Page 6 of A Duke for Hire (The Devil’s Masquerade #1)

CHAPTER SIX

“ R idiculous,” Seraphina muttered.

“What was that, darling?” Amelia asked.

“I don’t think so,” Theo murmured, inspecting the jeweled comb in her hands. “I think they’re quite beautiful.”

Seraphina pursed her lips, annoyance and longing running through her. She was not talking about the combs. She turned from the stall in the market, and walked over to the handbag vendor. Why was she shopping anyway? It was not as if the allowance her father gave her would allow any extras such as these.

“Is something wrong, Seraphina?” Theo asked, as she and Amelia caught up.

“No,” she bit out.

She caught Theo and Amelia sharing a dubious look and she clicked her tongue.

“Nothing is wrong,” she insisted.

But that wasn’t true. Something was very wrong. The Duke of Merrivale had kissed her. Kissed her! In the gallery! Where anyone could have seen them.

What was even worse was that as angry as she was about it, she’d enjoyed it. It had been the only thing on her mind the past two days. And the past two nights.

“Is it the heat?” Theo asked, touching her arm. “It is rather warm. Perhaps we could go into the tea shop and find some refreshment?”

“Why bother?” Seraphina answered testily, letting go of the hand bag she was pretending to contemplate. “Why am I bothering with any of this?”

Guilt filled her as she caught her friends’ hurt, confused expressions, and she drew in a breath to stymie her temper.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, going to them. “I’m so sorry. I don’t think I should be out today. Perhaps it is best that I just go home.”

She gave them another apologetic look, but just as she was about to leave them, Amelia grabbed her arm and started pulling her toward the alleyway. When they reached the more private spot, she and Theo both looked at her sternly.

“Talk,” Theo demanded, crossing her arms. “What has happened?”

Seraphina pressed her lips together. She didn’t want to say. Didn’t want to feel. Why couldn’t the Duke of Merrivale leave her alone?

When she didn’t answer, Theo reached out and pinched her arm.

“Ow!” Seraphina yelped.

“Speak!” Theo demanded. “Something is not right with you and as your friends we demand to know what it is.”

“You are not acting yourself,” Amelia added, giving her a sympathetic look. “Tell us so we can help.”

Seraphina sighed, still rubbing her arm.

“The Duke kissed me the other night,” she confessed, feeling her entire body slump. “At the gallery.”

“Oh, heavens,” Theo gasped, then looked at Seraphina regretfully.

“I’m so sorry I pinched you. No wonder you’ve been acting strange.”

“Are you all right?” Amelia asked, stepping closer as she lowered her voice. “Did he force you?”

“No.” The answer came out swiftly before she could stop it, and she blushed wildly. “I mean yes. I mean…I do not know!”

Theo and Amelia glanced at another in confusion.

“I did not want it at first,” Seraphina tried to explain, her body once more filling with that edgy, strange heat that made her skin prickle with excitement. “But when he touches me…I can’t explain it. My being relaxes into him. Even if I am mad at him.”

She tsked her tongue as she shook her head and rubbed her temple.

“You should have heard him that night. He was so rude to Lord Fallon. Absolutely horrific in the way he spoke to him. I despised it, and yet- yet when he kissed me I just wanted to- to-” she floundered for her words.

“Sink into him? Allow him? I do not know but it is most confusing and it is only making my frustration worse!” She burst out.

“Oh, my,” Amelia murmured, her eyes growing wide with curiosity.

“I already told him that we cannot court. My mother would not allow it in a thousand years,” Seraphina said with a sigh.

“Do you want to court him, though?” Theo asked tentatively.

Seraphina shifted on her feet. Her mind said no. But her body…her body craved the idea.

“No,” she answered. “My mother is right. I do not agree with everything she says but she is right in this. We need someone who will save our reputation, not damn it further.”

“We?” Theo asked, taking a step closer. “Your marriage should be about you, Seraphina. Not your mother.”

“I know,” Seraphina sighed, growing more agitated. “But she wants what is best for me. That is why she has done all of this. So I do not have to live the life she has.”

Amelia and Theo exchanged another long look, only adding to Seraphina’s agitation.

“What, you do not agree?” She asked.

Amelia blushed and looked away while Theo pressed her lips together and worried them.

Seraphina took a steadying breath, and reached for her friends.

“Please,” she begged, “You are my friends. I need your truth. You are the only ones will give them to me.”

“It is not that we do not agree,” Theo answered carefully. “I am sure you are right. Your mother wants what is best for you as every mother should want for her daughter…but are you sure that is the only thing she wants? The way she pushes you. Her willingness to have you caught in a scandal to trap one of the more reputable gentlemen. Are you sure your courtship is not for her?”

Theo spoke a truth Seraphina had only thought but never shared. Yes, it was something she pondered for quite some time. Her mother’s needs were so enmeshed with her own, she sometimes couldn’t tell where her wants started and her mother’s ended.

“Let me ask this,” Theo went on gently, “If your mother did approve…would you entertain the idea of courting the Duke? Despite the rumors?”

“No.”

Theo’s brow perked.

“You answered too quickly,” her friend pointed out.

“Reputation or not… I do not like the way he speaks to others,” Seraphina murmured, fiddling with her fan. “If he ever spoke to me or acted toward me in the way I have seen him with others, I think I would feel trapped in a marriage with a bully. I do not want that. I want a husband who has the patience to speak kindly to me, always.”

To her surprise, Seraphina felt tears prick at her eyes.

“I am tired of living with hostility. All my life my mother has been agitated over one thing or another. And my father, when he is around, barely acts cordial. I know what I am to him, even if he does not say it. I am the public reminder that he made a mistake.”

“Oh, Seraphina,” Theo sighed, drawing a kerchief out to dab her eyes.

“If I am going to take a husband, I want one that will give me a peaceful home. Even if that means ignoring me most of the time,” Seraphina went on as she leaned on her friends.

“Hug- I mean, the Duke. His temper is too hostile for me,” she went on. Even if I did feel something when he kissed me. “So, Theo, I meant what I said. My answer is no. Even if my mother did approve. Which she would never.”

Theo only nodded this time, she and Amelia both giving her an empathetic look.

“Apologies, my darlings,” Seraphina whispered, handing Theo back her kerchief, “For my behavior and my tears. I am embarrassed by both.”

As her friends cooed words of appeasement, Seraphina caught a bit of movement out of the corner of her eye, and saw her maid at the mouth of the alley, holding up a timepiece.

“I must go,” she sighed, “My mother has no doubt coordinated more callers. She shall be most upset with me if they arrive before I make it home.”

“Have done! I’m beaten,” Dominic huffed, holding up his hands in surrender. Chest heaving, still trying to catch his breath, he smirked at Hugo. “It has been too long since we sparred. I forgot how wild you could get.”

The inner storm of pent-up rage stilled in Hugo, and he dropped his wrapped hands immediately to his side. His nightmares had returned—a horrific combination of his father’s violence and the abuse he himself had inflicted onto someone else.

Prey. Predator. Prey. Predator.

In his sleep he shifted back and forth constantly until the stress of it woke him up. Sweat drenched and heart pounding in the dark, still emptiness of the night.

“Apologies, old friend,” he said, holding out a hand. “I got lost.”

Dominic gave him a regretful look, his smirk dropping, and he shook Hugo’s hand.

“Wild was the wrong word, I just meant-”

“It’s fine,” Hugo replied. He let go of Dominic’s hand and headed toward the cables surrounding the ring.

He knew how much of an animal he could be. A beast. If he lost control.

“Good match,” Tristan praised, tossing a towel at Hugo as he approached the table where Everett and he sat.

“Thanks,” Hugo muttered, wiping the sweat from his back, his chest.

Everett finished downing his drink and slammed his empty beer mug onto the table.

“Why are we boxing?” He asked loudly, well on his way to inebriation. “There’s another party tonight going on as we speak. We should be there. Not circling each other half naked and sweaty.”

They had all wanted to go, except for Hugo. He’d had fair time at the last time, but he had no interest in going again. To his own surprise, he’d had no interest in the very delights he’d come pursuing. Not after his last kiss with Seraphina. He craved carnal pleasure like the rest of them. Perhaps now more than ever. But it was her he wanted.

He wanted to taste her lips again, feel her sink into his chest as she surrendered her anger and gave into him. And he wanted more. So much more.

In a way Seraphina had become his prey as someone else had. But he sought no vengeance from her. He did not want to break her. He wanted to melt her. Heat her rigid nature until she was nothing but a puddle in his hands. And then he wanted to devour her. Every drop.

“You should all go,” Hugo stated, reaching for his water. “I appreciate your willingness to shift your plans, but Everett is right. You don’t need to be here.”

Tristan narrowed his eyes at Everett and delivered a punch to his arm.

“We want to be here, old boy,” Tristan stated, ignoring the way Everett hissed at him and glared as he rubbed his arm.

“He’s right,” Dominic agreed, joining them at the table. “Lord knows you’ll disappear from London as soon as you are married, so we need to make the most of it.”

Hugo didn’t bother to disagree. Dominic was very much right. Even though he’d commanded the attention of the London ton with his business savvy, he knew how they truly felt about him. They were all watching him closely, terrified and waiting for him to claim his next victim.

“Yes,” Everett mused, smirking at Dominic. “How is that going by the way? Any more stolen kisses at the gallery?”

“What?” Tristan demanded, his head whipping toward Hugo’s direction. “You did what?”

Hugo aimed an annoyed side-eyed glance at Everett, who only grinned devilishly.

“Personally I was quite proud,” Everett quipped, leaning back in his chair as he put his hands behind his head.

“You are supposed to be courting her, not ruining her,” Tristan bit out, brow furrowed as he looked at Hugo.

A sudden and surprising shot of possession burrowed through Hugo as he glared back at his friend.

“What I do with Seraphina is my business,” he stated.

“Not if it risks her reputation,” Tristan retorted. “You have no idea the circumstances her mother is willing to put her through to get her married off to a respectable title with a good reputation. Any further damage you cause to Seraphina will only push her mother to do worse. You need to be careful, Hugo. This isn’t some hunt.”

Another word, another dig at Hugo’s rumored reputation, shot like an arrow into Hugo’s chest, and Tristan’s eyes widened as he realized his mistake. He moved to leave, but Tristan was leaning toward him in a second, pushing at his shoulder so he would sit back down.

“I didn’t mean that,” Tristan said hurriedly.

“Two barbs from two friends in one day,” Hugo mused, shooting a distrusting look around the table. “It seems you all are now believing the rumors too.”

“I don’t,” Everett quipped, refilling his mug of beer.

“ None of us do,” Dominic insisted. “We’re not judging you, old boy. God knows we all have our own faults.”

“I don’t,” Everett quipped again.

“Shut up you fool,” Dominic growled at him, stealing the mug from Everett’s hands just as he was about to take another drink. Everett glared at him as Dominic then lifted the mug to his mouth, and chugged the beer.

“I just want you to be careful,” Tristan sighed. “Things are different in London. If another person saw you they weren’t just going to walk away and pretend otherwise. They thrive on gossip here. Especially gossip surrounding you. Everyone has their eye on you.”

“So you are saying my pursuit is futile?” Hugo asked.

“Not at all,” Tristan replied quickly. “But you could be more subtle.”

Hugo looked at him askance. “Because subtlety is clearly a specialty of mine.”

“No, but it is mine,” Tristan replied, his lips quirking into a smile, “And perhaps I could help.”