Geek Girls Don't Date Dukes (27 page)

wanted, she had to do something to make sure.

An entirely wicked idea popped into her head, and

she grinned. This was going to be delicious.

“Are you well, miss?” Muriel said, tilting her head.

“I’m fucking spectacular,” Leah said, then clapped her

hand over her mouth with a laugh. “Sorry, Muriel! I’m

good. I promise.”

The maid gave her an odd look but continued on

her way. Leah had to fight to keep from skipping

up the stairs. Tonight would answer her questions

and ease her pent- up tensions. Oh, this was going to

be incredible.

i

The night was so cold her breath fogged out in front

of her. She wrapped her cloak around her tighter and

kept on trucking.
At
least
this
is
the
ritzy
part
of
town
, she thought.
If
I
had
to
walk
through
St. Giles in the dark alone,
I wouldn’t make it fifteen feet.

Not that she actually owned anything worth stealing.

The streets were completely empty of people. A

shiver skittered down her spine, and she walked faster.

Maybe she should have begged Muriel to come with

her. As soon as the thought popped into her head, she

shoved it off with a laugh. Yeah, she should totally have

asked the innocent teenaged maid to hold her hand as she

hauled ass to seduce her man.

The thought warmed her as she spied Granville House

ahead. Seducing her man. Avery. He’d bolted; he’d

nearly driven her crazy by revving her up and leaving her

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wanting. But they’d finish what they’d started tonight.

She refused to take no for an answer.

The servant’s entrance was locked tight. Damn it. She

resisted the urge to thump her fist against the heavy door

in frustration. It wouldn’t do any good.

She shoved herself upright and nodded. Time for

Plan B.

The conservatory on the ground floor was her target.

She hoped the room that Henrietta had locked her

in— gosh, weeks ago now— would still have its window

unlatched.

She found it without trouble, careful to avoid the

stables on her way. She didn’t want to run into that

asshole of a stable master.

She breathed a relieved sigh when she reached the

window. Finally. Bracing the heels of her hand on the

window, she shoved upward with a grunt.

The window didn’t budge.

She bumped it, trying to encourage the seal to break.

The window didn’t so much as squeak.

“Damnit,” she hissed. “What the hell do I have to do

to get in this place?”

The front door was out. Smythe probably slept on

the damn welcome mat. She could probably go around

the bottom floor and try all the windows, but what if

someone saw her? They’d throw her into prison before

she could explain.

She looked up at the stars. Maybe one of them would

have mercy and grant her a wish.

The moon’s soft glow reflected off a shiny leaf of ivy.

Ivy.

The
trellis!

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She rubbed her palms together briskly. It couldn’t be

much more difficult than climbing a tree, right? She’d

been awesome at that when she was about ten.

Of course, that had been a long time ago.

She shook her head as she tucked the ends of her skirt

up. No way. She could do this. She could do anything

she put her mind to.

What
about
that
time
you
got
kicked
out
of
Zumba?

“Shut up,” she muttered to herself as she gripped the

trellis. “That instructor was a sadistic bastard.”

The wooden trellis creaked and groaned under her

weight. The ivy was thick, and it was tough to figure

out where her slippers would fit. But she kept her gaze

locked on the windows of the top floor. She could get

to him— she could. She had to.

She reached sideways, aiming for a thin spot in the

foliage. Her fingers slipped, and she tilted dangerously.

Pulling at the tendrils of vine, she pulled herself back

toward the house. Her heart thumped and her breath

came in little gasps.

“Damn, that was close.”

She looked toward the ground and gulped. She’d

never been afraid of heights, and she wasn’t really afraid

now. It was more the falling she had issue with.

No. She wasn’t going to fall. She was going to haul

her ass up this trellis, make love to Avery, and if she ever

got home, she’d invest in a rock climbing class.

Hey, you never know when shit’s going to come in handy.

Drawing even with the top of the trellis, she breathed a

relieved sigh. Okay. Here she was. Now, which window

was Avery’s? The trellis stretched wide, covering the

bottoms of three top- floor windows. She could look

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down, see where the area was…A quick glimpse down-

ward was enough to make her nausea rise. Nope, not

looking down there anymore. Too damn scary.

She’d have to do it the hard way.

Moving to the closest window, she peeped above the

bottom edge.

Several moments passed before her eyes grew accus-

tomed to the dimness inside. She blinked several times

before the vision cleared. Henry, one of the footmen,

lay sprawled atop the covers, completely nude. Ugh. She

hadn’t needed to see that. Fortunately, his roommate

Oliver was fully clothed in the small bed across the room.

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 suspi-

cions. Nobody else was in the room. She didn’t know

why the other servants ostracized him, but it happened

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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 obvi-

ously 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.

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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

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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?”

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His muscles tensed, and he fought to keep their trem-

bling secret. Excitement and willingness thrummed in his

body, but he must deny it. He cared for her too much.

“It’s not ruining, Avery.” She unfolded herself and

came to him. “I’m not a virgin, and I want you as much

as you want me. And there are things that we need to

settle between us, feelings that I need to explore.” She

laid her head on his chest, and he did not resist the urge

to fold his arms around her.

He rubbed her back and closed his eyes. All the

reasons he should abstain pelted him. She was not of

his time. She was not his wife. Prachett would use her

against him, harm her.

But when he looked down into her open, honest, and

beautiful face, he could not deny either of them.

“Leah,” he whispered, pressing his forehead against

hers. Their kiss was filled with her enthusiasm and his

barely contained joy. She’d accepted him. She could not

know what that meant to him.

Bending low, he scooped her against his chest, bearing

her back to the bed. Her hands curled around his neck

and she nuzzled his chest.

“You have the best body,” she said as he lay her gently

on his mattress. Her eyes glowed with desire as she traced

his chest with a finger.

He smiled. “I would like to return the compliment,

but I cannot see as much of you at the moment.”

Her laugh warmed his heart as well as other parts of

his body. She sat up with a wink. “Let’s fix that then,

shall we?”

His mouth went dry as she turned and presented her

back to him. “Can you help me out of this?”

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He was no fool. He knew what he wanted from her

and what she’d expect from him. But faced with the

reality of a warm, laughing Leah in his bed, he found