Free Why Lords Lose Their Hearts by Manda Collins Page A

expected his kiss to be punishing. He was angrier than she’d ever seen him. And she knew from experience that Archer was slow to anger. But to her surprise, when he took her in his arms it was with a diffidence and gentleness that nearly took her breath away. She hadn’t been approached physically by a man since Gervase had died, and while she knew Archer was nothing like her husband, she’d not expected him to treat her as if she were a priceless treasure, either.
    As soon as he pulled her into his arms and leaned in, however, she stopped thinking altogether and allowed herself to feel the heat of his breath on her lips, the strength of the arms that clasped her tightly against his body. Instinctively she opened her mouth as he brought his lips to hers and the moment they came together nearly made her weep.
    For years she’d known—deep down in the heart of her where no one could see but her—that Archer could make her feel this way. He’d always been more sensitive to her moods and feelings than any man had the right to be. It was one of the things that made him such a good secretary. He had an innate ability to read people. And he’d been able to see through to her soul from the moment they’d met.
    As if he knew she wanted that very thing, he nipped at her bottom lip before sliding his tongue into her mouth, and unable to stop herself, she returned his caress in kind. She slipped her hands up his arms to his impossibly wide shoulders, and then to caress the back of his neck, luxuriating in the soft hair of his nape. How had he possibly known just what to do to make her ache for him?
    “Perdita,” he whispered, pulling back. And though she wanted more than anything to pull him back down to her, she opened her eyes and saw that his own were wide with wonder. Was it possible that he was just as overwhelmed by this as she was? It was a delicious thought, and one that bore some thinking on, but then he leaned in and kissed her again, sliding his hands down her back and over her bottom, pulling her closer to him. She was aware of every place their bodies touched, and gasped as his hand slid up to caress her breast, his thumb and forefinger plucking the tip, sending a jolt of feeling straight to the center of her. “God, how I’ve wanted you,” he said, his voice low and slightly hoarse with desire.
    “Archer,” she crooned as his lips found the sensitive spot below her ear. She lifted her chin as he kissed his way down the column of her neck and sucked lightly on her collarbone. If he weren’t holding her so close she’d have slid to the floor in a puddle of want, so carried away was she by the sheer power of his touch. She shivered as his slight stubble—so different from her own skin—rasped against her as he slid the arms of her gown down so that he could suckle her through her shift.
    It was intoxicating. So much so that neither of them heard the door to the study open to admit Isabella and Trevor, who were in mid-conversation as it happened. “But I don’t see why we can’t do both,” Isabella was saying as they stepped into the chamber, but if she or the duke had more to say, they were startled out of it.
    Archer and Perdita were equally as startled.
    “We are so sorry!” Isabella cried, and dragged Trevor from the room with as much haste as she could muster while gaping like a madwoman, and shut the door with a thud.
    When she heard the intrusion, Perdita’s gasp had echoed her sister’s and she tried to pull away from Archer. But he’d gripped her tightly and refused to let go. When their audience was gone, he said apologetically, “Sorry, but your gown was half off and I didn’t think you wished Ormond to see.”
    At his explanation her ire cooled. Setting herself to see to the practicalities, she righted her gown as Archer, ever the gentleman, shaded his eyes so that she could do so in some measure of privacy.
    When she was done, they both took a moment to get their breath back.
    And