Chapter 8

"You seem like you've had quite a rough day, miss?" Janey gathered the empty cups and tray as she shot Marie a sympathetic smile.

Marie was grateful for the girl's company; she had been her only friend and confidant since her parents had died. Janey in turn was grateful that she didn't lose her job when Marie's parents had died. The girl would have been out on the street if Marie hadn't taken her in and offered a room at the back of their little house along with a job as her maid.

It was Janey who had stood by her and offered to gather information from the rest of the servants of the ton. She brought back the information, and Marie made the perfect matches with what her grandmother called her ‘sixth sense'. It seemed like a simple matter of observation to Marie, yet her grandmother was insistent that it was something else entirely.

"I think I have finally broken my perfect record of successful matches." She pursed her lips and laid her head in her hands, sighing so heavily that her shoulders heaved.

"How can that be, Miss? We gave such careful consideration to all her matches. At least one of them has to be a good fit." The girl frowned and wrinkled her nose up in concentration.

"None of them will work because she is in love with a butcher boy in Brighton." Marie folded her arms on the surface of the desk and looked up. Her neck ached something fierce along with her head. She had spent the night trying to fall asleep, and when she did, she had repeatedly dreamed of Dominic Harding doing unspeakably delicious things to her body that made her tingle with excitement.

Why did he have to go and propose?

She almost hated him for making matters more complicated than they already were. He was constantly on her mind now, more so than the matter of James McFunnugh.

Janey's eyes widened in shock. "Well, now that is a new one. I can't say that I heard anything about her actually being in love with anyone else."

"You can't be everywhere at once," Marie reassured her and stood, gathering the papers on her desk and placing them back in her drawer.

"I guess so. There was one other thing. The landlord was here earlier while you were out. He was most insistent upon seeing you, but I told him that you weren't going to be back today," she admitted quite stiffly.

Marie's heart jolted with fear at the memory of their confrontation. Just how many times had he come to the shop looking for her?

Is he going to demand double payment like he threatened?

She couldn't possibly pay double what she was already giving him, and even the thought of letting Janey go broke her heart. "If you see that one of the cups is missing, we had an unexpected visitor earlier."

Janey paused and looked up just as she was about to wipe down the desk with her rag.

"That black cat we always feed came in; I think the wind must have blown open the door," she explained with a smile, noting the panic in the girl's eyes.

"I'll make sure that the door is properly latched in the future, miss." She averted her gaze and continued to clean the table.

The bell over the shop door tinkled lightly, announcing the arrival of someone else.

"We're closed for today; you can come back la…" Marie froze when she looked into Dominic's angry eyes.

Striding over to them, he glared at Janey and uttered a simple command, "Leave."

Hesitating, Janey looked to Marie, staying rooted to the spot.

Her heart galloped fiercely as she met his gaze. Why couldn't he just leave well enough alone?

"You may go and run your errands now, Janey, I will close the shop when I'm done. The Duke of Wiltshire will not be here for very long."

"If you are sure, miss." Janey hesitated again then picked up the tray and headed toward the backroom.

Marie waited until she heard the back entrance to the shop closing. "Was there something else you needed, Your Grace?" Her breathing was strained as she stared into his icy blue eyes.

"Why won't you marry me? I know I said earlier that I would wait, but I need an answer," he demanded almost angrily as a muscle jumped in his jaw.

"There are many reasons, Your Grace. I know a bad match when I see one. You and I have nothing at all in common. We aren't compatible." She felt the tension rising as he took a step toward her.

"Like what? What is on your personal list of requirements? What am I lacking that I am not a suitable husband for you?" A thinly veiled expression of hurt behind his statements caught her off guard.

"There are quite a few things, actually. Ideals, beliefs, general personality traits, and attraction to name but a few." She felt her chest beginning to rise and fall in anticipation when he narrowed his eyes.

Taking a few steps forward, Dominic backed her against the edge of the desk. "Are you sure you aren't attracted to me?" The wolfish grin that spread over his lips made her heart race excitedly.

"I can assure you that I am not." She felt the heat rising on the back of her neck as the pit of her stomach coiled deliciously.

He brought his face close to her neck, inhaling deeply before whispering in her ear. "I think your body is betraying you, Miss Webster." His hot breath tickled the sensitive flesh just below her ear, sending shivers of pleasure down her spine.

The nearness of his body to hers lit a fire between her thighs, making her yearn for things she knew were wrong.

"Tell me to stop if you aren't attracted to me. Tell me to stop, and I'll walk out of that door and never bother you again," he growled hungrily in her ear and kissed the tip before dragging his lips down her neck and across her jawline.

A gasp of pleasure escaped her throat when he pressed his body into hers, causing her thighs to part for his knee as if her legs possessed a life of their own.

His lips brushed softly over hers before he pulled her into his arms, molding her body into his. His tongue parted her lips unexpectedly, deepening the hot kiss as he searched the depths of her mouth. They both fought for dominance with their tongues before Marie yielded to his onslaught, gasping for breath when his hands came up to cup her breasts.

Waves of white, hot pleasure filled her body as her nipples hardened against the fabric of her garments. The soft sensations of his hands kneading her breasts felt even better than they had in her dreams.

"Are you still sure you're not attracted to me?" His voice was steeped in hunger when he drew back, taking her lower lip between his teeth and gently suckling on the pink flesh.

"Your Grace, I…" She felt herself panting uncontrollably when he dipped his head and began to devour her throat, kissing and sucking a path down to the tops of her breasts.

"Call me Dominic," he commanded her and allowed his hands to slip from her breasts and travel down her body, caressing her hips through her clothes.

Her lips parted again as he drew her closer, pressing his pelvis into her thigh until the full extent of his arousal became clear to her.

I want him.

She felt herself giving in to the yearning of her body as she tilted her head back and moaned with pleasure. The things he was doing to her felt even better than the tingling sensations she had imagined in her dreams. His touch was much stronger and more demanding, making her bend to his will as he lifted her dress and slipped his hand over her undergarments.

"I want you to tell me that you're attracted to me," he commanded her in a more urgent voice as his fingers slipped between her thighs with his thumb making gentle circles over the little bud of pleasure.

She felt herself moaning and clinging to his body as the sensations of pleasure grew more intense. Her whole body was beginning to shake when he kissed her again, slower this time with more passion as his tongue matched the pace of his fingers and thumb.

"Why do you smell so good?" He left her lips and kissed a path below her jawline, making his way to the back of her ear where he inhaled so deeply that Marie gasped with pleasure again.

Bringing her arms up around his neck, she leaned on him for support as he continued to touch her. Every breath intensified as her legs shook and trembled. The movements of her thigh against his arousal spurred him on as his erection grew and pulsed against his breeches.

"Hmmm," Dominic moaned from deep within his chest when she lowered her hand and cupped the throbbing erection.

She wanted more of him, to sample all the delight of her dreams that seemed like an impossibility to her at the time.

His hands traveled down her thighs and rested on her legs, stopping mere inches away from the throbbing ache between her thighs. "I will never let anyone else touch you like this, Marie." The sound of his name on her lips sent a shiver of pleasure down her spine.

A sudden pounding on the shop door made them jump apart as Dominic withdrew his hand, looking around frantically as if he had been slapped. Both of them looked at each other in panic as if they couldn't believe what had just happened.

"I know you're in there; let me in at once!" an angry voice demanded as Marie struggled to regain control over her breathing.

The hunger still lingered in Dominic's eyes as he straightened his jacket, his chest heaving from their shared experience.

"I think you had better go," she whispered hurriedly to Dominic and straightened her clothes, making sure that her hair was in place.

Glancing back at the door before turning his gaze on her once again, Dominic came forward and kissed her deeply before pulling back. "Think about my proposal again; I will come back for your answer."

Her heart skittered at the passionate look in his eyes.

He's serious.

The pounding intensified as whoever it was outside doubled their efforts and demanded her attention.

"That doesn't sound like a man. I will leave you now, but think carefully about what I have said." His eyes slid over her body once more before he hurried to the back of the shop and left through the back entrance.

Her legs still felt as if they were too weak to carry her as she placed a fist against her stomach in an attempt to still the fluttering. "I will be there in a moment!" she called to the door, trying to placate whoever it was.

He wants to marry me.

His words came back to her and rang in her ears louder than the pounding on the door.

"I will never let another man touch you like this, Marie."

She didn't know how to feel about what he had said or even how to feel about the way she had responded to his touch. She had melted in his hands like clay, giving herself over to every whim and salacious feeling that coursed through her veins.

She hadn't expected things to get that heated with the Duke, and she needed some time to sort through all of her feelings, but that would have to wait. She took a deep breath and made her way to the door, forcing a smile as she touched the handle and opened the door.