Page 22 of When a Duke Desires a Lass

He made Emily want to wade straight into those mesmerizing, enigmatic depths and take risks she vowed she’d never take again.

Enough. This was not the time to muddle through her confused emotions.

Shoulders squared, she met Tobias’s gaze head-on, certain hers revealed the defiance that had simmered beneath the surface since Clement had tossed her aside like a common strumpet.

“But we did nothing wrong, and I am loath to tuck my tail and run. It implies guilt. Furthermore, mishaps occur all the time with horses, so blaming Avery is beyond the pale. Had you and Avery been commoners, no one would’ve looked twice.

“I’d like to give that slimy reporter a piece of my mind.” Fisting her hands, she firmed her mouth. “No, I’d like to punch him in the nose.”

An abashed flush heated her cheeks.

To her surprise, Tobias chuckled that low, melodious rumble that caused her joints to go soft and her insides to grow warm.

“I knew ye had spirit, Firebrand. A flame burns beneath that decorum and politesse.”

Emily couldn’t prevent her answering grin. “It’s my secret. I’ll thank you not to bandy it about, good sir.”

Tobias sobered, his attention slipping to her mouth.

He wants to kiss me.

And I want him to.

But he wouldn’t proceed without her encouragement. Emily knew that as surely as she knew her name was Emily Cecelia Ann Grenville. She’d made her position perfectly clear, and Tobias was an honorable man.

She sidled nearer. “Tobias?”

Primal male understanding caused his eyes to flex at the corners, but he remained silent. He would have her say it, the blasted, obstinate man.

“Tobias?” she said again, her voice huskier than usual.

Emily lifted her mouth in an invitation, unafraid and unashamed. She wanted this. Had wanted it for months, if she were honest with herself. And she always tried to be truthful, no matter how much it hurt or she might regret it later.

She couldn’t fight the attraction any longer. “Kiss me. Please.”

It didn’t matter that the door stood open or that a passing servant would catch an eyeful. It had been so long since she’d been held.

“With the greatest of pleasure, sweetheart.”

With what could only be described as a triumphant growl, Tobias gathered her into his arms, and as her eyelids drifted shut, his mouth met hers.

Heat. Warmth. Desire.

All coursed through Emily simultaneously, and she, who had been married for two months, felt as if this were her very first kiss, it so impacted her.

It exhilarated as much as terrified.

The need to be closer to him was as potent as her need to breathe. Without hesitation, she stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his strong neck, pulling ever nearer. His clean manly scent, soap, and starched linen teased her nostrils.

Dizzy with desire and a heady, hazy sense of coming home, she clung to him.

How had Tobias become her rock?

A steadying, reassuring, and reliable haven?

Their tongues tangled in a graceful waltz, giving and taking. Seeking and exploring.

Why did he have to be the man who made Emily want things she had forsworn so many years ago? Be the kind of man she could love—might already be falling in love with?