Page 28 of Seven Nights with the Wicked Duke (Regency Beasts #3)

"I already said we wouldn't be discussing this, Cecilia," he warned sharply and she drew back. "Do not bring it up again."

"If you won't, then you might as well leave," she told him.

"I cannot."

"Why ever not?" she asked, frustrated. "You do not want to talk and we certainly cannot stay here like this. Someone will most definitely find us soon."

"I am in no hurry to leave, Cecilia." His voice was smooth like sin as he leaned forward. "I know you do not want me to either, even if you suggest otherwise."

She frowned, hating how her body responded even when she was supposed to be angry with him for behaving like a cad.

"I am in no mood to handle your changing personalities today," she told him honestly. "After such a pleasant dinner, I want nothing more than to…"

His scoff had her pausing the word she had been about to say.

"Pleasant dinner indeed," he mused suddenly. "After such a dreadful affair, I see exactly why you made the list."

"I have told you why on several occasions," she retorted with a confused look. "And it was only dreadful because your manner was abominable."

"Indeed you have but I have seen, firsthand, the reason you desperately needed that list," he said with a laugh. "Hickling is a perfectly boring fiancé."

"He is not my fiancé and he is not boring," Cecilia defended.

"Oh? And you think such a charming gentleman would make a good husband for you?" he asked with a bright smile.

Cecilia felt her brow twitch in irritation at the polite smile he was sending her while spewing such rude nonsense.

Hector wasn't boring in the least but while she didn't find him exciting either, she wouldn't admit that fact to him.

He was smug enough as is. She didn't want to imagine how annoying he would be if she admitted it to him.

"He will," she answered. "he loves literature and is well-mannered. He is polite and treats me well. He also is well-read and intelligent. I find his discussions intellectually stimulating."

"You almost yawned when he was talking about a watch he just purchased," he reminded her. "There was no proof of you being intellectually stimulated. I, on the other hand, found the discussion rather enlightening."

A muscle in her jaw ticked as she clenched it hard. She had indeed nearly yawned but hid the fact with her fan.

How had the annoying man seen her?

"You are mistaken, Your Grace," she retorted.

"Ha," he laughed. "I can tell the chap will make you a most miserable wife. ’Tis not a vision you would like to see."

"Why do you dislike him so?" she asked, exasperated by his continued rudeness. "He has done nothing to you, yet you were positively rude earlier. You have been rude to him since you've met him for no reason. Even Magnus, who is easily displeased, likes him. why is it you cannot seem to him?"

He was being rude even now but she had a feeling she didn't need to remind him of that fact.

"I do not dislike him," he answered easily. "I just do not think him the best option for you."

Cecilia scoffed unable to help herself.

"You do not know me well enough to know what is best for me, Your Grace," she told him. "Hector is pleasant and kind and…"

“Boring, as I stated earlier," he interrupted. "It was written all over you that you wished to be anywhere but sat beside him playing house."

He stepped closer, lifting her chin to his. The sliver of light stealing into the room highlighted the smug grin on his face that had her blood quickening in desire.

This was not the teasing grin he had given her earlier but one she identified when he wanted to remind her that only he had seen her in ways other men wouldn't imagine.

"I have a feeling, Cecilia, that while you were sitting beside him being a good little maiden, you were thinking about me here, with you, with my face between your legs giving you pleasure instead," he said, hand lowering to trail up her hip through her dress.

Her legs went weak at his words as lust poured liquid heat through her blood, settling at the place that she indeed wanted his face.

"Perhaps you were wishing you were in my study, naked and spread out before me as I painted you on my canvas," he teased, leaning forward to nip her ear.

"It is because I know you I know that if I were to reach underneath your skirts now, you wouldn't stop me.

You would let me taste your lovely sex here with your brother upstairs thinking you asleep. "

"It seems you have recovered well enough if you are still making such threats, Your Grace," she breathed out, feeling proud she was able to formulate the words.

She felt him smile against her ear as he pulled back.

"I know you better than anyone else, Cecilia, which is why I know I will see you tomorrow night at my estate upon my invitation," he said, trailing a finger down her arm. "I find I have missed our stimulating conversations."

She wanted to refuse him. Wanted to see the smug smile wiped off his face when she refused him. Wanted to see him gape at her in wonder when she slid away from him and retired above stairs but his proximity and the teasing finger caressing her arm didn't allow those words to escape her mouth.

"What if I choose not to come?" she told him even though the words lacked any conviction. "I might have a function to attend."

She was fighting a losing battle if she thought she could refuse him anything when he was so close.

Damn.

She hated the power he had over her. Hated how his touch made her forget her pride.

"I will see you tomorrow or not at all, Cecilia," he told her, leaving her breathless as he stepped out into the corridor and outside to his waiting carriage. "It is in your hands to decide if you want to endure another boring night with the ton or enjoy something pleasurable with me."