Page 44 of A Virgin for the Duke of Thorns

But then again, she also had to account for the sheer audacity he possessed.

One only has to think of what is the most shameless course of action, and he is bound to do it!

Alice inwardly moaned to herself.

She had to learn how to think the way he did, which was no small feat at all.

“Alice?”

She shook her head a little as if to clear her thoughts. Phoebe was looking at her with a slightly worried expression. She smiled at her sister in reassurance.

“I do apologize,” she told the group. “I was… just looking forward to the entertainment on the weekend!”

That false burst of excitement seemed to allay her sister’s suspicion, and the rest of the group burst into excited chatter, with Phoebe and Evie both excited at the prospect of their first house party as the newest debutantes in the group while Scarlett recounted some stories of house parties she had attended in the past.

Through it all, Alice was distinctly aware of Colin and the searing heat his presence radiated just slightly behind her. She sat up a little straighter, refusing to even glance behind her to glare at him. She would not give him the satisfaction of knowing that he got under her skin.

Instead, she turned all of her attention to Scarlett and Ethan, smiling so much that her cheeks hurt.

It was then that she felt the soft warmth hovering over her left ear as Colin leaned in slightly behind her.

“Are you really going to ignore me for the entire duration of your stay here, little lamb?” he whispered, looking incredibly calm as he did so.

Alice felt her breath hitch in her throat. She detected the displeasure in his voice and knew that he thoroughly disliked having a taste of his own medicine. This made her smile even more as she continued to pretend that she had not heard him at all.

Or that he was even there.

“You are going to pay for this,” he promised her, his voice low, dark, and utterly compelling, sending a little shiver of excitement down her spine.

Just as he was about to add another layer to his threat, she saw the Dowager Countess sweep into the room with a wide smile on her face. The excited chatter in the parlor petered off to a respectful silence as everyone turned towards her.

“I would like to thank everyone for making this journey to Fitzroy Hall as early as today,” she announced. “I know that you all must be tired and famished, so if everyone would so kindly follow me to the dining room, dinner will be served shortly.”

Naturally, nobody was going to say anything disagreeable about the hospitality of their host. Everybody stood up and followed Lady Wellington out of the parlor, Alice included.

She heard Colin laugh softly behind her and shuddered, knowing that their little war was far from over.

“I would like to see just how far you think you can run from me, little lamb,” she heard him say. “I assure you that you will not get very far away.”

Oh, she knew that he was going to make things difficult for her. It was simply in his nature. He was a Wolf, after all.

And really, she should not be enjoying being called his “little lamb” so much.

But why did she feel a strange, little thrill at his words? It was almost as if she was looking forward to what he had in store for her…

CHAPTER 18

Dinner was only a promise of even more of that delicious torment for Alice.

As she had half-expected, she was seated just beside Colin as his betrothed. To her right was Scarlett, who inwardly complained at having to sit beside the taciturn Duke of Wolverton. Alice had caught her best friend trying to talk to the uncommunicative Duke earlier, and she was rewarded with a cold glare.

To her credit, Scarlett did not even flinch and merely glared back at him with a defiant tilt of her chin.

Alice inwardly sighed as she recalled that encounter. It would seem that with the exception of the Duke of Sinclair, the Wolves certainly were not easy people to deal with.

Then, she felt it—the slight brush of a large male thigh against her own. She frowned at her plate of roast lamb and began to saw at the meat much more forcefully than she should. As she chewed around a forkful, she discreetly cast a glance at the man to her left and saw him eating with exceptional calm.

Alice nearly rolled her eyes at the look of nonchalance he adopted just as his leg brushed against hers again. This time, there was no mistaking it—that move was definitely intentional.

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