Free The Duke's Deceit by Sherrill Bodine

dappled gold lights into her fall of auburn hair, she was not a woman who he would have thought could wield this kind of power over him. Instinct seemed to be returning first.
    How else could he know that what he was feeling at this precise moment was absolutely new?
    She helped him spread out a cloth and unpack the basket. Her manner was playful as she set out all the goodies Lottie had packed. But some abstract sense, coupled with a newly recovered instinct, told him that her playfulness was born of apprehension. He was noticing it more and more when they were together. In order to banish it from this day when he was determined to forge a new beginning in his assault against his closed mind, he began to talk.
    Although he was rather limited, considering that his mind was like a babe’s hatched fully grown only days ago, he touched on subjects that he knew were dear to both their hearts: horses and the land. One thing led to another, until their ideas and opinions tumbled over one another, bringing to life new thoughts and plans, and feelings.
    No one thing broke through, suddenly unlocking
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his mind, but he did discover what lurked beneath Mary’s undeniably lovely exterior. Goodness, as Lottie had said. Wit. And an honesty he found utterly irresistible.
    His eyes traveled from her fingers, sticky with apple tart, up the graceful arm to her softly rounded shoulder, on to her appealing face. To his surprise, he found a shadow clouding her eyes.
    “Mary, what’s troubling you?” He couldn’t resist asking.
    She rested her chin on her fist and gazed solemnly to where he sprawled on his side, his head on his curled arm.
    “Richard, we must talk.”
    “I thought we had been,” he said, holding her in a lazy gaze as he stretched contentedly.
    “Yes, but there is something of great import we must discuss at once.” A thread of great anxiety in her voice caused him to sit up so that he could look directly into her eyes.
    What she saw seemed to confuse her. “You are feeling quite well now, aren’t you?” she asked with a particularly plaintive note.
    The constant nagging headache he’d been experiencing until this lovely day suddenly reappeared behind his eyes and he blinked, bringing his fingers up to rub his temples. “Yes. Except for this blasted headache that appears for no reason.”
    At his words her cheeks drained of their rosy color. “Oh, no! Here, let me lay a cold cloth on your forehead. It really is quite soothing.”
    “No, Mary, I…”
    Ignoring him, she scrambled down the bank, clasping her own white handkerchief tightly in her fist.
    Balancing her bare feet on two flat rocks, she leaned over. Richard watched with pleasure the contours of her soft body revealed beneath the ugly ill-fitting clothes.
    Suddenly she tumbled headfirst into the pool. It took him a full second to react, his heart pounding as he leapt up. Her gasp of laughter reassured him.
    By the time he was at the water’s edge she was on her feet. Sunlight played across her creamy skin, her thick hair flowing across her breasts barely concealing what the thin wet fabric of her shirt so clearly revealed. In a moment her dark spiky lashes danced open, and her eyes met his. Temptation rose to taunt him.
    He waded in to her, the water lapping around his boots. Her skin was damp and cool beneath his fingers as he lifted her chin. Her back arched with unconscious grace, bending against the warmth of his hand.
    Without any conscious thought on their part, their bodies touched, and he welcomed her cool wetness, but it could not quench the sudden fire coursing hotly through his blood.
    “My sweet Mary,” he breathed before brushing her mouth slowly. Then again. He felt incredible pleasure in her response. As if embarrassed by his undeniably knowing gaze, she closed her eyes and sighed.
    He caught her breath in his mouth, pressing her soft lips to his in a full open kiss. He felt the pull of the water around them and this, coupled with her