Page 32 of His Duchess' Wicked List

She vaguely recalled Selina mentioning that she was going to try to rouse him to join the search. Had he predicted she would be drawn here, like a moth towards a flame?

It is feasible.He calculates everything he does. And he is an opportunist.

“You do not like me, Your Grace,” she stated firmly, taking a step back, trying to dispel her disquiet. “You are merely playing with me as a cat does with a mouse. Do not think I am so naïve that I do not realize the game you’re playing.”

He took another step towards her. “If I am playing a game, My Lady, then you are playing it as well. You came back here of your own free will. You knew that I come here often, and there was a chance that I would appear. Now, what do you think that says?”

Maddie flushed harder. “I… I was looking for the puppy. That was all. It might have snuck inside. You are being impossibly arrogant in assuming that I came here on the chance I would see you!”

He kept staring at her. She swallowed the lump in her throat. She knew he didn’t believe a word she said. And the awful thing was that he was right. For she hadn’t entered the lair in order to search for the puppy. She had been drawn to it because she simply couldn’t resist. It was as if a magnetic charm had pulled her here and she was powerless beneath its grip.

Suddenly, he stepped back, opening the door. A cold wind swept in. She was forced to put her hand over the wick of the candle so it wouldn’t blow out.

“If that is the case, then you can leave,” he said in a neutral voice. “It is your decision entirely, My Lady.”

Maddie hesitated. She should run. He was giving her the choice. But, to her appalled shock, she couldn’t. It was as if her feet were rooted to the ground. As if she were a tree rather than a person.

They looked into each other’s eyes. He waited another moment. Then, slowly and deliberately, he closed the door, turning the lock. There was a sharp click.

When he turned back to her, her mouth went dry again. There was no escape now. And somehow, that thought thrilled her to the very core.

CHAPTER 14

“You are trembling.” The Duke’s voice was silky. “Do you truly think you heard a ghost?”

He wasn’t exaggerating. Maddie reallywastrembling like a leaf as he approached her. Yes, she had made her choice, and it was strangely thrilling to submit to it. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t scared witless as well.

He walked up to her, standing very close, but he didn’t touch her. He simply gazed down at her, his face enigmatic.

She laughed weakly. “I do not know any longer.”

“It was probably a mouse,” he said, smiling crookedly. “Do not fear. I promise I will protect you from it.” His mouth twitched. “I will slay the beast with my sword and lay it at your feet, My Lady.”

A warm glow began to spread through her like honey. He was being charming again, and she was almost powerless to resist him. The contempt that she had felt emanating from him today seemed to have vanished entirely.

Do not be fooled.You know he has two sides. And you know that the charm is for a purpose.

She felt like putting her fingers in her ears to block out the voice. She knew that it spoke the truth, but she didn’t want to hear it. Not at that moment. She had made her decision to be here. She could have left. He had given her the choice.

But something more powerful had compelled her to stay. She knew it was the overwhelming desire she felt for him. And it was also curiosity. Shewantedto know what it would be like if he did more than kiss her. His kisses had aroused her so fully that she felt as if a fire was burning inside her and she would surely die if it wasn’t extinguished.

So be it.I surrender to it… come what may.

He took the candlestick from her hand, quite gently, leading her over to the long chaise sofa in the corner. Her body felt oddly heavy, her blood pounding in her veins.

He held the candle aloft for a moment, gazing at her. The silence stretched between them.

“What… what are you doing?” she whispered, feeling shy.

“I just want to look at you,” he whispered back, his grey eyes intense. “My eyes want to drink you in. You are so very beautiful, My Lady.”

“Maddie.” She blushed hard, swallowing a painful lump in her throat. “Please, call me by my name. It seems… odd for you to address me in such a formal way, given the circumstances.”

He laughed softly. “Yes, it does.Maddie. A beautiful name for a beautiful lady.”

Her blush deepened. He thought her beautiful. She felt like she was blossoming, transforming, in front of his very eyes. She knew it was just a word—she had been called beautiful too many times to remember. But it had never affected her like this. Idly, she wondered why.

It is because his eyes tell you that he means it.His eyes show that he really does think you are beautiful. This, at least, is not a lie. It is real.

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