Typical. The men got beds to themselves.
Hand over hand, foot over foot, she Spider-Manned it to the next window. When she didn’t think about the terrifying ground below, this was actually kind of fun.
With a whispered plea for luck, she lifted her head over the bottom edge of the window.
It didn’t take as long for her eyes to adjust this time.
When she saw him, her breath caught.
Avery lay on his back, arm cast over his eyes to block out the beam of moonlight that highlighted his chest and face. He was gorgeous, dressed in nothing but his breeches. She couldn’t help but wish he’d been the one who slept in the buff. She might have been satisfied just hanging out here like George of the Jungle on a vine with a view like that.
Who was she kidding? She wanted to watch out for his tree.
A quick glance across his room confirmed her suspicions. Nobody else was in the room. She didn’t know why the other servants ostracized him, but it happened GeekGirlsDontDateDukes.indd 206
4/11/13 11:26 AM
Geek Girls Don’t Date Dukes
207
to be pretty convenient at the moment. Gripping the windowsill, she moved higher, stretching for the window latch. Thank God, it opened with the barest push. Third-floor windows were so much nicer than first floor!
She hoisted herself up onto the windowsill, tumbling into his room with a thump. Wincing, she glanced at him. Whew. He’d just turned over with the noise. Good to be a sound sleeper.
Her palms stung with the effort she’d used to grip the trellis, but she rubbed them against her skirt and ignored the tingling. What was a little discomfort? He’d obviously been through much worse in the past week or so.
Shedding her cloak, she moved toward him and knelt at his bedside. Her fingers trailed just above his chest, tracing the edges of greenish-yellow bruises. He’d been beaten severely, or had gotten in a bad fight.
Her throat closed, and her eyes stung at the thought of Avery in pain. God, what a hardheaded bastard. He got in trouble way more than he should. The memory of the time she’d bandaged him slammed into her. One man shouldn’t have to bear this much crap. But he did, and he’d never complained, not once.
It wasn’t pity or even compassion that moved her to lean over him and take his lips in a fervent kiss.
It was something much, much deeper.
GeekGirlsDontDateDukes.indd 207
4/11/13 11:26 AM
Geek Girls Don’t Date Dukes
Twenty-One
His lips were so warm. She lost herself in them, delighting in the stubbly texture of his five o’clock shadow against her chin. He shifted beneath her, and she curled her fingers into the muscles on his broad chest. The man was solid as a brick wall, and the feel of those firm muscles under her made her want to purr.
His mouth opened, and she capitalized on the opportunity. Her tongue slipped between his lips, tasting his warm mouth. She knelt on the narrow bed’s edge, wanting to lie atop him, stretch out, and feel every part of him touching her.
Way too soon, he pushed her away.
“Leah,” he rasped, eyes wide and confused with sleep.
“What are you doing here?” He sat up. She made use of the extra space on the narrow bed, plopping down beside him.
“I came to finish what you started,” she said, hoping she sounded a lot more confident than she felt. She didn’t have much experience convincing men to sleep with her.
Her list of conquests wasn’t nonexistent, but it was kind GeekGirlsDontDateDukes.indd 208
4/11/13 11:26 AM
Geek Girls Don’t Date Dukes
209
of on the short side. She leaned forward, hoping he’d take the hint.
“What do you mean?”
Well, shit. She bit her lip. Better to show than tell, right?
Crawling toward him, she braced her palms on either side of his lean, muscled abdomen. “This,” she whispered before kissing him again.
As kisses go, it wasn’t the best she’d ever had. Avery pulled away after their lips had touched for only a brief second.
“What’s wrong?” she said, raking her hair from her face in frustration.
“You must not…I should not…”
“Avery, please. I want you. Don’t say no.”
His face was tortured, beautiful even though the expression was heartbreaking and his injuries were plain.
She had every intention of getting him to spill his guts about why he looked like the poster child for a new Rocky movie. But right now, there was something they both needed much more than conversation.
“Please.”
i
His brain lost every trace of sleep. He blinked, trying to clear the vision of Leah lying over him, hair falling like a curtain around them both. She could not be here. In his bed. Asking to lie with him.
But she was.
As gently as he could, he pushed her away.
“You do not know what you are asking,” he said, standing and lighting the candle at his bedside. She only looked lovelier in the dim light. “How am I to ruin you?”
GeekGirlsDontDateDukes.indd 209
4/11/13 11:26 AM
210
Gina Lamm