Page 9 of A Bride for the Cruel Duke (Claimed by Regency Devils #1)

Chapter Nine

F or the second night in a row, Caroline found herself standing outside the duke’s bedroom door.

She had been there for several minutes now, trying to work up the courage to knock. Last night, she had not hesitated, needing to see the duke and tell him of her plans so that she could be done with him. The difference that one night can make and now I wonder if this is such a good idea after all...

It was not as if she had much of a choice. Certainly, she could not simply turn around and leave. After what had happened today, and the events which followed, Caroline knew that if she did not see the duke right now and implore him to change his mind, she would regret it forever.

But the idea of being alone with the duke again, of putting herself in that position... her body trembled. Not with fear. It was something else. A feeling that made her body turn hot and her heart race so that she found it hard to breathe.

No! I must do this. My mind spoken, not to be changed or intimidated. And I will not leave until I get what I want.

Also, and this was most important, she needed to prove to herself that she could be around the duke and not give into temptation. That he did not control her...

Thus, Caroline took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

The door swung open a second later, revealing the duke on the other side. Blessedly, he was wearing a shirt this time. Predictably, he did not look happy to see her.

“Lady Caroline.” He could not have looked more surprised… and is that worry? A shadow passed behind his eyes, what she might have read as fear if she didn’t think the duke to be a man who would never experience such a thing. “What is the meaning of this?”

“We need to talk.”

“You cannot be serious,” he said, blocking the doorway. “And you should not be here.”

“It won’t take long.”

“I do not care.” His brow tightened and he looked past her. “It is actions like this one that are the cause of this mess we have found ourselves in.”

“Which is why we must talk.”

“And as I said, we will not. There is nothing that needs to be discussed. Now...” He stood taller somehow, over her, bearing down upon her like a dragon guarding its lair. “I ask you again—no, not ask. I am telling you to leave.”

She knew that she should have listened to him. Every single time she either thought of the duke or found herself in his presence, she was besieged by feelings of desire and want the likes of which she had never known—that she had felt a lifetime suppressing. To risk coming into those feelings again was foolish of her, the antithesis of everything she believed.

And still, despite her best instincts and what she knew was right, she could not bring herself to stay away…

Caroline looked past the duke; a pang of worry felt in her chest as she remembered the last time she had been alone with him and how that had made her feel. A sensation that will be common, if I do not make him see reason . She did not want to do this. She simply had to.

“That is not good enough.” Caroline ducked under the duke’s arm and hurried into his room.

“What are you?—”

“I cannot marry you!” Caroline cried over the duke. “Please! You must understand. You must see! You cannot make me go through with this, I beg you. I will do anything you ask! Name it and I will make it so!”

The duke eyed her curiously; his brow was furrowed, a hint of a smirk on his lips. He closed the door behind him, turning fully now to face her. Then, he stood up straight and she took a step back as if on instinct. His size... his stature... the power of the man. What was I thinking, coming here?

“You speak as if this is something I requested personally,” he said. “As if I want this.”

“I am aware of how this has happened,” she agreed, forcing herself to meet his eyes and hold them. Her heart was racing but she would not be bullied. “And that is neither here nor there. The point is, you are the one who suggested this marriage. It is your doing, not mine.”

“Is that right?”

“It is irrelevant,” she continued. “For the result is the same. A result which I cannot in good conscience agree to. And I feel that you are of the same mind.”

“Do you, now?”

“I...” A lump appeared in her throat. “I want you to tell my mother and my brother that you have changed your mind. Tell them that you spoke in haste, that you do not wish to marry me—that I am a bad sort who you will not be saddled with. I do not care! But please, you cannot make me go through with this.”

The duke tilted his head as he studied her. “You are aware that I am searching for a bride. What makes you think that I want to change my mind?”

“Me!” she exclaimed. “Us! Surely, you see that we cannot work. This marriage...” She shook her head. “If it is to go ahead, it would be a tragedy. I know you agree.”

“You know that for a fact, do you?”

“Pe—peace and quiet.” She gulped. “That is what you said you wanted. You told me as much. And you must see that if you and I marry, that it is not what you will get. That alone is reason enough to call off this marriage before it is too late.” As good an excuse as any, for I cannot tell him the real reason...

To this, the duke said nothing. At least not at first.

He tilted his head and studied her, his dark eyes roaming over her body until they fixed squarely on her face. Caroline could feel her body shaking under his gaze, and when she tried to stand tall and firm and confident, she felt herself take another cautious step back. A cat cornered by a rabid dog, powerless and at the creature’s mercy.

“You are right,” he agreed finally. “Peace and quiet is what I wish for.”

“Then you must know?—”

“What I know is that you are not what you pretend to be.” He strode across the room quickly, stopping two feet away from her. She gasped and went to take another step back, only for her legs to hit the bed.

“I do not know why, where I am concerned, you are so...” He clicked his tongue. “Impetuous. But I have seen how you behave around your family. I have seen who you truly are. My thinking is that, as a wife, you will be exactly what I require.”

“You’re wrong!” she said. “I am not—if we marry, I will only frustrate you. Peace and quiet is not?—”

“Quiet,” he growled suddenly. The effect was instantaneous, like a hand reaching into her mouth and snatching the words before they could be spoken. Her mouth was open, and her eyes wide; she stared but could not speak. “There, much better.”

He was standing over her, his massive frame like a mountain blocking out the sun. She felt tiny by comparison, shrinking back as if she might turn invisible.

Again, she knew that she should leave. Memories of last night filtered through her mind. Her eyes flicked from his lips... her legs began to shake... she had the urge to speak up again so he might be forced to stop her... what is wrong with me?

“You are filled with presumption,” the duke continued, his voice now a whisper. “Barging in here, telling me what I require as if you know me.”

“I do know?—”

“You know nothing,” he spoke over her. His voice was still low, but powerful enough to silence her once more. “So do not presume that you do. The fact is, this marriage is now unavoidable, and there is no escaping it. So, I suggest that you accept this fate and make your peace with it. As I already have.”

“I... I...” Her chin was wobbling. “I cannot marry you.” She spoke so quietly that she barely heard herself. “Please…”

The ‘please’ caused a moment of pause in the duke. He leaned back, looked aghast at what he must have only just now realized to be a terrified woman throwing herself at his feet in mercy. Not Caroline’s proudest moment, but she was out of options.

“Lady Hawkins, you must know…” He almost looked upset. “There is no need to fear me. I hope, at the very least, you are aware of this.”

“I—” She caught her tongue, not even sure what she was going to say. “I do not fear you, Your Grace. That is not what this is.”

“What then?”

“Peace and quiet. That is what you want? Something which you and I will never have.”

“And why is that exactly?”

Her face scrunched with confusion, and she gestured about them as if the answer was obvious. “Well… because we hate one another, is why.”

“Is that what this is?” He almost seemed amused by the notion. “You hate me?”

“Do you not hate me?”

He considered her. “You frustrate me. You annoy me. And I do not think I have ever met someone so…” He clicked his tongue. “Damn troublesome as you have proven to be. But hate you?” He scoffed. “We are not quite there yet.”

“But we will be,” she insisted. “Unless you call off this marriage at once!”

“Is that a threat?”

“M—maybe.” Caroline had come here for one reason and one reason only, to force the duke to call off this marriage. And, for that, there was nothing she would not do.

Her heart was racing, the heat rising in her as she forced herself to meet his eyes. Strange that she no longer feared him as she did when they had first met. Nor was she as intimidated. That wasn’t to say that he wasn’t a frightening individual, but she didn’t think him to be cruel. Despite the rumors.

Rather, she sensed in him a man who was used to getting his own way, and certainly not accustomed to being told no or argued with. What she needed was for him to see that if they were to marry, this is all they would do. An impossible union that he would do better to avoid. She had to make him see.

“A threat that I will happily follow through on,” she continued, forcing herself to hold his stare. “Unless you…” She swallowed. “Unless you do as I ask.” She looked at him boldly. “Now.”

“Is that right?” he asked, his voice turning cold.

“That’s right. As you are—whoa!”

The duke stepped closer to her suddenly, his hands finding her waist just as they did the previous evening. He held her, forcing her to look into his eyes, behind which she saw the anger she had been trying to elicit. Only now, she wasn’t sure why.

“I do not appreciate being spoken down to,” he said, his voice low. “Or being bullied, which you are clearly trying to do.”

“I—”

“Am trouble,” he growled.

“You have no idea,” she shot back, doing her best to ignore his hands around her waist, despite the havoc they wreaked with her breathing.

“I am beginning to.”

“It will only get worse,” she pressed, finding herself leaning into him, which only made him pull her closer.

“I am starting to think I might not mind that so much.” His hands squeezed her tighter.

“You—you will,” she stammered, not even sure what she was saying anymore. Her mind was almost completely on his hands, and if not that, the feel of his chest, his warm breath tracing her face… and a look in his eyes which she understood a little too well. “Unless you cancel this marriage. It is what’s best. For both of us.”

“You do not get to decide for me what is best.”

“I—”

It happened quickly.

The duke moved his face as his hands went around her, gripping her back and pulling her forward. Her eyes widened in shock, and her mouth half open. Her lips found their way to the duke’s, and before she knew it, they were locked in a passionate kiss that was as unexpected as it was... as it was... as it was unbelievably debauched.

Their lips mashed. Their tongues wrestled. Teeth nibbled and then bit. The duke’s spare hand was around the back of her head, pulling her face in harder somehow, his mouth opening wide as if he meant to devour her. Caroline didn’t think to fight it. She didn’t want to fight it! They kissed freely, openly, as if their lives depended on it. For only seconds, it might have been minutes, the duke and Caroline’s lips and tongues mashed and pressed together, and she completely forgot herself...

And then he pulled away.

She gasped when he did, nearly crying out because it felt like he was tearing with him a piece of her.

“That is one way to shut you up,” he said.

Caroline stared at him stupidly, with no idea what to say or do. Her chest hurt from how quickly her heart beat. Her body was drenched in sweat from the heat which he’d instigated. Her knees were trembling, her mind blank. In that moment, the only thing Caroline knew was that she both hated the duke... and wanted all of him at the same time.

“I think it is time that you leave,” the duke said.

“But...” She didn’t know what to say.

“This marriage is happening, and I suggest you make your peace with it. For once…” He took a deep breath to control himself, sighing next as if with regret “… do as I ask.”

She was too stunned to argue. Too shocked to make sense of anything. Glad to be given a chance to leave, as she needed space, time, and reason to assess, Caroline put her head down and fled the room as if it had suddenly caught fire.

It was only once she was on the other side of the door that she fell back, using the closed door to keep her from collapsing entirely. Still, her body rebelled. Still, her mind was on that kiss. Still, her lips burned as did her thighs as if they had a mind of their own.

What was... how did... when did... what is going on?!

Caroline had never been kissed before. She had never even considered it. She was not a romantic. Not one to lust after men. She had never seen much point—she had been raised to think of marriage as a contractual bond only, never once considering the hidden passions that might come from such a union. But if that was what was in store for her from this marriage, she was starting to wonder if maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.

No! I cannot think like that. And yet...

Was it possible to both hate someone and desire them at the same time? If she was to give a definitive answer in the moment, it would be a resounding yes.

And something tells me that for the second night in a row, I will not be getting so much as a wink of sleep.