Page 20 of Taken By the Beastly Duke

" It would be my honor your grace" she accepted his proffered hand then turning to her companions " Please excuse me gentlemen" she said with a polite smile.

He led her to the dance floor, and when the music began, he used the hand he had on her waist to pull her in a little closer to his body.

It definitely improper as he could hear faint murmuring in the ballroom but in that moment he didn't care, he was still trying to organize his incoherent thoughts while simultaneously gouging himself on the delicious scent that was her.

"Have I mentioned that you look absolutely ravishing tonight" he said looking down into her warm eyes

"I don't believe you did" she replied, a mischievous gleam appearing in her eye

"That is such a crime, Apologies my lady" he teased giving her a slight bow.

"It had been known that gentlemen have extremely short attention span, so I forgive you for the oversight" she said her eyes dancing in merriment.

"Indeed. I hope to redeem entire gender by redeeming the oversight" he replied enjoying the banter between them.

" My lady are indeed the loveliest in the room. I count myself immensely fortunate to hold you in my arms"

"You play this game of flattery so well your grace" she said a flush appearing on her cheeks. Embarrassed she avoided his eyes

"I.. I thank you for your kind words, your grace," she said.

The lady apparently had a shy streak in her. It was difficult to guess that going by how ferociously she had defended her sister before him.

He must admit that a part of him felt smug that he still had the power to make a woman blush. It was positively thrilling and the more lustful part of his brain wondered how far the blush went beyond her clothes and how the color would look on her skin in the moment of passion.

To avoid embarrassing himself in the middle of ballroom, he shut down that thought and counted backwards from hundred. It would not do to sprout wood in public and alarm the innocent that stood in his arms because while she might be advanced in age, according to the marriage mart but in matters of passion between a man and woman, she was as naive as a baby and he hoped to keep it that way.... At least for now.

Clearing his throat, he pasted on a carefree smile completely at odds with the turmoil inside of him

"It is not just idle flattery my lady. You are truly a beauty and it would not do for me not to appreciate your radiance."

He watched as the redness depended to a lovely rosy color spreading along her chest down to the top of her bosom and taking his mind all the way to the gutter with its progress.

He heaved a sigh of relief when the music stopped to indicate the end of the dance

A moment longer and he would have run the risk of kissing the lady senseless right there in the middle of the ballroom with no care that the whole society was watching.

It would not have ended there, he was sure. The passion he felt for Victoria was dark and wicked at best. The moment he touched her, he just might not stop until he had debauched her of any iota of innocence.

He would not stop until he had possessed her in the darkest ways known to man. A part of him recoiled at the prospect of soiling such a bright creature.

But the primal part of him the one who pulsed with his need for her did not particularly care. It needed her and he wanted to have her in any possible way

"...Misery loves company don't you think," a female voice tittered stopping him in his tracks as he led Victoria to the lemonade stand

"I agree with you. They just might be a match forged in hell in my opinion" another voice agreed snidely

"The Beastly duke and the old withered spinster. It would be just perfect on the front of a gossip column," another rejoiced with cruel glee.

Anthony looked at Victoria and while she guided herself pouring herself some punch he could see from the white cast of her complexion that she was not immune to the snide comments being made about them.

He turned in the direction of the voices hoping to catch the culprit but then the ladies of the ton were remarkable actors and their well placed fans allowed them to say a lot of terrible things about people without any inkling of it showing on their faces.

He had been used to getting gossiped about. He had just waved it aside as the petty behaviors of lazy aristocrats but it galled him when an innocent like Victoria got caught in the crossfire, simply because she associated with him.

"Do you think they might announce their marriage?" one of the ladies asked.

"I should hope they do marry, the dregs of thetonmarrying each other would do us a lot of good," the other replied

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