Page 5 of Duke of Wickedness (Regency Gods #4)
If these words weren’t arresting enough, it was then that she saw it. The windows were covered by heavy curtains; that was what had kept the light inside. But someone moved past one of them, dislodging it just a little, letting some illumination spill out…
And letting Ariadne catch a glimpse inside.
“Oh,” she breathed. “ Oh .”
Even as David cursed inwardly, he took a moment to appreciate how delectable little Lady Ariadne Lightholder looked as she took in the scene of debauchery before her.
Not that she was so little anymore, was she?
Lady Ariadne had never been someone to whom David had played a great deal of attention; when he had invited her to that house party several years prior, she’d been fresh off her debut Season and altogether too young and innocent for David’s tastes.
He had only invited her to get to Catherine, whom he’d suspected would make a good fit for his friend Percy.
Not that any of them ever thanked him enough for how right he had been about that.
Now, though, he was noticing. And it wasn’t just that she was pretty—though she was that, with her shining golden hair and her wide, blue eyes.
It was the curiosity. He’d always had a weakness for curious women with adventurous spirits.
Still, he reminded himself as he struggled to resist stealing a peek down at where her breasts were crushed oh so sweetly against his chest. She was not for him. She was not for this .
It was hard to remember, however, as she stared through the gap in the curtains to watch a woman, naked down to her waist, ride the gentleman beneath her, the place where they were joined obscured by her skirts.
The man’s expression was filthy, his head thrown back in apparent pain and ecstasy as the woman seized him by the hair and pulled his mouth up to hers for a probing kiss.
“Oh…my,” Lady Ariadne said again.
David positioned himself between her and the window.
“There,” he said, his voice calmer than his emotions. “Now you know, you cheeky girl.”
Her bright gaze shot up to meet his, her cheeks a fetching bloom of pink.
“What was that in there?” she demanded, her breathlessness somewhat undermining the authority she was clearly seeking to access.
He gave her a knowing smirk, one designed to irritate her. Indeed, her cheeks flushed darker.
“I am sympathetic to your plight, little bird,” he crooned, watching her lashes flutter at the nickname. So she didn’t hate it as much as she claimed, then, did she? “You’ve always been a good girl, haven’t you? You’ve always followed the rules, stayed quiet, not made a nuisance of yourself.”
He couldn’t resist reaching up and caressing her cheek, just one swipe of his thumb against the curve of her face. “But that means you are far from ready to throw yourself into the belly of the beast, sweet girl. You would only be chewed up and spit out.”
“But—” She paused, her tongue darting out to wet her lower lip.
It took all of David’s control not to groan.
Oh, but she was tempting. He’d meant what he said, however.
This was far too much for someone like Lady Ariadne Lightholder.
The kind of debauchery that happened at his parties was for the experienced hedonist, not for this sweet, little neophyte.
“But what if I don’t want to be good anymore?” she asked quietly.
Oh, Lord help him. He let his head drop forward a little, marking how her eyes went to his mouth. She thought he was going to kiss her. She wanted him to kiss her.
And bloody hell, he wanted that, too, but he couldn’t. People might think him an amoral louse, a despoiler, a man who followed no compass but his own pleasure—but he did have a sense of honor. It just wasn’t the one that Society recommended.
And kissing Ariadne Lightholder here and now? It would violate that sense of honor.
Christ, though, it would be so easy . She was right there, and God knew she was willing, given the way she was looking at his mouth like she ached for it. She would be so soft, so sweet. That delicious curiosity of hers would make her so eager.
He almost gave in. He almost let himself take what he wanted, consequences be damned. After all, wasn’t that what everyone knew the Duke of Wilds to be?
When he stopped himself, however, it wasn’t because of what anyone else thought about him. It was about what he thought about himself.
“Maybe,” he said. “But this? This is not the place for you to start.”
And then he made himself pull away, made himself drop his arm from around her, made himself retreat a step, then another. It took Lady Ariadne a moment to catch up, her eyes losing their lust-blown look and narrowing into a glare.
“You’re not—” She cut herself off. She was proud as well as curious, it seemed. Two qualities that he generally found irresistible.
He would resist, however.
“I am not,” he said in response to her half-asked question. “As I said, this is not for you.” And then, to keep this rejection light, he offered her a wink. “After all, you don’t even have a mask.”
Her brow furrowed in adorable bafflement. “A mask?”
He slipped his own mask from his pocket, placing it on his face and tying the ribbons behind his head with the expertise that came from practice.
She gaped at him, so clearly intrigued that it challenged his resolve to step away from her.
His struggle worsened when, as he opened the door and let noise and light spill out, the little minx tried to peer around him, her curiosity evident in every step she took.
“Fly home, little bird,” he advised her.
And then, before he could learn whether Lady Ariadne’s allure was stronger than his honor, he slipped inside, hoping—praying—that he would find something or someone to distract him from that hungry look in those blue, blue eyes.