The Devil Duke Takes a Bride (11 page)

By the time the third course was served, Benedict had imagined all sorts of ways to kill oneself with a fork.

There was of course, the slow death of pounding one
’
s head against the sharp object. Naturally, he could slice his skin with the knife if he felt so compelled. And his personal favorite, try to swallow the thing and hope death would come swiftly in the form of asphyxiation.

None of those options, however
,
provided him a fast enough escape from his current predicament.

It had all started with the soup.

And went downhill from there.

There was nothing particularly wrong with the soup
.
I
t was hot
,
and he was hungry, but his blasted eye had the ridiculous notion that it needed to pay attention to the woman on his right.

Katherine, to be exact.

And blast if that eye didn’t train on her very lips as she held the spoon near them and closed her eyes in ecstasy.

He had shifted in his chair.

Deuced uncomfortable dinner to be honest.

He prayed the soup would be taken away and fifteen agonizing minutes later, it was replaced with something new.

Ah! Yes, at least roast goose would give him respite. For what woman in all creation could make roast goose look erotic?

Oh
,
how wrong he had been.

Even now his body tightened at the thought.

And he wasn’t quite sure eating dinner would ever be enjoyable again, at least not when he had guests surrounding him and Katherine dropping pieces of meat into her delicate mouth
. He nearly wept as she would
close her eyes and moan
when no one was looking, no one but him unfortunately
. Her vulgarity knew no end, yet he found it fascinating as the low rumble would start in her throat and spread until he nearly dropped his fork each time she brought food to her lips. Finally, she would swallow and take a sip of wine, what he wouldn’t give to be glassware
in that moment
.

Well, he hadn’t eaten anything at all, which of course caused a ridiculous amount of questions. Was he feeling well? Had the ride from town been rough?
If only
, he thought,
if only it was anything but demure.

Voice hoarse
,
he had merely shook his head and prayed for Katherine to spill her wine or do something clumsy.

Instead, his unsteady hand hit the wine causing a fiasco at the table. Once des
s
ert was served, the wom
e
n retired away from the men
,
and he was finally
at
peace with his cheroot and brandy out on the balcony.

And then he felt her.

Benedict couldn’t help but
think
it had to be some sort of sixth sense, that every time she was near, he would begin to shake
and
lose control of his calm exterior. His body would heat, thinking on her until he wanted to begin stripping his clothes.

“Am I interrupting?” she asked, lightly falling beside him, her dainty arms leaned across the balcony, breasts spilled over her dress
,
and again he was struck dumb. Why the blazes hadn’t she worn a coat?

“You’ll catch your death out here,” he grumbled, disgusted with his lack of bodily control. As it was, he was having a devil of a time keeping his arousal in check
,
and he hadn’t even touched the girl.

“Well, good thing I have my
fiancé
nearby to warm me up.” Katherine looked up at him with merry eyes and patted him lightly on the shoulder.

It was his undoing.

That one touch.

The one gaze from her eyes.

And again he found himself falling, as if he could no longer see straight or stay in balance if his life depended on it. His need was so great that he wanted to yell and laugh at the same time.

Instead he just kissed her.

But to say it was just a kiss would be like saying the ocean was just a mass of water, or the sun was just a star. No, this kiss was unlike any other kiss he had ever experienced in his lifetime or hoped to experience.

Because, he thought as his lips danced with hers, it was shared with his other half.

And in that kiss, as she sighed into his arms, as his tongue dove deep into the velvet moisture of her mouth, he knew he wanted to continue to fall if it meant she would be the one to catch him.

In the end, is that not what everyone else wanted?

With the strength of a god, he pulled back and muffled a curse before raising his eyes heavenward. “She’s won, by Jove, she’s won.”

“Pardon?” Katherine’s lips were still swollen from their kiss, her eyes barely visible through her thick lashes. “Who won?”

“The devil.”

“I thought you were the devil?”

He snickered. “Where did you think I descended from? Thin air? And I was referring to my aunt.”

“Oh?” Katherine squinted at him as if he had in fact turned into a pink unicorn. To be fair, he was acting like a complete idiot, spouting nonsense into the sky like a fool. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Are you well?” she whispered near his face, too near, for it caused him to jerk back and trip. He hadn’t the grace or common sense to break his fall as he collapsed onto the hard ground and looked up into her amused eyes.

Gracefully, she knelt down and felt his head. “You’re positively flushed, shall I take you to bed?”

“Please.” He begged
,
wanting much more than she was offering, innocent that she was.

“I meant,” she scolded, hitting him with her hand, “should I help you to you room then promptly leave you to suffer alone?”

Well
,
at least she didn’t offer to kill him. He had been quite forward with her all evening
,
and he deduced he was already on some sort of borrowed time considering his behavior was appalling. Not that he wasn’t used to offending others, but not her.

Not her.

Suddenly, he wanted much more than to give in because his aunt desired him to marry.

He wanted to.

Devil take him… he wanted to treat her…

Why was it so hard to say in his head?

He wanted to court the girl, to do right by her.

He waved in the air, literally lifted his hand and waved, as all of his best laid plans flew into the night sky. There would be no ravishing, no ruining, no laughing in the face of marriage.

No, he imagined he was the type of man that once marriage took him prisoner, he would happily
,
if not drunkenly
,
offer his leg willingly to the ball and chain and boast about it for the rest of his days.

Such a nuisance that.

Having forgot that he waved into the night sky, Katherine felt his forehead again. “You do not feel feverish
.
T
ell me, what is your name
,
and where are you?”

Oh
,
he could have fun with this one. Perhaps just a little ruin never hurt anyone? He gave a goofy grin and shrugged.

“Oh my!” Katherine helped him to his feet and immediately began reprimanding him as she led him into the house. “And to think you would get so foxed! My goodness, have you any care for your reputation? Never mind I momentarily forgot with whom I was speaking. But we both know how
accident-prone
you can be
.
I
magine if you would have fallen from the balcony! Whatever would we do!”

He smiled smugly
.
O
f course she cared for his welfare. It felt good.

“I mean…” She cursed under her breath. “Imagine the mess the servants would have to clean up
,
and then I would have to tell your dragon of an aunt that I led you to your death, and she would most likely say
finally
,
considering I have brought you quite close at
l
east three times.”

“Four.” He coughed then slapped the silly grin back in place.

Her eyes narrowed.

He purposefully tripped on the first stair.

Shaking her head, she helped him up the stairs and continued her tirade until she pushed open the bedroom doors and laid him across the bed.

Surely in his drunken, albeit falsely drunken
,
state one could not blame him for taking full advantage.

And take full advantage he did. With a sigh he pulled her onto his body and closed his eyes.

Seduction by Moonlight

“
Oomph!
” Katherine fell across his hard muscled body with a thud. Well, now he’d done it. She was in somewhat of a pickle. How the devil was she to pry her body from his when the man's hands were pulling her tighter and tighter against him?

Honestly, she’d never seen him so foxed before. Was he that upset over the marriage? Perhaps, it was boredom
.
H
e was
,
after all
,
the devil.
Meaning he was used to much more lively entertainment than eating a casual dinner and smoking a cheroot.

She sighed and tried to pry her body free.

Benedict
’
s response was a moan. His lips somehow found hers again and he worked his spell, his wicked magic over her body until she was sure she was going to go to a very fiery place.

They were not married.

They were only betrothed.

Accidently
,
of course.

And now she was in his bedroom, his bedroom! Acting the absolute wanton, but oh the things he did with his tongue.

“Benedict,” she whispered against his lips. “Benedict, you must let me go.”

“No.”

“No?” His lips moved to her neck, his warm tongue traced the curve of her jaw.

Oh the wicked things he did with his tongue. “Yes, you want me to let you go, or no, you want to stay?”

“Yes, no!”

“Wait, do you mean yes or no? Sorry love, I’m somewhat foxed and need you to be a little more direct.”

She kicked him with her foot.

He laughed. “I deserved that
.
I
t appears when I asked for you to be direct
,
you were under the impression I wanted violence.”

Katherine closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against his. “You are impossible.”

“So I’ve been told.” He sighed and then miraculously released her. Only, she wasn’t prepared so she fell off the bed and landed with a thud on the floor.

Benedict chuckled then pe
e
ked over the edge. “Take a tumble, did you?”

“Sometimes I wish I could slap you.”

“Believe me
,
love, it would only encourage me more.”

She smiled despite herself and righted her skirts so she wasn’t again flashing her knees to the duke and stood on wobbly legs.

“Goodnight, your grace,” she said in her haughtiest voice.

“Goodnight, my love.”

Rolling her eyes, she walked to the door. He was most definitely foxed, for everyone knew the
D
evil
D
uke did not love. He was more likely to jump off the highest balcony in London than admit any sort of emotional attachment.

This really was a pity, considering her heart did a tiny clench when he uttered those sacred words.

“Goodnight,” she said again before stepping quietly into the hall.