Page 69 of To Steal a Duchess

Until Dorian.

And now she could not shake the image from her mind. She was too distracted, wondering where he had gone to eat anything beyond a few bites before heat flared through her, and she found herself wishing her mouth was on something else.

Her cheeks burned. She ought not to think such sinful things.

Yet before the footman could leave, Eloise dared to inquire. “My husband left just as dawn broke. Where is he?”

“Right here, wife.” His deep voice echoed from the hall’s entrance.

Eloise couldn’t help biting her lip at the sight of him. Her eyes tore over his damp, messy hair, and she couldn’t help notice how his shirt clung to him from exertion. The column of his throat was glistening.

Heavens, I am not a strong woman at all. I cannot be tested in such ways.

Eloise wished she had a fan to cool herself down, especially as he slowly stalked toward her.

The footman scrambled out behind him. Dorian did not take his eyes off her as he pulled out the chair next to her and sat down.

She still didn’t know where he had gone, but her tongue was thick in her mouth and she couldn’t take her eyes off him to ask. Her hands trembled when she buttered a croissant, but she was too distracted at the swallow of Dorian’s throat as he downed coffee and licked some syrup off his fingers after eating a piece of brioche.

Eloise looked skyward, hoping to keep herself composed.

Once they had finished eating, Dorian pushed his chair back, wiping his mouth. His eyes were still dark and set on her.

“I was out for a ride,” he finally told her. “I am going to have a bath drawn, and later, I will visit Gideon.”

Eloise nodded, finding her voice. “I am planning to visit Nancy later, too.”

Dorian’s brow quirked. “Do not have too much wine with her,” he warned, his voice light. “Lest you end up stumbling into my bed like last night. You seemed to have suffered for it this morning.”

Before he could see her reaction, Dorian sauntered out of the breakfast hall. She heard his low chuckle, knowing exactly how she affected him.

“I do not know how you dealt with all of this for your wedding,” Gideon groaned later that day.

His hands gripped a table in the drawing room, the surface covered in wedding plans and sketches of flowers, color themes painted on small cards, and suit options.

He braced himself over the information, staring down at it all. “I feel as though I am going mad with everything to be done, still.”

“At least your invitations have been sent out,” Dorian mused distractedly, nursing a brandy as he leaned against the window, looking out at the lowering sun.

They had spent most of the afternoon back at White’s, Gideon avoiding the stress of wedding preparations, before they retreated back to Langford House, unable to put it off any longer.

Gideon glowered at him, taking a swig of his drink. His hair was rumpled from how much he had shoved his hand through it, and his clothing had seen more composed hours.

“Not helpful,” he said. “And Nancy did those. She wrote so many in one day she had to have her hand iced in a bucket. I only wished to kiss her aching fingers.”

“She is choosing and helping you prepare, though, is she not?”

“Yes!” Gideon groaned. “That is what my problem is. She wants pink flowers, but there are tulips, peonies, cherry blossoms… how am I supposed to choose? She just wants colors. And she wishes for a particular musicale theme, but has not given me a recommendation, and while I frequent taverns and opera houses, I do not even know where to start, and we are to be wed in less than two weeks.”

Gideon slumped over the table, pinching the bridge of his nose. Dorian finally came over to him, clasping his shoulder.

“Gideon, you must ask her for specifics. She is just as excited as you, and you cannot be expected to know everything. She has given you hints, but choose the pinpointed items together. The wedding preparation is supposed to be joyous between a love match. For me, it was very stoic and uniform. I did not care for flowers or minstrels. I chose Eloise a gown, and that was all.”

“That, at least, is out of my hands. I did what you did, and told her to attend the modiste to bill the cost to my account.”

Dorian nodded. “All right, then let us tackle what we can now, and discuss the rest with Nancy.”

“But I really want to surprise her.”