breathing. Breathing her in, he smiled. Her scent would
forever be burned in his mind, that sweet exotic perfume that he had never smelled before and never would again.
Their bodies strained together, soft cries and intimate touches building in intensity until Avery thought he’d die from the pleasure. Her heat thrummed through him, almost as if they were connected in more than body. She buried her face against his chest, pressing kisses wherever she could reach.
When her cries grew more desperate, and her movements more frantic, he reached between them and found the hidden place, the one that seemed to call out for his touch more than any other part of her exquisite body.
She exploded and, a second later, so did he. He muffled his hoarse shout as he poured himself into her, shuddering as her body wrung every last drop of his response from him.
He stayed there for several ragged heartbeats, waiting for the world to stop swimming about him. When it did, he rolled to the side, gathering his bedraggled, half-dressed, and well-loved angel to his chest.
“I love you, Leah,” he whispered. “I shall never love another as I love you.”
“Oh, Avery.” She closed her eyes. “I love you more than anything, and I always will.”
They dressed quickly but with more kisses and touches than were wise. Though he’d just had her, he wanted her again. He wanted to chain her to his bed and never let her go. But she needed more than he could provide, and though the thought broke his heart, he’d let her go.
They descended the stairs, hand-in- hand, only a few moments later.
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The duke and Lady Chesterfield sprang apart when Leah opened the sitting room door. Avery wanted to laugh at the obvious blushes on their faces, but such an expression was beyond him then.
Ella and Muriel entered the room behind them.
When Avery would have released Leah’s hand, she gripped him tighter. He could not help but be relieved.
Her touch was a commodity that would be ripped from him all too soon.
“Everyone,” Leah said. “This is Avery. I love him.”
Ella nodded pleasantly. “It’s great to meet you, Avery.”
“He and Mrs. Comstock repaired as much of the mirror as they could, but it’s only big enough for you and I to pass through.”
He could not help but be proud of the way her voice remained steady though her hands were shaking like leaves in autumn.
As Ella and the young maid carefully lifted the mirror and brought it into the sitting room, Leah stepped into his arms.
“Are you sure you can’t come?”
He tangled his hands in her yellow curls, holding her tight. “Even if the mirror were large enough, I cannot abandon my aunt.”
“I know.”’
Their last moments together passed too quickly. Ella touched Leah on the shoulder, a compassionate look on her face.
“Leah, are you ready?”
His angel pulled free of his embrace, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Yeah.”
“Wait,” he said, and she turned. He swept her into his GeekGirlsDontDateDukes.indd 298
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arms, kissing her with all the love and longing that lay
in his broken, bleeding soul. She returned it with equal fervor, clinging to him desperately.
Too soon, he lifted his head.
“You must go.” His voice was broken— but so was his heart.
Ella stepped through the mirror first, squeezing through the small opening with a fair amount of struggle.
Leah went after her, dipping her slipper through the cracked glass. It disappeared as though she were stepping into a pond instead of solid glass.
“Love me forever?” Her tears glittered like jewels on her reddened cheeks.
“As you wish,” he whispered as she disappeared.
i
Leah thumped to the floor of Jamie’s house, narrowly missing landing on Ella’s head. She rolled to the side to avoid crushing her friend.
“Are you okay?” Ella asked, coming to her feet.
“No, but it doesn’t matter.” She clamped the lid on all thoughts of Avery. Pawpaw was her focus right now.
Once she’d seen him and demanded that he feel better, she could fall apart the way she was longing to.
“Come on, let’s get to the hospital.”
Fortunately, Leah’s suitcase was still there from her aborted housesitting trip. She threw on some jeans and a T-shirt, yanking her hair into a ponytail and scrubbing ineffectually at the tearstains on her cheeks. Within ten minutes, the pair was on their way to Concord Memorial Hospital.
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