Page 18 of A Duchess to Unravel
“Miss Theo,” he called again, his tone full of amusement as she took an abrupt left turn toward the sculpture garden.
She ignored him again.
“Calypso.”
Theo froze. Not just upon hearing the name but by the change in his voice as he spoke it. Deep. Possessive. Familiar.
She whirled around, eyes narrowed, teeth bared, but her face went blank as she found him so very close behind her. She’d known he was following her but hadn’t expected to be so near to her person. Theo swallowed, fighting the sudden shiver of excitement.
Now that he was so close again, she felt foolish for not recognizing him right away. His height and size for one had reminded her of Cernunnos. She was dissuaded though when he first spoke, his accent was mostly English. Then there were his eyes. In the bright light inside, they were a deep greenish-blue. A mesmerizing color, yes, the likes she’d never seen before, but not black as they’d been at the Devil’s Masquerade.
Without the bright light, however, she saw how those unique colors camouflaged themselves with the darkness, making them appear black once again. She’d grown more curious when she began to hear the Scottish brogue in his voice, but then when he’d saiddisguisein such an insinuating tone, she positively knew.
This was the man she’d lost her senses with. The man that had been able to pull her from the numbness so her friends could make their way back in.
“Donotcall me that ever again,” she warned, her tone low. “Not here, not anywhere.”
His handsome smirk unnerved her, and the chuckle that followed sent a strange flutter into her heart.
“Not even in the privacy of our future bedroom?” He asked, his voice dropping into a deep, seductive tone.
Theo’s body respondeddeeplyto Alistair’s surprising words and she demanded herself to stop. She’d felt nothing at all for months, now she was feeling everything. Anger. Alarm … desire, and she suddenly hated him for it.
“You do not speak so intimately with me, do you understand?” She answered forcefully. “You do not know me.”
“Oh, but I want to,” Alistair replied readily, raking his eyes down her body.
“Ye have a spirit the likes I have never seen.”
There was praise in his voice, awe, even, and Theo felt herself yearning to accept the compliment. That he saw her as such ate away at her anger from earlier--but she would not allow him to know that. A man like this--so quick, so perceptive--was dangerous.
“You did not seem to think so at the table,” she argued.
“Oh, I did. You were just too prideful and willing to play the offended lady to notice,” he replied.
Theo tsked, using the argument as an excuse to take a step back. In truth it was because her body was beginning to hum with need. It itched to feel his large hands around her again. Feel his lips seduce her into a kiss that had begun haunting her dreams.
“Willingto play the offended lady? Iamthe offended lady!” She shot back. “None of you was willing to allow me into the conversation, not even you!”
“I agreed with ye!” he laughed, his brows rising in bewilderment.
“To coddle me,” she retorted, annoyed that he was now laughing.
“To get an answer,” he insisted. “Ye made an excellent point.”
“Oh, stop,” she groaned, “You are just like all of them!”
“Really?”He asked, almost purring the word, his grin widening as his eyes lit up. He took another step toward her, the heat from his body encroaching upon her space and making her giddy.
No!She chastised herself.I will not enjoy this argument.
“So, all of those other men have felt you melt in their hands? Tasted your sigh of pleasure on their lips?”
Theo’s jaw dropped at his words, and he tsked and chuckled as he took another step, close enough now to reach up a hand and touch her if he wished.
She wished.
“My, how I underestimated ye, Titan’s daughter,” Alistair mused, pinning her with his intense gaze, “Ye are far more wicked than I ever imagined.”
