Page 34 of Her Cursed Duke
At that moment, Snowflake, who had been peacefully leading their walk, spotted something to their right and darted after it. His sudden dash caused the leash to slip out of Aiden’s grasp,and he lost control of the puppy completely as the creature ran after whatever it had seen.
“Bloody hell—we need to go after him before the brat ends up in a ditch or something!” Aiden cried, and they quickly set off after the puppy.
Luckily, the puppy had not gotten too far, running around in circles, still chasing after whatever had caught his attention, utterly oblivious to the distress he was causing.
“Snowflake, heel! Stay!” Aiden commanded, but the dog paid him no mind, more concerned with his own entertainment rather than his owner’s discomfort.
They tried to grab hold of him, but he kept moving out of their reach. At one point, the puppy darted around to avoid Aiden, causing him to stumble. Unfortunately, he could not regain his balance and crashed into Prudence, knocking her down with him.
“Aiden,” Prudence groaned, glaring up at him. “You need to be more careful.”
Feeling irritated, Aiden pointed out, “It was not my fault the little bugger would not stay still long enough for us to get his leash.”
“Perhaps this would not have happened had you been holding the leash properly in the first place?”
Aiden stared down at her, feeling overwhelmed by the urge to snap at her. Still, he managed not to. “Enough. I did not expect him to suddenly take leave of his senses and dart off like that. If anyone is to blame here, it is him,” he gritted out.
Prudence rolled her eyes. “Oh, how mature of you, Your Grace. Blame the puppy when, as his owner, you could have taken better measures to ensure that—”
Aiden had reached his limit and desired only one thing at that moment—some peace and quiet. And since Prudence felt it necessary to state her opinions despite his lack of interest in listening to them, he did what he could to silence her.
He closed the distance between them and shut her up with a kiss.
Chapter Thirteen
Prudence went absolutely still the moment Aiden’s lips met hers.
For an instant, her mind was quiet, dousing the flames of her annoyance, which had been burning brightly, in cold shock. Vaguely, she was aware of his hot lips moving against hers, even more so of the desire to respond in kind, to remain blissfully ignorant of all that was happening around them.
Then, the panic settled within her, surging through her veins and practically stealing her breath. She pushed him away from her with a gasp, breathing heavily as they stared at each other. Aiden immediately felt guilty. He reached for her with an apology on the tip of his tongue, and his heart sank when she moved away.
Prudence stood up as quickly as she could and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head as she turned toward the path from which they had come.
“Prudence, wait—”
“No!” she snapped, nearly bursting into tears right there and then when she noticed how her voice shook. “I can’t—I do not want to do this. I have no interest in growing attached to yet another person in my life. And so, I am going home. Good night, Your Grace.”
Aiden wanted to call after her, perhaps chase her and insist that he take her home. But the distressed expression on her face as she moved out of his reach flashed through his mind. He snapped his mouth shut, unable to do anything else other than watch her walk further and further away until she was out of sight.
Dejectedly, Aiden looked down at Snowflake, who had decided that this was the best time to behave, and he mumbled with a humorless laugh, “I think I just ruined everything.”
After checking on her grandmother, Agnes had been exiting her room when she spotted Prudence coming up the stairs. Quickly, she shut the door behind her and rushed to her sister’s side.
“You have returned. How was your stroll?” she asked.
Prudence kept her head down as she walked to her room, praying that the walk home had given her some semblance ofcalm, or at least enough for her to dispel any concerns her sister might have. “It was fine,” she managed to reply curtly.
Agnes pouted at the lack of information, disappointed that Prudence seemed oddly quiet, which greatly contrasted with the energetic anticipation that had been evident on her face before she left.
“Prudence, do not be stingy with the details. I would love to hear about all of it.”
“There is nothing to tell. We met, we walked, and now I am back.”
Something about Prudence’s demeanor worried Agnes enough for her to grab hold of her sister’s hand and pull her to a stop, just as she was about to enter her room.
“Prudence, wait. Are you all ri—”
“Agnes, please. I am… fatigued. And I would like to turn in for the night. So just… just let me be.”
