Page 16 of The Duke’s Ultimatum (Unrelenting Lords #1)

CHAPTER 16

E leanor slammed the drawer shut causing the perfume bottles to rattle.

“Everything all right, My Lady?”

“Hm, what?” She saw the tipped over bottles laying on her dresser.

“Oh, yes, sorry, Mary. I’m fine, thank you.”

The maid didn’t look convinced. “Is there anything I can get you this morning?”

A shot of bourbon.

The thought gave her pause. When did I start taking shots of bourbon? Ugh. That man has infiltrated my very being!

Eleanor shook the wayward thought from her mind. “No, Mary. I am fine. Will you please tell my mother I’ll be down shortly for tea?”

Mary dipped her head, “Of course, My Lady.”

After Mary left, Eleanor sat looking at her reflection and sighed. Once again, she needed to reevaluate her approach to her season and the Duke. She thought she could reason with him, but when she was close to him, her mind, led by her body, had different plans.

Eleanor groaned. “Stupid girl. It meant nothing. He is just a rake playing with your emotions like it’s some sport to him.”

She sat up and gave herself one more look over to make sure her hair was behaving. After tucking a loose blonde curl back in place, she made her way down to the parlor. She could hear her mother and Sarah speaking.

“He is a lovely boy, Mama; I know you would just love him!”

“Oh, that is so exciting to hear, Sarah!” Charlotte’s voice rang out. “And His Grace agreed to let him and his family visit? Do you think this could turn into something?”

Eleanor walked over to the settee and took the offered tea from her maid, Mary.

Sarah sighed into the back of her chair. “Oh, I hope so.” She didn’t seem as excited as Eleanor expected. Sarah had been talking nonstop about what her seasons would be like and the fated night when she would be lost in a dance with a suitor who would ultimately steal her heart. Forever a romantic, their Sarah was.

“You don’t seem excited about the prospect, Sarah.” Charlotte dipped her head in concern.

Sarah pouted before she sat back up. “I’m very excited about Bryon coming over with his family, especially after I was basically ripped away from him at Lady Merrington’s garden party. It’s just…” She sighed again.

Eleanor tampered down the instinct to roll her eyes at her sister’s dramatics. “What is it, Sarah?”

She looked at the doorway. “It’s the Duke.”

Eleanor sat up straighter. Her sister had seemed very understanding of the Duke’s ways, especially when it came to how he handled Eleanor.

“What of the Duke?”

Sarah chewed on her bottom lip before answering. “He doesn’t seem happy with Byron as a potential match. I mean, he hasn’t said anything, and this visit is nothing official, but I get the feeling he won’t approve.”

Eleanor reached out to her sister. She may not be a romantic like Sarah, but she knew how frustrating it was to deal with the Duke, especially when he did not approve of her choices.

“Why do you think that?” Eleanor probed.

“I don’t know, a feeling?” Sarah shrugged.

Charlotte laughed. “Oh child, pay no attention to feelings.”

Both girls looked at their mother.

Charlotte waved her hand in front of her face. “I mean, don’t go looking for trouble. You are not privy to the Duke’s thoughts. It could be, he just does not know the boy and his family. If he’s everything you say he is, I don’t see why he wouldn’t be the perfect match for you.”

Charlotte’s positive disposition helped alleviate some of Sarah’s worry as she sat up, letting a smile break free on her face. “I do hope so, Mama!”

“There. That’s that. Eleanor, how did you fare last night?”

Eleanor froze at her mother’s question. Phantom feelings of hot kisses on her neck and wandering hands with precision finger motions curled around her core, igniting sparks that had her cheeks reddening.

“Um, I…” Her throat ran dry. She took a sip of her tea, hoping to give her body a chance to cool down.

Eleanor winced. Warm tea would not help aid the rising temperature in her body.

“I saw you danced with several young men, including the Viscount again,” Charlotte said with a devilish grin on her face. “Could an official courtship be brewing between the two of you.”

The Viscount. Right.

Eleanor smiled. “Perhaps. He did ask if he could call on me.”

While Charlotte and Sarah fussed over the possibility of the Viscount courting Eleanor, Eleanor prayed her mother didn’t ask more of their encounter.

She danced with him after her run in with the Duke. At the time, her mind continuously replayed her encounter with the Duke, and she barely registered she was dancing with the Viscount. The fact that he even asked to call on her surprised her. She couldn’t have been the most interesting dance partner. Eleanor made a conscious note to apologize for that when she saw him.

“Do I hear we will have a suitor showing up at our door today?”

The Duke’s voice, full of bravado and charm, ran through Eleanor’s body like a breakaway carriage.

Her spine stiffened, and the world around her stopped as she watched the man who had plagued her for days saunter into the room without a care in the world. The pompous jerk.

Eleanor narrowed her eyes on him before refocusing on her sister. She would not give him the satisfaction of her attention. She was fuming at how he played with her, literally, then left her alone to piece herself back together. Only a degenerative sadist would do that to a young woman. At least, that is what she told herself.

“The Viscount of Hountshire has asked Eleanor if he may call on her. Isn’t it wonderful, Your Grace? We may have a wedding by the end of the season like we had hoped!” Charlotte clapped her hands in front of herself, sighing in happiness for her daughter.

Eleanor managed a small smile for her mother’s benefit. The idea of the Viscount courting her wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t the worst outcome for her. He was stable and kind; she could make it work. She could make anything work.

“Is that so?” Graynor looked over at Eleanor. She felt his eyes settle on her.

With a deep breath, she glanced over at him. The moment her eyes collided with his, she regretted it. Heat blossomed low in her core, and her breath stuttered.

She immediately dropped her eyes to the teacup she held in her lap. She took a sip once again, hoping to buy herself time to figure out how to handle the situation.

Eleanor was embarrassed, frustrated, torn, and angry with how their interaction ended last night, but whenever she saw him, no matter how angry she was at the man, all was forgotten, and her body took over.

“If this Viscount offers marriage, will you accept?” Graynor asked. Eleanor noted a hint of anger in his voice, but she seemed to be the only one who noticed.

“ This Viscount? You ask if I am entertaining several—that would be uncouth of me, Your Grace,” Eleanor snipped, raising her chin.

A smile crept onto Graynor’s face, frustrating Eleanor even more.

She placed her teacup on the table next to her. “If you’ll all excuse me, I have a sudden need for some fresh air.”

Charlotte looked over her daughter. “Are you well?”

Eleanor gave her mother a tight-lipped smile. “Yes, Mama. It’s just a bit stuffy in here all of a sudden,” she added with a pointed glance at the Duke.

Charlotte gave Eleanor one more motherly look before dipping her head. “All right, but don’t stay out too long. It looks like rain is moving in, and I’d hate for you to get sick during this time of the season.”

Eleanor stood and kissed her mother on the cheek. “Always looking out for us, Mama.”

Charlotte cooed over her daughter’s comment. “You girls are my life.”

Eleanor stood, turning to her sister. “Sarah. If you need someone to talk to, I’m always here.”

Sarah, who was busy staring daggers at the Duke, just nodded in acknowledgment. Eleanor smiled. Sarah may be a romantic, but cross her, and she would hold a grudge. The Duke had no idea what trouble he would cause if he told Sarah no on something she truly had her heart set on.

Without a look at the Duke, Eleanor left the parlor and walked out onto the veranda. She made her way to her favorite bench in the garden. When she reached it, she stopped and scowled. Her favorite spot was now tarnished with the memory of her first kiss with that blasted man.

“Ugh, must he ruin everything?”

“Shall I assume you’re talking about me?”

Eleanor screamed, covering her mouth and her heart with her hands. She turned to see Graynor strolling towards her.

“You! Are you following me?” She sat on the bench, taking slow breaths, trying to regulate her breathing. “You scared me nearly to death. Don’t you know it is rude to sneak up on someone?”

Graynor raised an eyebrow and looked down at his body. “Eleanor, do you see me? Do I look like I am capable of sneaking up on anyone?”

Eleanor refused to look at him.

“Aw, come now, are you giving me the silent treatment?” His voice was dripping in saccharine sarcasm.

Eleanor huffed and shifted her body away from the Duke.

“Tsk. Tsk. Eleanor. This does not seem very polite of you.” His voice was taunting and grating.

Eleanor closed her eyes and bit her tongue. I will not give in. I will not give in.

The repeated words in her head were her lifeline for her sanity.

She felt his presence next to her, and she stiffened. The Duke’s warm body nestled next to her, his chest pushing ever so lightly against her back.

“Eleanor,” his voice seductively dragged out her name into her ear. “Why aren’t you talking to me?”

Eleanor’s eyes opened in a flash. The rage she was trying to maintain bubbled over, and she sprang up.

“You’re asking why I’m not talking to you? Do you remember what we, what you did last night?” Her voice was a harsh whisper. They may be in a secluded garden, but just over those walls, anyone could be walking by.

Graynor smiled smugly. “I remember everything about last night. Even who you danced with afterward,” he added with a snarl.

Eleanor threw her hands into the air. “You do not get to snarl at me. You left me completely beside myself with no idea of what just happened. And I couldn’t just stay in that hallway the entire night; I had to gather my senses and return to the dance. I had to put a display of perfect upbringing and etiquette while inside I felt as if I were on fire.”

The Duke had the audacity to sit there with that stupid grin on his face. “You were beside yourself, huh?”

Eleanor groaned. “Do not look satisfied with yourself. I am done with you, with this.” She frantically waved her hand in between the two of them.

Graynor tilted his head to the side and stretched out his legs. He looked like he was enjoying this which fueled her rage even more.

“There is nothing between us.” He lifted a shoulder in a nonchalant shrug.

Eleanor’s vision blurred, and she rocked back on her heels. “There’s nothing… there’s nothing… then what was that last night?”

“I was doing it for your own good, Eleanor.”

For once in her life, Eleanor was speechless. She stood there staring at him. There were no words she could piece together that could adequately berate this man and question his line of thinking.

Eleanor scoffed. “In what world does that make a modicum of sense?”

The Duke just sat there, looking up at her, completely nonplussed.

Eleanor began to pace. “No, please tell me. Was you pulling me away from Mr. Riggins and Lord Bellfry for my own good? Or was it when you pushed me up against a wall and ran your hands…”

She stopped and shook her head; she wouldn’t allow herself to bring up the memory. She turned to him and propped her hands on her hips. “Well?”

Graynor stood up, dusting off imaginary lint from his shirt. It annoyed Eleanor to no end that this conversation had little effect on him.

“You need to learn if you push people to their limits, they will break.”

Eleanor looked at him like he completely lost his mind. Perhaps he had.

“I pushed you to do that?” She took a step closer to him. “What could I have possibly done to push you to react in such a way that had you pulling me from the ballroom, dragging me into a desolate hallway, and… and doing…” She leaned in and whispered, “… that to me?”

The Duke looked down, hovering over her, his eyes challenging. “You know exactly what you were doing.”

Eleanor took another step closer. Her chin raised, their breaths mixing in the mere inches that divided them.

“And what was I doing? Talking to other men, flirting with other men. Doing what you,” she pointed him in the chest with her finger, “asked me to do.”

The Duke’s eyes darkened. “That was not what you were doing.”

Eleanor laughed in his face. “You’ll forgive me, Your Grace, but I most certainly was. I should know—they were my actions after all.”

The Duke crossed what little space was left between them. “You were toying with me. Flirting with others to get my attention, to get a rise out of me. You were provoking me, much like you are now.”

Eleanor gasped. “I am doing no such thing.”

The Duke only raised a single eyebrow.

Eleanor bristled. “Fine. If I am doing it again, are you so weak that you’ll react the same way?” It was her turn to taunt and challenge him.

The Duke’s eyes darkened as he searched her face. “Be careful, Eleanor,” he warned.

She narrowed her eyes. “Or what?”

Eleanor couldn’t tell if it was her that reached up to him, or if he moved first, but their lips crashed against each other. Her hands reached up to pull his head down further as he wrapped them around her waist to pull her up.

Her toes brushed against the ground as her body pressed up against his.

Graynor’s mouth drove into hers forcing it open. His tongue quickly followed, their tongues fighting for control. Neither one of them wanted to give in to the other, yet both chased the same high.

His hands pulled her higher, so her center matched with his. She felt a hardened length push against her in the most delicious way. A moan escaped her mouth. His arms tightened around her as her moans continued.

She wanted to move against his body, but the way he held her as he stood didn’t allow for it. Should she wrap her legs around his body? Would that be too forward?

Just as she was about to raise her legs, she heard her name.

“Lady Eleanor?”

The butler!

Eleanor pushed away from the Duke, partly stumbling to the ground. Graynor reached out to help steady her.

She wiped her mouth and swatted at his hands. She patted her hair, hoping she didn’t feel as out of sorts as she felt.

“Lady Eleanor? Are you out here?”

Graynor turned his back to Eleanor and the pathway to adjust himself.

Crossing her fingers and saying a quick prayer that she had righted herself enough, she answered the call, “Yes, Jeffries. I’m here.”

Jeffries turned the corner and stopped abruptly when he noticed the Duke. “Oh, Your Grace, I did not realize you were out here as well.”

The Duke spared the butler a glance. “Well, I am.”

Eleanor glanced at the Duke. Did he have to be so incorrigible?

Jeffries stood straighter, not knowing how to interpret the Duke’s demeanor.

“Lady Eleanor, I’m sorry to interrupt, but Lord Hountshire is here to see you.”

Eleanor’s world tilted on its axis. “What?”

Her mind took its time catching up to what the butler was telling her.

“Lord Hountshire? He’s here to see you.” The butler’s eyes bounced between Eleanor and the Duke, becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

Eleanor took a step toward Jeffries. “Thank you, Jeffries. Please let him know I will be right in. Thank you.”

She gave him the brightest smile she could muster and prayed it came off as genuine.

Jeffries stood for a moment before he turned and made his way back through the garden to the house.

Eleanor watched him go, clenching and unclenching her fists at her side. She turned to see the Duke staring at her.

“It seems you have a visitor.” His voice was low and droll. How he was able to seem completely unaffected by what just transpired between them infuriated her.

Graynor lifted his arm out in front of him, gesturing towards the house. “After you.”

Eleanor huffed, picked up her skirts, and marched through the garden. If she’s just a game to him, then she’ll show him how well she could play.