Page 6 of Seven Nights with the Wicked Duke
He scoffed and took off his mask and she gasped.
The man she had almost kissed was none other than the Duke of Emerton, one of her brother's best friends?
To think Lily had said her reputation would be safe.
He looked down at her thigh still in his hand and dropped it, stepping away from her.
She could feel the anger coming off him in waves and wanted to leave but he stopped her with a glare.
"Don't you dare!" he warned. "You will stay here and tell me exactly how you got invited to this party and then I will take you home before you're hurt."
She noted he was careful not to use her name in case anyone they knew happened to be passing by. She was thankful but she felt mortified that her brother's friend had seen her behave so improperly.
Now the extent of what had just happened between them hit her and she bit her lip as mortification filled her. How could she ever hope to face him in polite society knowing just how wicked his mouth was?
"I do not think that is necessary."
If he were to take her home dressed as she was and her brother discovered her, she would no doubt be shipped to the country or worse.
"Necessary?" he snapped. "I could have ravished you. I have… Shite. How do you expect me to look at your brother after all this? Christ, he is going to kill me if I tell him."
She turned away from him stubbornly and crossed her arms. She was embarrassed too but there was hardly any need for the theatrics he was displaying.
"You can keep this between us," she told him. "I intend to put this behind me and I suggest you do the same."
"Like it is an easy thing to do," he sneered. "I nearly ruined one of best friend's sister."
"I am hardly ruined, thank you," she spat. "And you know how irrational he can be in his anger. How do you think he would react to you informing him of this? He would most likely demand you marry me and that is hardly what is best for both of us."
She saw how her words drove him to think but didn't ease the anger in his gaze.
"How did you know it was me?" she probed. "You've hardly seen me."
"Your scent," he stated. "I never forget a scent and you have a unique one. It was your voice I… How didn't I know it earlier? I kept trying to understand why I smelt your perfume here."
That was a mistake she had made.
She blended her own scent and had favored the scent since she had curated it. She should have used a different scent but it would no doubt have ended in the same result. He was much too perceptive.
"You should return home now. This is not a place for you."
"Why?" she asked. "I am hardly in any danger."
"Hardly in any danger? I nearly ravished you. Do you think the next man you meet will be a gentleman?"
"I do not intend to let things go that far," she argued.
"This is not the place to decide that. This isn't where you come to get only a kiss."
She frowned.
He was being unfair.
He was putting all the blame on her as if he hadn't been the one to touch her without asking. He was the scoundrel he was trying to warn her off.
How had she not suspected he would be in attendance of such a scandalous event?
Unlike the rest of her brother's friends who were known social recluses, he was a renowned rake and reprobate and her brother had never let her stay too long with him. He didn't trust him. If he were to ever learn of what happened between them, it might end very poorly.
