Page 6 of Her Bear of a Duke

"And, if that is the case, that means that you can choose to do something else that you dream of. Something reckless. You are telling me that you have no control, and that you are unable to do what you want, and so I will ask you again. If you could do anything, what would it be?"

Her heart pounded, and she longed to return to the safety of the ballroom. He was making her think dangerous thoughts, and it was too great a risk to do that. If she was ruined, and her betrothed refused to marry her because of it, she would never have been able to forgive herself.

And yet, she wanted to revel in how she was feeling. She wanted to do something awful and devilish and risk her reputation. She had only ever done what was expected of her, and it had never been enough, so what had it been for? What was the use in trying?

"I would want to be kissed," she whispered without thinking. "I would want to do something that I never would have been allowed to do, and something that terrifies me. I shall soon have every part of myself taken from me, and before that happens I would want to do one final thing for myself."

She could not believe that she was speaking so brazenly to a man. She felt like a wanton, even worse than Cecilia who was quite determined to ruin herself if anything.

At last, he moved again, removing her mask for her. She gasped, loathing the fact that he was now able to see her entirely. She had always hated how she looked, and the only reason that she had been able to hold a conversation at all was that there was that lovely chance that they would never see one another again.

"You need not look so frightened," he whispered. "You look perfectly lovely."

Yes, if you enjoyed looking at farmgirls,she thought, though she did not argue with him.

Instead, she looked up at him and gingerly raised a hand to his mask in response. She waited for him to swat her away, to admonish her for daring to act in such a way, but he seemed to welcome it. His eyes met hers, as if he were daring her to take it off.

And so she did.

He was so incredibly handsome. His hair was black and dipped in front of his face in a way that was perhaps not in fashion but very much to her liking. He had a grin on his face that revealed perfect teeth and lit up the entirety of his face. He was undeniably the most perfect man she had ever seen, and she was to marry another, and she had to return to the ballroom before she could do anything that would jeopardize her future.

She did not know the man before her, no matter how much she might have liked to. He was a threat to her, though a beautiful threat, and she had to leave.

Despite her telling herself that, she did not make a single attempt to move away. If she were honest, she was happy there, with a stranger and engaging in improper conversation. He thought she looked lovely,her!Nobody had ever seen her that way with the exception of her friends, and even then she had not believed them; they had to tell her she was beautiful.

When he said it, though, she believed it. Her hand fell back to her side, still holding the mask. His fingers rested beneath her chin, tilting her head back to look at him. She was growing desperate for him to say something more, as she so enjoyed the sound of his voice.

He chuckled, lowering himself so that his lips were a tantalizingly short distance from hers.

"I will not go any further," he whispered. "Ruining ladies is not something I choose to do. However, should you truly want this, I will not stop you."

The decision was hers to make, but before she could think about it at all she had already closed the gap. Her lips pressed to his and in an instant one-and-twenty years of wanting to do as she pleased tumbled out of her. She wanted to be the very opposite of who she had always been. She wanted to be desirable, interesting, worthy of something more than an arranged marriage.

They broke apart, however, and she realized that such things could only have been true for a short while. Her family was inside, waiting for her to return to them so that they could finish their evening and then return home so that they could prepare her for her wedding.

Her wedding to a man that would be none the wiser to the fact that she had ruined herself.

"I must go," she said sharply, pushing passed him and fixing her mask again.

He took her wrist, gently pulling her back.

"If you insist," he whispered. "But do cheer up, little mouse."

He let her go, and she returned to the ballroom. Mercifully, her mask covered the scarlet color that she had undoubtedly turned. She continued her evening with her friends, who did not question where she had been and did not ask her how her conversation had been, only whether or not she was feeling all right to which she nodded and assured them that she was.

She had never thought that she would become such a skilled liar.

CHAPTER 3

Dorothy wondered, when she awoke the following morning, if she had dreamed the entire thing.

It had been such a wonderful night once she escaped into the garden, and though she feared what was to come she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. She had rebelled, and done something for herself and herself alone. No matter what came of her marriage, she would always have that moment. It was hers.

Her mother and father, however, were not as impressed.

"What were you doing last night?" her father demanded at breakfast. "I left you with your mother, and she came to me alone."

"I needed air," she explained. "Nothing bad happened, Father, I assure you."

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