Not That Duke by Eloisa James

Author:Eloisa James
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-07-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

“It has nothing to do with Yasmin,” Silvester said, sliding sideways. He recognized the sneaky look in Stella’s eyes. She got just that expression when she was about to attack in chess.

But that wasn’t all he read in her eyes. The drumbeat of awareness between them, the way his toga was (thankfully) disguising his erection, the pink rising in Stella’s cheeks . . .

She felt it too.

His desire wasn’t one-sided.

As afternoon entertainments went, this one was proving sartorially challenging. It wasn’t a matter of keeping his toga on. Stella’s toga was the problem.

The breeze kept blowing it back, flattening silk against her bosom until he could actually see the lines of the corset she wore over her chemise. And everything else. All the generous curves and dips and valleys.

He forced himself to move to the right, his hand tightening on his sword. Sword! What in the bloody hell was he supposed to do with a blunt instrument besides make dirty jokes about it?

“Run to the tree, Stella!” a voice suddenly shrieked, bringing him back to the realization that they were silently circling each other like duelists.

Stella turned and ran away from him. Silvester was horrified to discover his muscles tightening, not wanting to let her go. This bloody craving was absurd. He never felt this for Yasmin.

But he’d been in love with Yasmin—or next best thing to in love with Yasmin. He adored her. Truly.

He didn’t adore Stella. He craved her, like water in a desert. He’d never actually tried to kiss Yasmin, whose touch-me-not air made her aversion to intimacy obvious. But Stella? The first damn time he got her in private, he couldn’t stop himself from pulling her into his arms, dead mouse or no dead mouse.

The memory of their kisses was like the beat of a drum in the back of his mind. So it was a damn good thing that Yasmin had dropped him for Giles.

He tightened his grip on his sword and padded after Stella, who had dashed behind a tree to confer with Merry, Fanny, and his mother.

“Sir, sir,” Thomas said, running up out of breath. “How many times have you been struck, sir?”

“Once,” Silvester said. “You?”

“Once. They don’t play fair at all. I had to run like the blazes to get away from the dowager duchess, which is not the way someone like that is supposed to play!”

“How should she play?” Silvester asked.

“Well, she’s old. And a duchess. She should be dignified. She’s a lady.”

“My mother never believed that rule, even when she was young.”

“Oh, that’s right, she’s your mother. I apologize.”

“Your mother won’t be dignified at that age, either,” Silvester pointed out. “She’s also a duchess.”

“Look, they’ve decided something,” Thomas said, whirling around and backing close to Silvester’s chest.

Silvester could smell sweaty boy and mown grass. It was surely imagination that made him detect the faint perfume that clung to Stella’s skin as well.

The four women strolled out from behind the tree. Silvester’s body flared to life at a glance from Stella.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.