Page 18 of The Wrong Duke

Their lips opened, and the Duke’s tongue found its way inside her mouth. This might have startled her was it not for his hand now resting on her knee —and then her thigh! He gripped it tight as if to hold her there. He squeezed it firmly as if warning her from pulling away. Not that she had any intention. She had tried to forget their kiss from the other night. She had tried to ignore how it had made her feel. But now that she was in the throes of another that made the last seem like an innocent peck on the lips... it was all she could do to stop herself from moaning.

How long did they kiss? She had no idea. It wasn’t until the Duke pulled away that she finally came back into herself, for a fleeting second wondering if maybe he had felt the same as she, and for once, the Duke wasn’t trying to trick her.

But then she opened her eyes and saw the triumphant smirk on his lips, and her heart sank.

“I told you,” he said simply, not looking the least bit ashamed.

“Wh — what? What was —”

“You don’t care about Lord Malnor at all, do you?”

“I —” she froze, the realization of his question suddenly dawning on her. In an instant, all the heat and fire and temptation that she had felt from that kiss fizzled and faded like a flame caught in a storm. “How dare you!”

“Me?” he frowned.

“Yes, you! You... you should be ashamed!”

“That’s big talk, seeing as you did the same to me just a few nights ago.”

“This is different!” she blustered, cheeks growing red, anger flaring because she was starting to feel like a fool. “You know it is!”

“How so?”

“Mine was an accident! Yours was... was a dirty trick!”

His head tilted, but that smile remained. “You didn’t seem to mind.”

Her eyes widened in anger. “I was caught off guard!”

“Clearly.”

“I would never... if I wasn’t caught by such... that was not — you know that doesn’t mean anything!” Why was she still pretending? Why did she even care? The Duke knew how she really felt about Lord Malnor. He was prepared to do anything to prove it so. It would have been so easy to admit it... to tell him the truth... to see if that kiss was as inspired for him as it had been for her.

But no. Whether it be stubbornness or fear, Amelia knew that wasn’t an option. And with the smug look on the Duke’s face, how darn proud he appeared to be of himself, it was clear that the kiss was just a chance to catch her in the lie.

“Oh, just admit it,” he sighed. “This is getting ridiculous.”

“The only thing that is ridiculous...” She hoisted up her skirt and stood quickly. “...is you!”

“I thought you twisted your ankle?”

“It looks like I was mistaken.” She threw him a rueful glare, warning him off following her, and then she stormed from behind the tree and back toward the path.

Oh, she was angry. The embarrassment was gone, given way to a white-hot fury that might have had the grass burning beneath her feet. Who did he think he was? And did he think it justified? A feigned excuse of trying to protect his friend, and he dared to kiss her like that? It was reprehensible! It was repugnant! It was... it was a kiss that still lingered on her lips and burrowed deep into the back of her mind. But that just made her angrier!

So angry was Amelia, so lost in her own head, that she was halfway back along the path, storming away from the Duke, determined to put as much distance between she and him as possible, that she didn’t even notice her father or Lord Malnor until they were right on top of her. Quite literally.

“Woah!” Lord Malnor pulled up his horse to avoid knocking her down.

“Amelia!” her father cried as he brought his horse to a stop. “Where are you going? I thought you twisted your ankle?”

Amelia balked at her father and Lord Malnor on horseback. She had completely forgotten that they’d gone to fetch a horse because her ankle was supposed to have been twisted.

“Ah...” she said stupidly.

“Are you all right?” Lord Malnor jumped down from his horse and went to her.

“Amelia!” Martha cried suddenly. She was riding the same horse that Lord Malnor had been, and she, too, climbed down. “What happened? They said you fell?”

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