“No,” Daisy smiled, and her heart caught from happiness. “I would love nothing more.”
“I thought so.” Reggie pulled her nearer to her. “There will be balls you can put on.”
“Oh?”
“I’ll have my savings.” His eyes twinkled.
She smiled. “You despise balls.”
“I enjoy seeing you plan them and I can’t wait to see you host them. Almack’s will quake at its loss of popularity.”
Daisy giggled.
“I would never give you up,” he said.
And then he kissed her again. Soft kisses feathered her cheeks. She was so damn lovely. Every curve was perfect. He caught her lips with his own, and everything was perfect.
He halted on the stairs, vaguely aware of Alistair coming inside and shutting the door. He wasn’t supposed to kiss her like this. He wasn’t supposed to be alone with her like this. And yet, Reggie had never cared much for propriety, and he wasn’t going to start now.
“I’m going to get you into bed,” Reggie said. There was so much of her body to explore.
“I still haven’t heard the proposal.”
“Oh?” Reggie grinned. “Will you, Daisy Holloway, do me the lifelong honor of becoming my wife?”
She narrowed her eyes.
Damn it, Daisy was supposed to say yes.
“You do know I don’t walk?” she asked. “And that I won’t ever?”
“Doesn’t matter.” Reggie smirked. “Just means I’ll be able to carry you in my arms more without shocking the servants.”
“And I’ll always need someone to look after me.”
“Well, I’m not entirely useless,” he said, “but I expect you would like to bring Mrs. Powell. And that is absolutely fine.”
She nodded, then her face sobered. “But I don’t know if I can have children. I don’t think I even want children. The delivery is filled with risks.”
“Then we won’t have children.” Reggie took her hands in his. “I don’t want a life without you, and unless you’re confident the risk is worthwhile, we won’t have children. You’re far more important.”
“But your legacy.”
“Frankly, I don’t give a damn about my legacy,” Reggie said.
Daisy blinked. “You mustn’t speak like that.”
“It’s true.” He gazed at her. Heavens, he could stare at her emerald eyes all day. “I care about you, Miss Daisy Holloway. And my life won’t be anything to take pride in if you’re not there beside me.”
“You can’t mean it,” she said.
“I bloody well do.”
“And my parents are difficult,” Daisy said miserably.
“Let them say what they want.” Reggie waved his hand dismissively in the direction of invisible insults. “I’ll win them over, I promise.”
“You mean that?”
“I’m going to marry you,” Reggie vowed. “And we’re going to be very, very happy.”
“Indeed?” Daisy’s voice caught.
“Indeed,” Reggie said solemnly. “For the rest of our long lives. Now, let’s kiss.”
“Is that a vital part?” Daisy’s eyes glimmered.
“Kissing is always vital.” Reggie carried her to his bed.
The kisses had been good. Most kisses were good, but Daisy’s... Reggie shook his head in wonder. He was certain he’d never experienced such passion.
“My parents will figure out where I am soon.”
“Then we’ll speak to them.” He grinned. “And the more rumpled we look, the better.”
She grinned. “Alistair might not appreciate that.”
“Alistair will understand.”
“You plan to compromise me?” Daisy’s eyes shimmered.
Reggie lowered her to the bed. “Absolutely.”
He bent down and kissed her, catching her lips in his. His heart hammered, unnerved by the sudden contact, the realization he hadn’t lost her, that she was right here on his bed.
He lifted his face and gazed down at her. Some strands of her hair had become unpinned, and he ran his fingers over her golden locks. Her green eyes stared up at him, nearly matching the coverlet.
“At least,” he amended, “I’d very much like to compromise you.”
She smiled, and sunlight spilled through the room.
He ran a finger from the curve of her neck to her shoulder, marveling that he’d carried her in his arms, that he’d held her so close to his heart. That sweet floral scent wafted from her skin. Flowers, he realized, were truly marvelous. He grasped her tiny hand in his palm and pulled it toward his mouth. He kissed it. “You’re so beautiful.”
His heart ached. Desire thundered through him, as if Alistair had set the walls on fire.
He had to tell her something. She had to know.
“I-I love you,” he said hoarsely.
Her eyes widened.
“Perhaps it’s too soon to expect you might feel—”
“I love you too,” she said hastily.
He blinked. “That’s—that’s marvelous.”
“Quite.”
An odd awkwardness filled the room. His heart still pounded more quickly, as if it hadn’t expected her to tell him that, as if it hadn’t been prepared for everything to be fine. There was no competitor to pummel, no match to conquer. He’d managed to find the most important thing—happiness.
He wondered what she was thinking. He hoped she was thinking good things.
“I—er—hoped I didn’t frighten you,” he said.
One of her eyebrows jolted up, and her shoulders eased. “The kidnapping.”
He shuffled his feet awkwardly. “Er—yes. And the carrying you upstairs business.”
“And placing me on your bed.”
Heat warmed the back of his neck.
“Actually,” Daisy said. “I was wondering why I was the only person in it.”
His eyes widened.
She hesitated, and for a moment, she seemed smaller. “It is customary for men to climb next to the women in their beds, is it not?”
He nodded, and his tongue suddenly felt thick. Everything felt thick. “Yes, yes it is.”
Then he slid beside her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Daisy’s heart thundered as Reggie climbed into the bed.
Well.
He climbed into his bed, which could hardly precisely be termed unusual, even if he probably didn’t make a habit of visiting it in the afternoon.
Daisy wasn’t supposed to be here.
She stared at the four-poster bed and the green fabric that fluttered between the dark wooden posts. This was a new experience. She heard shuffling sounds, and she smiled. She suspected the duke was removing his boots. Then the bed shifted, and the duke lay beside her. He turned his face to her, and his rich chocolate eyes smiled at her.
Her heartbeat quickened, and he stroked her hair, as if in wonder.
“You’re so beautiful, Daisy,” Reggie murmured. He leaned forward and feathered kisses on her face.
She clung to him, and he caught her succulent lips in his mouth. His masculine scent of cedar and cotton wafted over her.
“I need to taste you,” he growled. In the next moment, he took her lips in his. She placed her hands about his neck, and her heart sang.
He kissed and kissed and kissed.
He moved his hands about her body, and delicious sensations moved through her.
“Are you comfortable?” he murmured.
“I’m in heaven.”
He chuckled, and the sound was warm and comforting, like Christmas supper and all things marvelous. He ran his fingers over her. “Do you like that?”
She nodded as warmth moved through her, as if all the blood in her body were rushing to meet his touch.
She pulled him toward her, and pleasure moved through her as he settled against her.
“Am I crushing you?” he asked.
“No,” she said, then grinned. “Unless you’re on the parts of my body
I can’t feel.”
He shot her a horrified look.
“I’m fine.” Daisy pulled him toward her again. She was quite capable of doing that, and it was very, very important that he was beside her.
She raised her lips, and she didn’t need to say anything for him to kiss them. He pulled her into a hug, sliding her legs toward him and wrapping her into an embrace. His hands continued to explore her body, as if he needed to discover every inch of her, as if he needed to memorize her with his hands. His hands rounded her bottom, and energy shot to her core, tightening about her.
He pulled away from her lips and whispered, “Do you feel that?”
“Yes.”
He smiled, then drew his fingers slowly to the front of her body. His hand rubbed her core, and her eyes widened.
“Do you like that?” he asked.
“Yes,” she breathed.
He grinned, then pulled her dress slowly up. He hesitated. “I don’t think you require this.”
She blinked. “That would be scandalous.”
“Then let’s be scandalous.” His eyes sparkled, and desire emanated from his eyes.
Her heartbeat quickened, and her core tightened, and—
“Please,” she managed to say, and he smiled. He pulled her gently into a sitting position, placing his long, firm thighs on either side of her. She ran her fingers over them experimentally, and he moaned.
“You mustn’t do that,” he said.
She halted at once. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
He hugged her tightly. “I meant, it felt good. Very good.”
“Oh?”
“Having you here feels good.”
Happiness flitted through her.
He helped her from her dress, pausing now and then to kiss her. Then he lay her down gently on the bed. He gazed in wonder at her, then bent to touch the skin at her neck. He moved a hand to her bosom, rounding it with his hand.
She moaned, even though she didn’t make a habit of moaning. Delight moved through her. He continued to kiss her, moving from her neck to her collarbone, then traveling lower, lower, lower. He loosened her stays and pulled down her shift, so her bosom was exposed.
“Daisy,” he groaned.
He touched her bud, so it pebbled beneath his fingers. The energy tightened at her core. Then he kissed her bosom, and the room grew hot, as if someone had set the walls on fire.
He put her nipple in his mouth and sucked on it. The pressure at her core tightened as he continued to move his hands about her, as if to cherish her.
Then he paid equal attention to her other breast. Heavens. Was this the reason why men and women were separated? Because they would never desire to be separated after this?
Her heart sped and leaped, twirled and danced.
She’d never felt like this before.
She’d never even imagined she might feel like this.
Reggie may as well have tossed her into a cloud and let her bask in its sunbeams.
Nothing could be as wonderful as this—nothing.
She halted her thoughts. Reggie had halted his exploration of her bosom and was pulling her shift up.
“Reggie?” she asked.
In the next moment, his hand was at her core, and he slipped a finger inside her folds, drawing it up and down lazily.
She blinked.
“Do you feel that?” he asked.
She nodded rapidly.
He smiled. Then for some odd reason, he halted his finger’s explorations of her center.
“You must continue,” she blurted.
His eyes sparkled mischievously, then he ducked his entire head below her shift. Wonder moved through her. What was he doing? He couldn’t possibly think he could see anything there. Not when her shift covered his head.
But something soft and light touched her core.
His head.
He was moving his head there. The softness was his tongue.
Her core tightened. Energy swelled through her. It surged and surged and—
In the next moment, she shuddered. Reggie pulled his head from her shift and lay beside her. He wrapped his arms around her as she continued to shake.
“That—” She swallowed hard. “I didn’t expect—”
He grinned, then pulled her back toward him. Her heart continued to thud, but he was beside her, and everything was wonderful.
She glanced at him finally. “What can I do?”
“Do? You don’t have to do any—”
She reached for his shaft, and his eyes widened.
“Well, perhaps, you could touch that,” he said, his voice husky.
“Perhaps you can unbutton your flaps.”
His eyes widened, and desire surged through his eyes. “I could do that.”
He moved quickly. Daisy stared at him, then stared at the rod before her.
“It—er—probably looks strange to you.”
She giggled. “I’ve seen statues before.”
“Right.” He blinked, and his eyes still seemed stunned.
Heavens.
She’d put that pleasure there. She’d put that happiness there. Her heart surged, and she placed her hands on Reggie’s hips, noticing their straightness, their firmness, their utter masculinity.
Desire moved through her, and she tentatively licked his shaft.
“Daisy,” he moaned.
She stopped. “Was that good?”
“That was very, very good,” he said.
She smirked. “I can continue.”
And she did.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
A loud bang sounded, and voices floated up from downstairs. Well, technically, they seemed to charge with all the force of angry rhinoceroses in the jungle.
Reggie untangled himself from Daisy reluctantly. “I believe we have company.”
She nodded solemnly. “I suppose now would be a good time to get dressed.”
He gazed reluctantly at her dress. “It does seem a pity.”
“Oh?”
Reggie grinned. He had the terrible impression that his grin verged on the salacious, and Daisy poked an elbow into him.
“Naughty,” she chided.
“Truthful,” he protested, then traced her pink buds, still visible through her thin shift.
He helped her sit up, then grabbed her thick emerald afternoon dress. “Arms up.”
She smiled, raised her arms above her head, and he pulled the fabric over her.
Footsteps pounded below.
“I believe your parents have discovered the stairs.”
“You don’t keep them very well hidden,” Daisy said.
Reggie smirked.
“And they have been here before.”
Voices could be heard arguing.
“I think Alistair is attempting to dissuade them from exploring the entire townhouse,” Reggie said.
“He doesn’t know Papa.”
“Your father doesn’t know Alistair.” Reggie crawled behind her and focused on her back. “There are many buttons here.”
“You can take pleasure in their fashionableness.”
“I’m going to take pleasure in your delicious back.”
“Delicious?”
“Everything about you is delicious,” Reggie said solemnly.
Daisy smiled. “You’re a silly man.”
“Perhaps,” Reggie said. “Though don’t tell that to your parents.”
Her face sobered. “Oh, do hurry.”
Reggie buttoned her dress quickly.
“I have the feeling my hair is not at its best,” Daisy said.
“If that feeling disturbs you, I would suggest not looking in the mirror.”
She scrunched her lips together.
“You always look adorable,” Reggie stated, smoothing a curly strand of hair back. He placed her arms. “Now, let’s see your parents.”
“The first stop is the mirror,” she said.
Reggie sighed, but obediently carried her there. He would ca
rry her anywhere she liked, forever and ever.
After Daisy had smoothed her hair, he marched from the room. Alistair had left Daisy’s chair outside the room.
“I can simply carry you,” Reggie said.
She smiled. “I know. But I like my independence.”
Reggie nodded and placed her into the chair reluctantly, instantly missing the feeling of her warm skin pressed against him. She grabbed hold of the wheels and pushed herself to the landing, then glanced at him.
“Daisy Holloway,” her mother bellowed. “What on earth are you doing here?”
Reggie sighed.
“How did you get up there?”
Reggie joined Daisy. “I brought her here.”
“I knew it,” Papa said and shot Alistair an accusatory look. “You said you hadn’t seen my daughter.”
“Oh, she’s your daughter?” Alistair asked in an innocent voice.
Reggie snorted, then carried Daisy downstairs.
He held her in his arms and addressed her parents. “Mr. and Mrs. Holloway, I have some—er—news for you.”
Daisy’s parents glanced at them warily. Alistair ascended the steps to bring Daisy’s chair down.
“Your daughter has done me the indescribable honor of agreeing to become my wife,” Reggie said.
Daisy’s father blinked.
Daisy’s mother’s jaw dropped down.
“No,” Mrs. Holloway said finally. “That’s not possible.”
“It’s true, Mama,” Daisy said.
“But you’re—” Mrs. Holloway swallowed hard.
“I love Daisy, and I want her to be in my life forever.”
“But she wasn’t supposed to marry,” Mrs. Holloway managed to say finally. “That wasn’t the plan. She was supposed to stay with us. I-I don’t understand.”
“We’re in love,” Daisy said, and Reggie’s heart warmed.
Love.
That was precisely the emotion he felt. That described everything.
“We’re going to marry,” Reggie said.
Mrs. Holloway blinked.
The Duke Meets His Matchmaker (The Duke Hunters Club, #5) Page 16
