Page 66 of A Virgin for the Duke of Thorns

But damn it all to hell, he did not want to.

He wanted nothing more than to yank her away from Ethan and pull her close to him instead. He wanted her to look up at him and smile up at him and not at his traitor of a friend, who selfishly claimed all of her dances for that night.

“Do not even think of claiming one of her dances for tonight,” Lady Wellington warned him.

Colin immediately tucked his thoughts back and affected a nonchalant air. “I am doing no such thing.”

“Do not even bother lying to me,” his grandmother snapped. “I have seen the way you look at her, and it is your fault that you did not claim her for yourself much earlier.”

“You know how much I despise hunting.” He shrugged. “Besides, as one of the hosts of this house party, it is only right that I cede the win to our guests.”

Of course, he had not expected his friend to steal his betrothed from right under his nose, but that was another conversation entirely—one that he would be having with Ethan soon.

Preferably before the night was over.

“I told you not to lie to me,” the Dowager Countess sighed. “I have eyes, Colin. I have seen the way you treated that poor girl. If you do not care for her in the way you should, then you have no right to be so angry if somebody else does.”

He clenched his hands into fists at his sides. Why was it that everyone just seemed to want to give their advice on how he should manage his approach to Alice? Had she somehow bewitched everyone to go against him?

Even if she did manage to do that, I can hardly blame them.

If there was anyone that she had actually bewitched, it was him. She had ensnared him, body and soul. He had thought that if he had but a taste of her, it would satisfy his curiosity, and that would be the end of that.

But that night in his study had only ignited a fiercer flame in him, and now he was roiling in a hell of his own making.

Soon, the music came to an end, and he watched as Ethan and Alice bowed to each other. Both of them were wearing big smiles, as if they truly enjoyed each other’s company. His friend escorted her away from the dance floor before he leaned in and whispered something in his ear. Moments later, he walked away.

To get some refreshments, perhaps. It should have been me getting her refreshments and seeing to her every comfort. It should have been me dancing with her and making her laugh.

As soon as his friend was far enough, he grasped her upper arm as gently as he could in spite of the heightened state of arousal he was in.

“Colin!” Her voice was one of admonishment. Her green eyes narrowed at him.

“I do so like the way you say my name,” he growled softly.

Even that incensed, little huff had him hardening. Was there ever something she did that would not arouse him?

At this point, Colin doubted it.

Alice glared at him in warning. “We are in the middle of a ball, for heaven’s sake. Unhand me at once!”

“Need I remind you of our agreement, little lamb?” he asked her silkily.

His gaze dropped to her bodice, and he felt his mouth go dry, felt his breeches become increasingly uncomfortable.

“You are mine, remember?” he whispered in her ear. “We still have three more weeks to go, you and I…”

He felt her shudder as his warm breath caressed the sensitive shell of her ear. Recalling how she had done the same when she was in his arms, he smiled to himself.

“If you keep this up, we will be in the scandal sheets before we even make it back to London!” she hissed back at him.

He shrugged and smiled roguishly at her. “I am a Wolf, remember? I do not care for those damned scandal sheets.”

“You might not, but I do!” She twisted out of his grip as politely as she could, taking great care not to cause a scene.

“Very well…”

This time, he let her go. He glanced down at her with a hooded gaze, taking in the beautiful flush in her cheeks and her heaving chest as she glared back at him.

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