Page 10 of Her Seven Nights with the Duke

She shook off its effect, steeling herself as he came round to face her.

“I took a huge risk coming here,” she said.

His brow furrowed as he stared at her intently. “I don’t understand. I don’t even know who you are.”

“I know your secret,” she said, not bothering to tell him who she was.

“Oh?” His voice deepened with amusement and a touch of mockery that grated on her nerves.

We’ll see who will be amused in a moment.

“I saw you,” she said bluntly, “with your lover.”

His eyes lit up, and she hurried to hide her surprise. That wasn’t the expression she had expected when she said that.

“Ah, you were the little rabbit that escaped.”

His lips turned up in a barely noticeable smile. Nora frowned. Things were not going the way that she had expected them to, and how dare he call her a rabbit?

She stood for a moment, watching him.

Is he putting up a show?

She knew she wouldn’t be so quick to admit defeat if someone were trying to blackmail her, so was that what he was doing?

All of this confused her, she couldn’t deny that. However, she couldn’t give up. Not when this was the only way she could see at the moment that would take care of her problem.

“Everybody is going to find out that you are not as gentlemanly as you claim you are.”

Samuel’s

Samuel lips turned up in a small smile when the lady finally spoke. He had been so confused about who she was when she walked into his room. When he heard the knock on the door, Samuel had thought it was Lady Priscilla coming to renegotiate the terms of their agreement now that their time together had come to an end.

He knew she had developed feelings for him, although he had warned her against that before their arrangement began. However, that did not stop the sense of responsibility he felt towards her. She had known nothing about the pleasure he could offer her before any of this happened, and now that she knew, it was a given that she would misunderstand the thrill she felt from the pleasure that he gave her as love.

He had been ready to chastise her for her recklessness by coming to his room when she could’ve been seen by anyone, before he realized that it couldn’t possibly be her at the door. Lady Priscillawasn’t as tall as the lady before him. Still, he let her inside, confused as to what she wanted and whether she was in the right place or not.

Samuel had not expected the lady he had spent all of last night thinking about to suddenly come up to him, especially in the darkness of night. In fact, he had expected the exact opposite. She had been intrigued by what she watched, but she was also a lady, and much like most ladies, she would scurry away whenever she saw him, hoping he did not figure out that she was the one who happened upon him. At least, that was what he had expected, until she came up to him.

Samuel stared at her excitedly, although his excitement was masked by the stoic mask he always wore, save for a small smile that played on the corners of his lips.

She was beautiful. More beautiful than he could have imagined her to be under that dratted mask that had stopped him from seeing her face and expressions the night before. Her long, curly auburn hair fell around her face in bouncy waves, giving her a sultry look. She was a seductress if he’d ever seen one, but it was obvious to him that she knew nothing of the power that she possessed.

“I have requests, and I will reveal everything I saw if they are not fulfilled,” she said.

He could hear the quiver in her voice although her green eyes stared deep into his soul like she would not cower if he approached her.

Samuel was intrigued. He had never encountered someone like her. He had begun to find the rest of his stay here boring. However, now that she was here, he was glad that he had stayed back.

“Oh, really? And what requests might those be?” he asked her, leveling her with his most damning stare to test her will.

How low would she go to blackmail him? Would she scurry off if he didn’t seem intimidated by her?

She lifted her chin, folding her hands behind her back in a way that pushed up her breasts. Samuel’s eyes strayed down, but he quickly looked up at her. She was tempting. However, he was a gentleman, until he did not need to be.

Samuel folded his arms over his chest, utterly amused by her efforts to threaten him. He did not know why she thought this was a good idea. He was a duke, and if she thought his reputation wasn’t as clean as he pretended it was, then she should be more afraid of him instead of coming into his room to threaten him. It put her more at risk than it did him, in more ways than one.

Still, this was the most entertained he had been in a while, and he wasn’t about to put an end to it by telling her the truth that nobody would believe her over him, and even if they did, the only person the rumors would affect would be Lady Priscilla, whose face she hadn’t seen. His reputation would not take a hit because of this rumor, even if it came out.

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