He lifted his head then, just enough so that she could at last see his eyes. It was the striking deep blue. They didn’t blink as he smiled at her, that confident look taking up its usual place in his cheeks.
“We could forget the rules,” he whispered to her. As he moved his lips to hers, Sophia was lost in that kiss. His lips were soft and slow moving at first, it was a much more intimate kiss that anything she had ever felt before.
As he deepened the kiss, moving his body closer to hers, Sophia arched into him.
Yes, this was what she wanted. This escape! This adventure! This discovery of a brand-new world.
Yet when the gentleman pulled back from the kiss, he was gone, and she was standing alone in the ballroom.
Sophia jerked up in the bed. The candle was still lit beside her and thanks to her sudden movement, the flame flickered back and forth. Breathing heavily, Sophia looked around the room, feeling her heartrate slowing down and returning to normal.
“Just a dream,” she murmured to herself. “Just a dream about…”
The Duke of Pemberton!
She was ready to curse herself for thinking of him at all when there was a creak at her door. Darting her gaze to it, she saw the handle move, yet the door was locked fast. Holding her breath, she watched as someone tried to open the door. It did not move, neither did the chair that was jamming it shut. Slowly, the handle returned to its normal position, and footsteps retreated down the corridor.
“It was my maid,” Sophia whispered to herself as she blew out the candle. “It had to be my maid.” Yet for some reason, as she rolled over and tried to fall asleep again, she wasn’t so convinced it had been her maid, after all.