Free A Duchess in the Dark by Kate McKinley Page B

His lips twisted into a delicious, knowing smile. “Or don’t you remember?”
    Heat surged through her like a cresting wave. Of course she remembered. One didn’t easily forget passion so potent, so unyieldingly intense.
    Swallowing, she glanced away. “You seem quite sure of yourself.”
    He shrugged. “I’m capable enough.”
    She licked her lips. “In that case, how about a little friendly wager?”
    Her father, a retired gambler, had taught his only child a great many things. First among them: strike quickly when you have the advantage. Huntington would be fortunate to get Chocolate to move, let alone run.
    His lips twisted into that arrogant smirk that had never failed to annoy her. “That all depends on the prize, Miss Dewhurst.”
    “Two hundred pounds says you cannot outrun me with this horse.”
    With his sleek gelding, she was sure to win. And two hundred pounds would be enough to pay for her father’s medicine, and a little extra besides. She smiled sweetly.
    He leaned in, his big, imposing body impossibly close. “Two thousand.”
    Her breath caught. She had no hope of paying him two hundred pounds if she lost, let alone two thousand . “You know I don’t have two thousand pounds.”
    It was no secret. While she and her father struggled to conceal the true desperation of their situation, all of England knew the money, everything, as gone. Only the entailed family estate remained, derelict and neglected but untouched by creditors.
    Boldly, he reached out and traced her lips with the tip of his finger, a barely there touch that sent shivers of awareness skipping down her spine. She should push him away. It was the proper thing to do. Instead, her eyelids fluttered closed as she absorbed his touch. It took every drop of her self-control not to reach out and pull him into a deep, delicious kiss. She still remembered the feel of his lips against hers, the fierce, unrelenting need that followed in the wake of his touch.
    “As it happens, you do have something I want.” His voice was low, seductive, and it reminded her of the warm afternoons they’d spent together, talking, laughing, kissing…
    His hand fell away and she opened her eyes, blinking. That she had something he wanted seemed impossible. She was destitute, on the brink of ruin. She had nothing.
    He leaned in closer, his warm breath brushing over her cheek, and whispered in her ear. “Two thousand pounds if you win.”
    She swallowed. “And if I lose?”
    “I get you .”

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