“That’s right.”
“Then it all makes sense now, the midnight gallivanting and shooting in the fields. Why by day you were short-tempered, like a man who expects an enemy to attack from out of nowhere. You gave Walker nightmares.”
“I thought it would be worse if I came home in the afternoon looking like a corpse.” He reached for the bandage on the table beside the bed and wiped the ointment that the physician had plastered on his arm.
“My father died in a duel, James. It is a male ritual that I will always associate with death and unhappiness.”
“I wish I could go back in time and prevent your father’s death. Perhaps he felt he didn’t have a choice but to stand up for himself. I’m sure he didn’t intend to hurt you and your sisters. The best I can do now is promise to protect you.”
She sighed. “Men and their honor.”
“Will you stay the night with me?”
“Yes,” she said, without even pretending to hesitate.
He pulled off his shirt and with difficulty unfastened his trousers. “I don’t think I’ll die tonight, but if I do, I’ll be a contented man with you at my side.”
* * *
Ivy knew perfectly well the duke was an uninhibited man. A sexually practiced man. A completely naked man who had undressed her and tossed their clothes between the bed’s posters before she could hang them over a chair.
They rose together and faced off without a stitch, studying each other’s nude bodies in ardent silence. He was masculine to the marrow. How well made were the wide shoulders and arms that she knew from the day of her accident to be capable and protective. Indeed, she felt more faint now at the thought of belonging to him, of touching the heavy member between his legs that proved he wasn’t anywhere near death’s door.
“I could stare at you all night, Ivy,” he said, his dark eyes traveling over her with a heat that penetrated the secret places of her body.
She clasped her hands together. “I could say the same of you, but I’d have to sit down to do so. The nearness of you in such a state overwhelms me.”
“I haven’t even touched you yet,” he said with a confident smile, and stepped forward.
“James,” she said, staring past him, “don’t you think we should pick up our clothing from the middle of the floor?” Not that she could move when she was melting from the inside out. Her female soul was ready to submit.
“Why bother?” he asked in amusement.
“What if someone opens the door? It looks—I don’t know. It looks untidy, disorderly.”
“Sex is untidy and we shall shortly become so disorderly that it won’t matter where you put your shoes.”
“Oh.” A wave of light-headness overcame her. His words flooded her with anticipation. He was the first man, the only one, she would ever love and want. She’d learned that he was an honorable man who cared for his wards. She knew he was highly sexual and to please him challenged her innocent upbringing.
As further evidence of his vitality, he walked her against the bed, framed her face in one hand, and kissed her deeply. His other hand found her breasts, his fingers twisting her nipples until her blood sang in her veins. She was mad for this duke who had taken up midnight training to fight for her.
She would forbid him to do so and divert him by indulging his every other desire. Although it seemed he would not hesitate to take what he needed from her without asking.
“Ivy,” he said. “Don’t go anywhere.”
As if she would run out into the hall completely unclad.
“Wait,” he said unnecessarily, backing away from her with another dark smile that promised her obedience would be rewarded.
He extinguished the candles burning in the wrought-iron wall sconces. She stood for endless moments, enveloped in smoky darkness. The moment she dared to turn, a pair of sinewy arms hoisted her into the air and deposited her on the bed.
She waited, breathless, searching his face and finding within its shadows a reassuring warmth and indication of wicked intentions. “No games this time,” he said. “No boundaries.”
His body hovered over hers. “You cheated before.”
“I know. I couldn’t help myself.”
“You’re deplorable.”
“Am I, darling?”
“At times.”
“At this moment? Am I deplorable or am I deluded? Did you not seek my bed of your own will?”
“You know I did. I think you know I love you.”
“I think you know that I want to marry you.”
“How would I know that?”
“I didn’t steal kisses from you at the masquerade ball. You stole my heart.”