Page 52 of Trapped with her Cruel Duke

“Certainly,” she replied, surprising him. “I enjoy any excuse to rile you up, did you not realize that?”

Her raised eyebrow and sarcastic expression did not help his state in the least, and he looked away, grinding his teeth and trying to get a grip on himself.

“What were you speaking to your mother about?” she asked.

“Marcus,” he replied shortly. “There is no news of yourbest friend,so you needn’t ask me any more questions about him.”

Louise had the nerve to laugh at him, and he shot her a withering look which only made her laugh louder.

Louise could not understand Christian’s jealousy of Marcus, but she was not too proud to admit that she enjoyed it. Never had a man been so possessive of her that even the mention of another would send him into fits of anger, but it seemed she had found just that with Christian.

She watched the tell-tale vein in his temple throb.

“I am sorry that you have not heard more,” she said, her amusement fading. “What is the next course of action?”

He scowled. “I do not know.”

“If his carriage was found empty, are they making inquiries in the surrounding area to discover what might have occurred?”

Christian’s frown eased a little. “I told the constable to do as much, but he seemed so apathetic. I believe he was more concerned about returning home for his supper than finding my brother.”

“Is there no one else we can ask? Can you not pay a man to find him for you?”

Christian scoffed. “I will find him, and then you can be reunited and spend all your time together. Is that what you prefer?”

“I certainly prefer him to you—I have made no secret of that,” she quipped.

He scowled at her. “Marcus is far from perfect,” he muttered.

“And you are, Your Grace?” Louise taunted.

She knew better than to needle him in such a manner, but he was in a funk, and it was ruining her good mood. She loved dancing and had been looking forward to enjoying herself.

Christian turned to face her, his green eyes shimmering in the low light of the lamp overhead. “I have never claimed to be such, nor would I.”

“I am most pleased to hear it,” she said, laying the fan on her lap. “I have explained my friendship with Marcus to you already. I do not understand why you find it so provoking.”

“I do not find itprovoking. I merely think that it is unseemly for a lady to be so well acquainted with a gentleman who is not her husband. It is hardly surprising that I assumed there was more between you.”

“As you said, I was biding my time for a high-ranking match, and here you are,” she replied venomously, her anger spiking again at his prior implication that she would use Marcus for personal gain.

Christian’s sour mood improved at her irritation, and he relaxed back in his seat. The atmosphere in the carriage changed completely as his gaze darkened with heat, and Louise swallowed thickly.

“I do not remember you complaining when you begged your Duke to touch you,Your Grace,”he said silkily.

Louise’s cheeks flushed as he leaned across the small space between them, his handsome face inches from her own.

“Indeed, I recall you coming apart for me,” he continued, “on two occasions.” His hands came to rest on either side of her hips. “It makes me wonder how I might finally achieve what I set out to do.” She shivered as his lips quirked up, his eyes glittering in the dim light of the carriage. “How to make you scream my name in ecstasy. I might make a study of it.”

With a jolt, the carriage came to a stop, and Christian leaned back. A smug smile spread across his face as he ran a hand through his hair and smoothed his coat.

Louise snapped open her fan and fluttered it in front of her heated cheeks as he chuckled across from her. The lilting music of the ball drifted into the space between them, and she could hear the chatter as the other guests arrived.

“After you, Duchess,” Christian said softly.

Louise exited the carriage as quickly as she could before she found herself begging him for a second time.

CHAPTER 21

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