make her his.
Then as Felicia moaned and pushed at his shoulder, he remembered that she loved his brother.
Fuck! The scandal. His mother. Mason, who would never forgive him
…
Duke tore his mouth away, panting. Still, the words were a chant in his brain.
Become a part of me, as I become a part of you. And ever after, I promise myself to thee …
Not going to happen.
Felicia snatched her hand from his neck as if his skin burned and dived down for her dress, clutching it to her chest. “W-we … can’t do this.”
Duke couldn’t argue with that.
Already, he was biting the words back, the effort painful. If he spoke the Call, he would belong to her irrevocably and forever. Her heart would always belong to another.
Backing away, he watched as she clutched her dress to her chest, which rose and fell with each hitched breath. Her eyes, so blue, looked somewhere between stunned and accusatory.
He had no one else to blame. Everything was his fault.
“I’m sorry.” Duke forced himself to step away, putting more space between them.
She wrinkled her nose and stared for a long, stilted moment. What the hell was she thinking?
“No, you’re not.”
Her harsh breaths rent the air, one after the other. In the air, he smelled the faint hint of arousal. Duke couldn’t stop himself. He stepped forward again, his palm skimming up her so-soft arm, around her shoulder, sweeping across her bare back.
“Felicia …”
She gasped, jerked away, and slammed the door between them. Then locked it.
As the shower started, he cursed bitterly and paced toward the window across the room—as far away from Felicia as he dared go.
Outside, he spied Tynan O’Shea huddled in a long trench coat, lounging against a tree. Marrok paced the yard near the road, his sword flapping with each booted step. Ronan—he could only tell which Wolvesey twin from the dark hair—walked a circle about the house, passing just under Duke’s window. He’d have to apologize later for their misery, but at least he knew Felicia was safe tonight.
From everyone but himself.
More than once, he’d heard friends say that love wasa bitch. He’d never understood until now. Granted, he shouldn’t know Felicia well enough to love her. But in her kiss, he’d sensed even more about her. Soft. Sweet. He’d bet she adored children and baking…but she had a hint of tartness. From that, Duke suspected that she possessed more than a hint of vixen that she only showed those she trusted most. Already, he’d seen glimpses of the quick temper she tried to hide beneath her polite British façade. She was clever, very genuine, and, her delicate face told him, confused about that kiss.
Knowing that she was meant for him but that her heart belonged to Mason was the most shattering pain he’d ever endured. If felt like losing the sun forever, sending him into deep freeze. Duke frowned, that truth hacking at his heart.
Even if he managed to hold back the Call, he’d never be the same again.
CHAPTER 6
T HE SHOWER PELTED FELICIA , steaming up the small, black-tiled bathroom. Though she wasn’t cold, nearly five minutes after Hurstgrove’s kiss, she couldn’t stop shaking. That hadn’t been a simple meeting of the lips.
What have I done?
Felicia could scarcely process the fact that she’d been in the arms of two brothers in one night, and had reacted very differently to each one.
Mason’s kiss had surprised her. Though he’d tried desperately to both seduce and reassure her, she’d been unable to hide her shock and distress. Since then, she’d been awash in guilt. The man had held her hand through her adoptive parents’ funeral, then Deirdre’s two years later, forever lending his support and smiles … and she’d been unable to respond to him on their wedding day? If he was going to father her children, shouldn’t she be able to enjoy his touch? When Mason had kissed her, Felicia suspected that her fears had locked down any passionate response and the
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