I kept peering over her shoulder at the document.

“Do you mind?” Adelaide asked, tilting her head slightly to the side so she could only just stare at me. “You’re throwing me off.”

“I want to know where you’re going with this.” I wiggled my finger at the screen. “What happens after he kisses her?”

She sighed. “Alexander…”

“What? I have nothing else to do today.”

“So bugging me for the rest of your afternoon is your master plan?”

“No, just until I find out what happens after he kisses her.”

“For goodness’ sake!” She slapped her hand on the desk and looked up at me. “Why don’t you try it on me and bloody well find out?”

I was almost entirely sure she was being facetious, but since she’d challenged me…

I reached around and gripped her chin, tilting her head back to kiss her, exactly the way she’d just written about. There were several outcomes to what I was doing right now, and almost all of them were going to end very badly for me.

Adelaide paused momentarily before she reacted. It was the one I wasn’t expecting—instead of shoving me away, she slowly turned in the chair and reached up. Her hand trailed up my arm, and she rested her fingers against the side of my neck, leaning into the kiss.

I inched around the chair, and when she didn’t push me away, I released her chin and pulled her to her feet, quickly covering her lips with mine again. Our bodies were flush against each other, and the urge to run my hands over her body was almost overwhelming.

But I didn’t.

I behaved.

Until she grazed her teeth over my lower lip.

All the blood rushed to my cock, and I could no longer keep the pretence of having control over my body. I pushed Adelaide back towards the table and lifted her onto it, swiftly parting her legs and stepping between them. Her hands traced up my body, her fingers toying with the collar of my shirt, and she gripped onto it tightly, practically holding my lips against hers.

I slid my hands up her bare thighs, under the soft cotton of her dress, and rubbed my thumbs along her skin. She inhaled sharply against my lips, then pulled back the tiniest amount so all I could feel was her heavy exhales across my jaw.

“Alex,” she whispered.

Shit. I’ve gone too far.

“Sorry. I went too far. I’ll stop if you—”

“What if someone comes in and sees us?” She peered up at me, her eyes shining and her cheeks flushed.

Thank God for that.

“I can fix that.” I released her and crossed to the closed library doors, and with a twist of the doorknob and a release of the bolt at the floor, there wasn’t a chance anyone was getting in here. “See? Fixed.”