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She looked up, through her long, ebony lashes, and he was struck by her lush beauty Aat her
“I don’t withdraw”
His pulse pounded at the words, and he wished they were anywhere but here, in this crowded square, with her brother and half of Yorkshire within shouting distance
He stood, knowing that if he did not, he would not be responsible for his actions Reaching down, he offered her a hand and pulled her to her full height He ash in the se, exotic blend of red currants and basil She lifted her face to his, the orange glow of the bonfire flickering across her skin, and he saw the eaze, knew that if he took her lips here—in this public place—in front of everyone, she would not push him away
The temptation was acute
For a fleeting moment, he wondered ould happen if he did it—if he branded her as his here, in thein an instant Honor would deiana’s scandal would take second place to the Duke of Leighton’s throwing over the daughter of a double hter of questionable legitimacy
But he would have Juliana
And in that instant, it alh
He could do it; her mouth was mere inches from his, all softness and temptation, and all he had to do was close the distance between them And she would be his
He watched as the tip of her pink tongue stroked along her lower lip, and desire lanced through hiht and casual “Shall alk some more?”
She didn’t feel it, the twisting, unbearable need that roiled inside him
He cleared his throat, taking a moment to draw out the sound in the hopes that his head would clear as well
“Of course,” he said, and she was off, leaving hiic pup that he had becorateful than when she led him back to the line of stalls; he was , when he did not feel her heat along the length of him
She lifted her chin to the night air as they walked, taking a deep breath and letting it out on a long sigh “I think I could like the country”
He was surprised by the statey about her that this quiet, country village did not seem to suit “You prefer it to London?”
She sesture “I think it prefers me”
“I think you belong in London”
She shook her head “Not anymore At least, not for the rest of the year I think I shall stay here in Yorkshire I like the ladies of Minerva House, Lucrezia likes to run on the heath, and I am ready to be done with the season”
He hated the idea of leaving her in the country Of returning to London—to his staid, boring life there—without her added excitement Her vibrancy was lost here ah the h society ballrooms, draped in silks and satins
With him
He caught his breath at the vision that flashed, Juliana on his ar court over society Impossible
She stopped at the opening to one booth, trailing her fingers along the green lace edge of a si the bri his neckhis shouldersdown his torso
He grew instantly hard and shifted, thankful for the darkness, but did not look away, fascinated by the way she stroked the hat Finally, when he could not bear watching her fondle the headpiece a er, he drew a pouch of coins from his pocket and said to the shopkeeper, “I should like to buy the bonnet for the lady”
Her eyes greide “You cannot”
But the man in the stall had already taken the coin “Would you like to wear it, milady?”
She ignored hiaze “It’s not done You cannot buy ”
He lifted the bonnet from where it lay and tossed an extra coin to the salesht we drank the potion?”
She looked at the hat for a long ht not take it When she did, he let out a long breath that he had not known he was holding
“And besides,” he teased, “I promised to buy you a bonnet to replace the one you lost”
He watched as the memory played over in herin his arht it up
“Ifthe bonnet in her hands, and he war’s pseudonym “You offered to buy me a dozen”
He nodded once in mock seriousness and turned back to the keeper of the stall “Do you have eleven more of these? Perhaps in other colors?”
Thehis ar him away from the booth She sies”
Theabout burning the Guy makes us all a mite mad”
As they walked away, Si”
“Six of one, a half a dozen of the other when it coh
They had gone several yards when she slowed down onceher attention to the bonnet in her hands “Thank you”
“It was my pleasure”
And it had been He wanted to buy her a hundred hats And cloaks and gowns and horses and saddles and pianofortes and whatever else she wanted Whatever made her happy, he wanted her to have it in abundance
So when she said, “I’m sorry,” and he heard the sadness in her tone, he did not like it at all
He stopped, until she turned back to face him once more “For what?”
One shoulder lifted in a tiny shrug Lord, he was co so difficult For challenging you, and provoking you, and sending you inappropriate, unwanted notes, and for angering you and frustrating you and aze, and he saw the honesty and contrition in her enormous blue eyes
She shook her head once, before continuing “I did not know, SimonI did not know that you had such reason to be so concerned for propriety and reputation Had I known” She trailed off, looking over his shoulder at the bonfire, as though looking at hiht be too painful And then she whispered, “Had I known, I never would have e I never would have pushed you so far”
The words were so soft, if the breeze had been blowing in another direction, he would not have heard them Would not have heard the sadness in them
“I am sorry”
They were at the far end of the green nohere the line of stalls ended, and Si her farther into the darkness, around the last booth and into a cluster of trees in the corner of the square
“I thought we agreed that tonight was for simplicity,” he said, the words soft in the privacy of the space—the trees giving theht and sounds of the bonfire far enough away that everything seemed like a dream
As though they really had taken a ic potion
As though tonight was different
He felt rather than saw her shake her head “But it’s not, really, is it? You are still a duke, and Iwell, I am who I am”
“No, Juliana,” he whispered, stepping closer, lifting a hand to cup her chin and tilt her face toward hiht”
He wished he could see her face
“Yes, even tonight Not even ic can unmake us, Simon We are too well formed” Her voice wrapped around hi him
ache “I just want you to knowI want you to know that I understand And that if I could return to that night when I issued e, I would take it all back”
He didn’t want her to take it back
“I wish I could go back and choose a different carriage”
Irrational jealousy flared at the idea of this alternate reality, where another e
She was his
The wave of possessiveness was unsettling, and he released her as he attempted to control it
Shedistance between them He felt the loss of her keenly “It is teeks today, did you know that?”
He had not thought of the bargain in days Not since he’d left for Yorkshire He did a quick calculation of tiht Yes”
And you have kept your promise to show me passion
He did not say the words Did not have a chance to
“I have not brought you to your knees”
She’d done worse It felt like she’d ripped his heart from his chest
“So,” she said, her voice so soft he could barely hear it in the darkness “Because instead of your discovering that passion is everything, I discovered that passion is nothing without love”
What was she saying?
Was it possible she
He reached for her, his fingers brushing her ar farther into the darkness “What does that mean?”
A little, huh sounded, and he wanted desperately to see her face
“Juliana?” He could barely make out her silhouette in the darkness
“Don’t you see, Simon?” There was a tremor in her voice, and he hated it “I love you”
It was not until he heard the words on her tongue, in her beautiful, lyric accent, that he realized how very ht washed over him, pleasure and pain, and all he could think was that he would die if she wasn’t in his arms
He wanted nothing more than to hold her
He did not knoould co
She loved him