Page 8 of A Virgin for the Duke of Thorns

The man said nothing more, merely turned away from her as he stalked over to a table that held a decanter and a glass. He poured himself a drink, and Alice watched, mesmerized, the way the muscles in his back bunched and flexed, every line as sleek and powerful as that of a panther.

“Tell Ethan I thank him for the gift, but I am not in the mood for company tonight,” he told her dismissively. “You may leave.”

Alice gaped at him.

Tell Ethan what?

Did he think that she was a…?

“I beg your pardon!” The incensed words flew out of her lips before she could stop herself. Almost as soon as she spat them out, she cursed herself inwardly.

Fortunately, he did not seem to catch on to her mistake. If he did, then he appeared not to care about it as he turned around slightly, an eyebrow still arched as he regarded her contemptuously.

“You are here to share my bed, are you not?” he drawled. “Ethan is getting rather predictable in his old age, it would seem, and so lacking in creativity. You are the third one he has sent this week, but I am afraid I have no use for you. I will make sure you are paid, however.”

Alice just gaped at him as he turned around and walked back to her. He really thought she was a strumpet!

“A pity, though,” he continued in a softer tone as his eyes roved over her form in an appreciative manner. “I have to admit you look much better than the ones he had sent before…”

She watched as he raised his hand as if he might caress her cheek. Her breath hitched in her throat, her skin itching to know what his touch would feel like…

Fortunately, her modesty belatedly managed to kick in, and she angrily slapped his hand away.

“How dare you touch a lady so intimately!” she reprimanded him.

“A lady?” he scoffed. His hand reached out to cup the back of her head, his eyes blazing dangerously. “What sort of lady would go about traipsing into a man’s private rooms?”

He had a point there that Alice was not willing to concede.

“In addition to that, you are in my estate,” he told her with a dark grin. “Everything in Blackthorn Estate belongs to me—including you.”

Dear God in heaven, the Duke of Thorns is a Wolf!

Scarlett was right—he was every bit the rake she warned Alice he would be, with none of the veneer of civility that most gentlemen in her acquaintance possessed. He was danger made flesh. A beast trapped in the body of a man.

“Tell me, then,” he whispered silkily, his warm breath fanning the sensitive shell of her ear. “If you were not sent by my dear friend to entertain me, then who are you, and what is your purpose?”

Alice pursed her lips. There was no point in denying it now. She had already been caught—literally and figuratively.

The best that she could do was come clean. Maybe then he would be kind enough to actually let her borrow the book.

“I meant to borrow something from you,” she admitted.

He raised an eyebrow as if he did not believe her. She did not blame him either—it sounded so absurd that it was downright laughable.

“You meant to borrow something from me?”

She did not know if she should feel incensed at the dark amusement in his tone.

“Fine!” she huffed. “I actually intended to steal it from you!”

* * *

Colin could not recall a time when he had been so aroused and so tempted to laugh at the same time. Looking down at the fascinating creature trapped between his body and the door, he was sorely tempted to just let his mirth bubble up from his throat.

“Steal from me?” he murmured.

The sheer audacity of it! Or was it foolishness? Maybe both?

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