Marguerite and the Duke in Disguise (Sisters of Castle Fortune Book 5) by Alicia Cameron

Author:Alicia Cameron [Cameron, Alicia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-01-31T22:00:00+00:00

It was fully a half-hour before the window moved. She jumped, got up swiftly as he entered. He held out arms in front in a restraining gesture. 'Do not throw yourself at me again, I beg!'

'Are you afraid of me, sir?'

'Yes!' he said, throwing himself on the chair.

She laughed, a release of stress. 'I found a spare blanket in a chest, sir. Pray make use of it.'

'I might. But I do not wish to fall asleep.'

'You should. My chair trap will alert us to danger.'

'A soldier's trick.' He looked at her, sitting with her knees bent, her hair over one shoulder, plaited, and for the first time worried severely. It was not just her undoubted beauty — given his position in life, he had been pursued by many beauties at home and abroad — but the look in those large, innocent, blue eyes. It was trust, which was bad enough, but also dependence, something he had avoided instigating in any other woman besides Dorothea. However, in the face of her bravery before murderous villains, he had no other choice but to protect her. And he was aware that he might not get out of this trap. The worst of it was, seeing her in her night things was of course a temptation. They were modest, more modest than the delicate muslins ladies favoured these days, being made of sturdy cotton that covered her from neck to ankle. But it was intimate, and made her look even more defenceless than her fashionable clothes. He sat on his desire with brutality, reminding himself of her silliness. But it was becoming more difficult since last night when she had thrown herself into his arms, her soft warm curves against him, the scent of her hair, her need of him. He had been shaken, and he knew it. But this distance was almost worse. He knew a desire to bridge the gap — because men, after all, were animals. He knew that if he did so she would not show fear, but welcome him — because, dammit, she trusted him. She thought of him as a royal guard, perhaps, or something like the kind of father she had not had.

He wished she did not trust him. It would be too easy. But he would not have acted differently, even so. Unless he was prepared to marry her, and he could think of nothing sensible about that at all. If they were discovered, he might have to. But that was if he was discovered, which he did not intend to be. But she should stop looking at him like that.

'You are so good to me!' she said fervently.

This was not a phrase he had ever heard, even from Dorothea, who had known it would revolt him. It did so now. 'Nonsense. We are at war. I must do what I have to. I have no desire to be good to you.'

'I do know.' She laughed at him, which he found impertinent, but less revolting She had never quite treated him with the respect he was accustomed to.

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