Page 37 of A Bride for the Wicked Duke

“Queen,” she shot back immediately.

“Duke,” he responded with a coy smile.

“Power,” she said without thinking.

“Control.”

“Submission.”

“Defiance.” He flashed his eyes at her suggestively.

“Bravery.” She flashed her eyes right back.

“Arrogance.”

“Independence.”

He chuckled, still staring right at her. They did not blink. They did not look away. “Marriage.”

“Expectation.”

“Desire.”

Her heart began to beat. “Longing.”

“Craving,” he said instantly, licking his lips.

“Hunger.”

“Thirst.”

“Itch.”

“Tingle --”

“Time! Time!” Violet was saying loudly, and by the looks of it she had been saying it for some time now.

Aurelia snapped herself out of the moment. Her heart was racing. Her body was flushed bright red. She was so entranced and locked into the game that she had completely forgotten where she was.

Awkwardly, she looked about the circle, grimacing to see all eyes on her, most with a curious expression as if they weren’t sure what they had just seen. Her mother, especially, rubbing her chin as she looked between Aurelia and the duke.

“That was...” Violet cleared her throat. “Rather impressive.”

“Seventeen connections!” Eveline cried. “That has to be a new record!”

“Well look at that,” the duke said, smiling as he continued to look at Aurelia. “I told you I was a fast learner.”

Aurelia said nothing. She could hardly bring herself to even look at him! Or anyone for that matter. She mumbled something which might have been a ‘well done,’ as she rose quickly and scurried back to the circle. There, she stood at the back, away from the duke, away from Rosalind, and away from her mother. She was mortified. Embarrassed beyond belief. And worse than that, only too aware of what had just happened and what it meant.

She and the duke. More than adversaries. More than merely partners in a cause. There was a connection there, one that she felt like nothing she ever had before. She glanced up, unsurprised to find the duke watching her, which had her looking away, but smiling because of what she knew it meant.

That only raised more questions, of course, ones with no clear answers. But ones that she sensed would become readily apparent tomorrow evening when they had their first lesson. A lesson which as things currently stood, she was looking forward to.So very much...

ChapterTwelve

"Iam sorry that Lord Littlefield did not work out the way you hoped,” the duke said with what sounded like sincerity.

Unable to help herself, Aurelia scoffed. “Liar.”