Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
“Are you… pouting?”
“Dukes don’t pout.”
I squeezed my hand up between us and gently pinched his lower lip. “This duke is pouting.”
“Watch where you’re putting that.” He snatched hold of my hand and kissed the inside of my wrist, sending a shiver darting up my arm. “I can’t believe I’ve barely seen you.”
“You’ve hardly been here yourself, you know,” I pointed out.
He huffed, linking his fingers through mine as he tightened his grip on my waist. “Then surely you can spare me five minutes right now. I rushed back in time for this rehearsal.”
“I didn’t ask you to,” I murmured when he lowered his face until our noses touched.
“I’d never expect you to, even if you wanted me here.” His lips brushed mine. “So, can you give me five minutes of your time?”
“If I don’t, you’re going to beg me until I do, aren’t you?”
“Dukes don’t beg.”
“It seems you’re applying an awful lot of blanket rules to dukes, especially when you most certainly do do the very things you claim you don’t.”
“Mhmm. If you say so.” Thomas pulled me even closer, releasing my fingers to cup the back of my head. “Come on, five minutes. It’s Christmas.”
“December twenty-third is not Christmas,” I protested, slipping my arms around his neck. “As far as this year goes, not even tomorrow is Christmas.”
“The longer you argue, the longer I’m going to keep you here to demand five precious minutes of your time.”
“Let me do you one better,” I said, clenching his shirt in my fists. “You have until someone knocks on this door for me.”
“Which means it could be one minute or fifteen minutes.”
“Exactly. Why are you still talk—mmph!” My words were cut off by his emphatic kiss, one that sent goosebumps erupting over every inch of my skin.
Our bodies were pressed so tightly together than not even a sheet of paper could separate us. It amazed me that one simple kiss from him could wipe away all my stress and frustrations, and they dissipated one by one as he pulled me further into the room and spun me around.
A hard surface bumped the back of my legs, and I squealed at the feeling of Thomas’ hands grasping my thighs to lift me up.
“Wait!”
“It’s just my desk.” He nudged his way between my thighs, immediately bringing his lips back to mine and putting an end to the conversation.
I wrapped my legs around his waist as he deepened the kiss. His groan reverberated across my lips, sending a shiver down my spine, and I leant into him, pressing our bodies ever closer together.
For a moment, nothing else mattered. Not the wedding, not my sisterly drama, not the fact I had a rehearsal to oversee in a mere matter of minutes.
There was just… us.
Kissing. Slowly. Hungrily. Deeply. Holding each other tighter until it was physically impossible for us to be any closer.
“Bet you wish you didn’t have to go now.” Thomas’ words were a breathless taunt against my skin as he kissed his way along the curve of my jaw. He angled his hips and slipped his hand between us, rubbing my clit through the material of my trousers.
I groaned, tilting my hips towards him, quietly pleading for more of his touch.
“Sylvie!” The frantic call of my name by my mother was followed by equally panicked knocks. “What are you doing? The rehearsal is going to start! You need to be doing your job!”
This time, my groan was not one of pleasure, but one of utter exasperation.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” I called, resting my head against Thomas’ chest.
“You’re needed now!”
“I said in a minute!” I snapped, even making Thomas flinch.
Silence.
Then, the sound of my mother walking away.
I huffed out a breath, sagging against the firm chest in front of me. “Is this all over yet?”
He wrapped his arms around me, laughing gently as he pressed a soft kiss to the top of my head. “Soon. Very, very soon.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR – SYLVIE
I pushed open the door to the ‘bridal suite’ and paused.
The room was empty.
Hazel was nowhere to be seen.
“Hazel?”
Sniffles echoed from the direction of the bathroom, and I rolled my eyes, pushed the door closed behind me, and dumped my bag on the floor.
Here we go.
No, no.
I wasn’t going to think like that.
I was going to be nice.
My little sister was going to be married tomorrow. It was perfectly normal for her to be crying right now. I’d talked down more than one bride after their rehearsal dinner because reality had hit them. This was no different than all those other times.
I tried the door, but it was locked. “Hazel, are you in there?”
“Yeah,” she replied weakly.
“Can you unlock the door?”
I raised my eyebrows as the sound of shuffling reached my ears, and before I could think of anything else, the door unlocked, swung open, and I was smothered by my sister.