Page 67 of Seduce Me in Shadow

Duke clenches his jaw tight as a fresh tremor overtakes my body, rocking every muscle. The wizard closes the short distance between us, drapes an arm around my shoulders, and drags me to my feet. “Let’s go.”

“Don’t touch me.” I try to throw him off.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Olivia. I know her voice.

“Guess,” Duke barks. “Mr. Hormones destroyed my mobile. Use yours to call Bram. Tell him I’ll be babysitting for a few days.”

She gasps. “All right, but get him out of here. People are staring. They probably think he’s having a seizure.” She turns to Sydney. “Perhaps we can continue our discussion?—”

“Sydney comes with me.” I raise my head and glare daggers at Olivia. Marrok will kill me for it later, but now all that matters is keeping Sydney at my side.

“What’s wrong with him?” Sydney looks stunned and concerned.

“Family affliction. We’ll take care of Caden. In the meantime, I’d like to take the book and examine it overnight.” Olivia smiles.

“No.” Sydney’s refusal is a crisp syllable that doesn’t surprise me at all. “Ring me tomorrow. We’ll meet then. Tell me what’s ailing him.”

Duke and Olivia share a glance. No way to answer her. I don’t care what they say. I only know that I’m burning up from the inside and that I need these clothes off and Sydney under me immediately. She’ll soothe me. Serve me.

Only she will do.

I lift my head and send a burning gaze to her. “Need you.”

“I’m here. What can I do?”

Olivia begins edging her away from me. I howl and lurch across the space separating us, teeth bared at the little American Le Fay.

You’ll take her from me over my dead body.

Duke yanks me back with a low growl. “We’re out of time, so you win. But listen to me. You do not, under any circumstances, kiss her. Or get oral with her. No tasting her at all. No speaking the Call. Is that fucking clear?”

Chapter

Thirty-One

Sydney

“Bugger off,” Caden sneers at the Duke of Hurstgrove as he staggers toward me.

I steady him with an arm around his shoulders. Blimey, he’s an inferno. Fear knots my gut. What the devil is wrong with him?

“He needs a hospital!” I bark.

Hurstgrove sighs, and I recognize his expression: dread. “All he needs is a bed with you under him.”

Has Mr. Fancy-Pants gone mental? “If he’s ill, sex is the last thing he needs!”

Before I can extol the virtues of modern medicine, Caden nuzzles my neck. Oh, my days! He smells so musky and manly and irresistible. I shiver, momentarily losing focus.

The duke’s cultured voice brings me back. “That, my dear, is the very thing he needs.”

I cannot have heard him right. “Is this the same affliction his brother has? Some sexual compulsion?”

Hurstgrove looks at the end of his patience. “No.”

“Is it fatal?”

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