***
Pierce stormed into his bedchamber angrily tugging at his cravat until it loosened, flicking it across the room to land on the floor in a snowy heap of white. He heard Tucker, his valet, come up behind him and knew without turning to see the expression on his face that it would be one of carefully masked irritation. Tucker worked hard to ensure that everything always looked neat and proper and everything was in its place so the disrespect of his cravat would surely irk the man enormously but Pierce didn’t care. He shrugged out of his jacket and before he had a chance to toss that as well, Tucker was at his side rescuing it from the same fate as his cravat.
“Thank you. I apologize for my behavior, would you like me to retrieve my cravat for you and hand it to you in a civilized manner?”
“It would probably do you good but you know I’d never require that of you.” Tucker said as he scurried over and bent to retrieve the cravat himself.
Pierce walked over and poured himself a drink from the crystal decanter that was sitting on his sideboard before collapsing into a forest green winged back chair. He felt his head aching at the thought of how complicated his life had recently become. He let his thoughts wander to Eliza and her soft auburn curls and her piercing green eyes. Her skin was like porcelain, so pale and smooth. She had been the first and last girl he had fallen in love with, before he decided that love was just a fallacy.
He closed his eyes and imagined what she had felt like in his arms when they had danced together, of the way she would smile up at him as if he was the only man in the room. He felt a twang of anxiety in his chest at the thought of seeing her again—what if those old feelings resurfaced, proving to further complicate his life? There had been a time when he had been anxious for a future, for a family with her. Her actions; however, had squelched those ideas completely. He never allowed himself to think in those terms anymore, everything he did now was out of duty and nothing more.
Placing his half drunken brandy back on the table he bent and yanked his boots off before turning the bed covers down on his large bed and crawling in hoping to be able to escape into sleep for a few hours before his mother would inevitably be calling him for dinner.
Pierce lay on his back, looking up at the ceiling as sleep eluded him. His thoughts were churning and now instead of thinking of Eliza, he found his mind wandering to marvelous amber eyes and an insufferable little chit that surprised him from minute to minute with her outrageous behavior. One minute she’d act haughty, like she couldn’t be bothered by him and couldn’t possibly tolerate another minute in his company, other times she’d act totally out of character as a lady. He knew her mother had died in childbirth when she was born and tried to chalk up her sometimes unrefined behavior to the lack of proper motherly guidance but then he’d remember a number of Lady’s that grew up motherless who were still educated and cultured and knew that couldn’t be all to the story.
Noelle was such a mix of contradictions, from the way she professed his kiss was merely pleasant trying to dismiss the whole ordeal completely after her body had reacted to his touch as if it was starving for the passion which ignited between them. One minute she’d be looking at him with raw desire in her startling eyes, the next she’d be insulting him and acting as if his very presence was repulsive. She was a mystery to him but he wasn’t sure he was ready to let his guard down around her, never quite sure what he might encounter from the beautiful minx.
Thinking of Noelle, he glanced out the window and noticed the rain cascading down the panes in thick rivulets. He pulled himself out of the warm cocoon of his bed and went to glance through the window to see if she had by chance gotten caught out in the storm during her stroll through the gardens. The rain obliterated his view making it nearly impossible to make out a single thing. He desperately wanted to get back into bed and forget about the girl but something inside of him compelled him to go check and see that she made it safely into the dry shelter of the house.
Pierce tucked his shirt into his breeches before pulling on his boots, forgetting about his jacket and cravat before heading out into the hall and down the staircase on his way towards the door. Before he reached the entryway, the large door was thrown open and in walked Noelle, drenched completely from head to toe. Her thick hair was pasted to her head as raindrops rolled from her face and down over her collarbone. Pierce tried to ignore the way her wet dress clung provocatively to her curves as he stared at her speechless. Even standing soaking wet in the doorway, completely disheveled, he found her more tempting and beautiful than the most well groomed woman he had ever seen.
Hope looked up to see Pierce standing a few yards away staring at her, his hands clenched in tight fists at his side. It took everything in her to ignore the way his dark eyes bore into her, causing her already chilled skin to break out into goose pimples. Her attempts at ignoring him were futile, for she found it equally hard to look away from his striking appearance. His dark hair was ruffled; his black eyes were gleaming with a wicked glint, his jaw clenched fiercely. Her eyes widened when she realized he wasn’t wearing his jacket or cravat and that his shirt was partially undone, revealing a deep V of brown skin covered in a scattering of course, dark hair. For a brief moment she fantasized about laying her head on his chest and feeling that hair rub on her own smooth cheek before forcing herself to look away from his distracting chest and back at his face.
It was a mistake—the look she saw in his eyes frightened and excited her at the same time, he looked like he wanted to devour her. Laughing nervously she brushed some of the wet strands from her face, “Pardon my appearance your grace.”
“Pierce. I thought we had dispensed with the formalities already.”
She only nodded, “Yes, well if you’d be so kind as to have somebody show me to my room then I can change into something more appropriate.”
His eyes raked her body once more, “I don’t mind your appearance at all. Don’t worry about changing on my account.”
“Ha! If you hadn’t noticed, there isn’t much I do based on your account, I simply insist on changing so I don’t catch a chill.” She folded her arms across her chest to try to gather a modicum of warmth into her body but Pierce mistook her actions for an attempt at modesty.
“Come on, I’ll show you to your room.” He said reluctantly, not wanting to have to look away from the fetching picture she made.
Hope dutifully followed him, purposely lingering a few paces behind so as to avoid further conversation. She couldn’t help but notice from her position the way the muscles moved in his strong legs as he walked and his broad back which tapered down to lean hips. He was a magnificently made man and she was irked that she responded physically to him.
When Pierce came to a halt in front of a door Hope almost ran into the back of him, so distracted she was by watching his imposing figure move with a sense of grace and power.
“Here you are, my room is two doors down if you need anything.”
“I’m sure anything I may need can be provided by one of the servants.”
He leaned close and growled, “There are things that I, as your fiancé, can only provide. Surely you wouldn’t go to one of the servants for this.” His voice trailed off as his large hands flanked the sides of her face pulling her to him and placing his lips on top of hers. He briefly had the thought that he had promised himself not to be the one to initiate their next kiss before the feel of her cool lips on his distracted him from further thinking, compelled only to react. He was momentarily shocked that she didn’t pull back and slap him but after only a few seconds she began responding to his ardent desire.
Hope’s lips went from chilled to deliciously warm as Pierce’s lips moved expertly over her own and when he dropped his hands from her face to pull her into his hard body she shivered, but not from the cold gown that was clinging to her body. She instinctively reached her arms up and wrapped them around his neck, entwining her hands in the thick hair at the base of his neck. Pierce’s arms circled he
r waist, pulling her with him as he turned and leaned his back against the door to her room, enjoying the soft press of her much smaller body against his.
She surprised him by pulling back and pressing scorching kisses along his jaw before saying in a low gravelly voice, “You’re right, I don’t suppose I’ll be going to a servant for this.”
Pierce groaned and in a husky voice replied, “You better not. I’ll always be more than happy to accommodate your need.”
“I’m sure you will.” Hope didn’t know what had gotten into her and why she was complying with the duke’s demands, all she knew was that the yearning in her own body compelled her on. She returned her mouth to his and tried to sate her appetite for him with another series of fervent kisses but when she pulled back she realized her appetite for him had barely been whetted. She leaned her head on his chest as she had fantasized about earlier and reached up to run her fingers softly over the smattering of dark hair on his chest.
“I don’t know what you’re doing to me, Pierce.”
He placed a large hand over her hand that was trailing circles on his chest, “It’s called passion, minx.”
She pulled back to look into his face, “Is that what this is between us?”
“Of course, and we should consider ourselves lucky that if nothing else at least our marriage will be a passionate one.”
“Is that all we can expect of this union?” Her warm amber eyes were searching his face for any sign of something more but all she saw was lust.
“Quite possibly, and we’d both be fools to expect otherwise.” His earlier warmth was replaced by a cool aloofness that bothered Hope as she watched and felt him withdraw both physically and emotionally from her.
Straightening his shoulders he said, “Now hurry along and change, dinner will be served soon.” Hope watched as he turned on his heel and strode into his own room, shutting the door firmly behind him.