Chapter Thirteen
Chapter
THIRTEEN
Leo stared down at the scandal sheet his mother had gleefully brought him earlier and huffed.
Because of course a duke’s hour-long chat with his undeniably pretty employee at the fundraising ball made excellent fodder for the gossips.
The outrageous speculation in this article—titled Doting Duke Captivated by Chaperone—was yet another awkward thing he would have to apologize to Miss Kendall for, as apparently the innuendo-laden reaction of his marriage-obsessed mother wasn’t quite enough.
Never mind all his lingering while he held her hand hostage on the pavement beforehand.
He hadn’t seen Miss Kendall since she had scurried back into the house two nights ago, and that bothered him. As it was now half past midnight and she still hadn’t returned after her two days off, that bothered him more.
For the umpteenth time, he stared out of his open study window and willed her to be wending her way down the darkened path, but alas, it was as silent as the grave.
Or at least it was until both his dogs suddenly leaped up from their sleeping positions next to his desk and began to bark with excitement.
Her!
Finally!
The time to prostrate himself on the altar of dignity and apologize for his inappropriate behavior had finally come.
As he limped out of his study, both dogs flew past him to the kitchen. As there seemed little point in prolonging the agony, Leo released them into the garden and followed them outside. He expected to meet Miss Kendall midway, but he was almost at the end of the lawn when he heard her whisper.
“Shhh, dogs. I’ll be down in a moment.” An odd thing to say but not quite as odd as the sight of her straddling the top of the eight-foot wall at the end of his property.
Her bonnet askew, her skirts ruched and twisted around her knees and her expression vexed as she tried to unhook the back of her clothing from one of the fleur-de-lis spikes that protected the top of the brickwork.
At least it was vexed until she noticed him and she winced. “Good evening, your grace.”
“What the blazes are you doing up there, Miss Kendall?”
“Somebody decided to move the key to the back gate from its usual hiding place, so I couldn’t get back in. Rather than disturb anyone’s slumber, I decided to just climb over the wall instead.”
“Was your plan just to throw yourself from the top and hope for the best?” Because it was a long drop.
“It was actually to use these spikes to gently lower myself to the ground. If I manage to ever untangle myself from them.” Her smile was sheepish.
“I did rather misjudge the width between them and the width of myself.” She reached behind her and wrestled with the fabric some more.
She gave a final yank, then grinned triumphantly while she quickly used the freed fabric to cover her exposed calves. “That’s better.”
That all depended on your point of view, and he had much preferred the view of those shapely calves than not, but he smiled regardless as he lifted his arms. “If you swing your other leg over, I shall catch you.”
She eyed his outstretched hands dubiously, then shook her head. “If it’s all the same to you, your grace, I’d much prefer to do this myself.”
“I can assure you that I will not drop you, Miss Kendall.” His manly pride was slightly offended that she doubted his abilities. “My ankle might still be a bit tender but there is nothing wrong with my arms.” Would it be wrong to flex one and try to impress her with his muscles?
Probably.
“It’s more your eyes that worry me, your grace, and the fact that my descent isn’t likely to be pretty.” She pulled a face and he laughed.
“I thought we had already agreed that dignity is overrated.”
“And yet I would still prefer to cling on to mine regardless, if you don’t mind.”
“It wouldn’t be gentlemanly to abandon a damsel in obvious distress and I’d never forgive myself if you ended up hurt when I could have prevented it.
” He folded his arms and vainly flexed his muscles regardless in the pathetic hope that she would notice them.
“So I am staying and you will just have to swallow your pride on this occasion.”
“Can you at least turn around while I do the worst of the maneuvers? Only, as a gentleman, I am sure that you appreciate that a skirt is an unforgiving garment during any physical challenge.”
He had never seen her all missish and it amused him. “Very well.” He turned. “Let me know when you need me.”
“If I need you, your grace—which I can assure you that I won’t, so don’t you dare even think of turning around unless I personally request it.
I am not the damsel in distress type.” He could hear the exertion in her voice as she changed position behind him.
“In actual fact, if you want to know my honest opinion, I disapprove of the very concept of a damsel in distress because women are just as capable as men. What we might lack in upper body strength”—she paused to grunt—“we make up for in intelligence and resilience.”
“Do you indeed?”
“We do.” More grunting. “It will be a cold day in hell before I ever need a man to save me. I am in charge of my own destiny and quite capable of saving myself, thank you very much.” Then there was an ominous oof followed by the sound of ripping fabric.
Then a beat of silence. “Um … unfortunately, I think I might have spoken too soon.”
“Am I allowed to turn around, Miss Kendall?”
“Only if you promise not to laugh.”
He turned, blinked, then roared because Miss Kendall now dangled like a marionette facing him. The top of her coat from her shoulders to her elbow was caught on the spikes leaving her feet suspended several feet from the ground. “You look like you’ve been hung up to dry on a washing line!”
Her lips twitched. “Rather than just standing there and stating the obvious, your grace, I would be much obliged if you would do the gentlemanly thing and help me down.”
“Oh the irony!” Leo bent double he was laughing so hard. “There must be a blizzard currently raging in hell because you—you!” He pointed at her between guffaws. “Suddenly need a man’s help!”
“I am sure I will appreciate the irony too … eventually.” Her half-trapped arms pleaded. “But in the meantime, this thoroughly disgusted damsel needs rescuing.”
“Yes … right…” Leo pulled himself together and scratched his head.
How the blazes to best do that? “Maybe if I lifted you up a bit you might be able to dislodge the trapped fabric?” Which of course meant touching her.
And quite inappropriately because her upper thighs were level with his eyes.
“Do you mind if I…” He wiggled his hands a couple of inches shy of either side of her hips.
“Only I am afraid this might involve some manhandling.”
“Just do what you need to do, your grace.”
“Right,” he said, stepping forward while suddenly feeling totally self-conscious.
“Brace yourself.” Then he grabbed her hips and tried to heave her upward but she was too much of a deadweight for that to have much effect.
“I think I am going to need a bit more purchase.” Cringing, he slipped his hands lower and around her bottom and tried his best to be gentlemanly and not notice how delightful those two plump cheeks felt in his grasp.
Or how the side of his head was now resting on her midriff as he tried to use his entire body against hers for leverage.
He managed to hoist her a couple of inches but nowhere near enough.
“Perhaps if you bend at the knees a little and lift me from lower down?”
“Right,” he said, adjusting his position and hugging her thighs this time, trying not to think that the side of his face was now level with her crotch.
He knew already that this unseemly debacle was going to haunt his dreams for the foreseeable future.
Miss Kendall had haunted them enough already since he had fallen on top of her in his study, so he really did not need to know what her bottom felt like beneath his palms, or her thighs.
Or that all he had to do was turn his head and he was within kissing distance of the absolute most intimate place she possessed. “Ready?”
“As I will ever be.”
Leo craned his neck as far right as it would go so as his face wasn’t completely buried between her legs, then heaved with all his might.
He managed to raise her at least a foot higher.
While he held on tight, she began to wriggle her upper body to try to free the trapped fabric.
That, inevitably, caused the bottom half of her body to jiggle too and her hip—and worse—kept making contact with his cheek.
Dear god, he hoped this was over soon!
“I just need a couple of inches.” Words that sounded too much like an invitation and went straight to his cock.
“I’ll try.” From somewhere he found the strength to push her higher but the only way to keep her at that height was to use his entire upper body to pin her to the wall—including his head. Which meant his ear now occupied all the space in the crevice where the tops of her legs met her womanhood.
As she wriggled this time, he felt all her intimate lower muscles clench with the effort it took. But Leo gritted his teeth some more and did his best not to hear her make the same sorts of breathy sounds that a woman in the throes of passion would make in the bedchamber.
“Yes … I’m almost there … so close … can you push a little harder?
” Leo had never wished for death before, but he wished for it now.
On the swiftest wings possible. “Yes!” She bucked against the side of his face and then groaned.
“It isn’t working. But we might get a bit more height if I pushed my knees against your shoulders—”