Page 95 of Duke with a Desire

Perhaps she hadn’t spent every day since they’d parted in the gamekeeper’s cottage yearning for him as he had her.

He gave the children a small smile. “Carry on with your proceedings.”

At last, he turned to where Phee and Ro sat, allowing his gaze to slip to Phee’s. The gray-green of her eyes was compounded by the navy of her bodice and the hints of green trim. She was so beautiful, it hurt to breathe. But he had to.

He nodded. “Lady Corbett.”

She inclined her head. “Your Grace.”

The air between them fairly crackled with sparks. Her eyes were like windows to everything that had happened between them during the house party. Each kiss, stolen touch, the passion, the bliss. He saw her beneath him, cheeks flushed, her hair unbound and spread over his pillow. He saw her damp from the rain, wet from a bath, saw her sleeping soundly wrapped in his arms.

The ache in his chest was so profound that he rubbed it, surprised to find there wasn’t a knife lodged there.

“Sit,” Ro ordered him without preamble, forcing his attention from Phee as she indicated the chair at her side.

He dutifully folded himself into the piece of furniture in question, feeling a bit like a dog at his mistress’s feet.

“I shan’t stay long,” he said. “I’ve correspondence awaiting me.”

That was a lie. Nothing in the world could keep him from Phee. There was no obligation, no duty that could possibly surpass the need to bask in her presence now that she was finally here instead of invading his dreams. But there remained those few tattered rags of his pride yet blowing in the wind, cannon fire and all.

So, he wouldn’t linger. Not unless she asked him to.

Ro prepared his tea the way he liked it. His sister was a menace, but she was always good to him. He accepted it with a courteous thank-you as she glanced expectantly between himself and Phee.

He nearly groaned at her lack of discretion but busied himself with enjoying a sip of his tea instead.

“I hope you don’t mind that Catherine and Reggie are with me for this call,” Phee said. “I ordinarily leave them with their nursemaid, but I wasn’t able to do so today.”

Perhaps the nursemaid was ill. Either way, he didn’t mind the presence of her son and daughter one bit. They were a part of her, and it was like seeing a facet he’d yet to admire. He had known, of course, how devoted a mother she was from Ro’s admiring tales. But he’d never before seen Phee with her children or met them.

“It is a pleasure to meet your children, my lady,” he told Phee honestly. “They are always welcome at my home. As is their mother.”

A flush stole over her cheekbones at his words. “Thank you. That is most kind of you.”

He gave her a smile that felt grim and small at best. “I am a kind man.”

She swallowed. “Yes. Of course. I do know that about you. Fr-from Aphrodite, I mean to say.”

“Naturally.” He took another sip of tea, amazed at his own showing of sangfroid when everything in him was screaming to take her in his arms, spirit her from this drawing room, and remind her how good it was between them.

How very close to heaven on this earthly plane.

He glanced in his sister’s direction to find Ro watching them with an odd expression on her face. Her gaze went from Apollo to Phee, then back again. But in quite unlike Ro fashion, she remained silent.

Whether her omission was intentional or not, he couldn’t be sure. But it left him swimming in an awkward silence he felt compelled to fill.

He cleared his throat and glanced back at Phee, who was so lovely he could scarcely fathom he had looked away to begin with. “It is good to see you, my lady.”

“And you, Your Grace,” she acknowledged softly.

It was impossible to tell if she was merely being polite or if she truly meant those words. He wanted to hope it was the latter. But then, that was likely the same part of him that had hoped she might come to her senses and send him a note. Or call upon him instead of his sister.

But she was here now, and he was inordinately thankful for that small mercy, even if he wasn’t the reason for her call. She must have supposed he would be in residence, however. That their paths would cross.

Had she been hoping to see him?

“I must say how delightful it is to have tea with some of my favorite people,” Ro added then, interrupting his love-sick thoughts.