Page 5 of Her Ruse with the Rakish Duke
“It is in your head now. Maybe that is my plan.”
“To be the annoying, grating voice in my head? Thank you.”
“You are welcome. Wait. Where are you going?”
“Anywhere far enough away from you,” Victor griped.
“But she is here, that oaf is about to kiss her.”
What? In full view of the ton? That would ruin Daphne’s reputation!
Victor swung around, a little too fast. First, he saw Harry’s smug face, which he wanted to punch. But when he looked further, he came to a crashing stop. His heart stopped and restarted with a violent, harsh beat.
The former dancing partners stood about five inches apart. Her gaze shifted from the idiot and clashed with Victor’s.
Green sparkling jewels, set apart by a stubborn, perky nose. Full lips that could drive a man to insanity with one single kiss. A strong spirit and sharp mouth. His body violently recalled the feel of those hands in his hair, on his back. The feel of her soft chest heaving on his.
It recalled the softness of those lustrous strands of auburn hair, threaded between his fingers as he crushed her mouth to his. Victor broke the trance of their shared gaze with force. The glass in his hand shattered to the floor, causing gasps to rise about the room.
Servants swarmed to clean up the mess and Victor walked out with Harry.
The man she stood with had quickly taken her out of harm’s way. She was safer with him. She seemed happy. What would she want with a broken person like him, who deserved nothing but the darkness shrouding his damned life?
Her happiness was all that mattered. The beauty she shot into his life would be treasured but never brought into the light. He was not foolish as to endanger her with himself as the weapon.
“Let me see your hand,” Harry said softly.
“Use thenecktieto wipe the blood now, will you?”
His friend gave Victor’s shoulder a healthy slap. It stung but not enough to quail the disaster that was his mind.
ChapterTwo
“Good luck,” Melanie mouthed as Daphne set off to the gardens. Melanie blocked her mother’s view, giving Daphne the freedom she needed.
Daphne’s cheeks brightened with a flush, but she did not slow her steps. She knew where to find him. If the look they shared was any indication, he still felt something for her.
It was that look that made her grab that girl and shrug off Percy’s touch. This was a chance she could not afford to miss, unless she was prepared to be the old maid in her family.
He recalled that night and he would wait at the same spot.
Her insides did several dances at the thought. She knew a man like Victor had too much dignity to forsake his words. He would not just leave without a good reason and would not forget his promise to her.
Daphne’s smile widened and she bit the corner of her lips to retrain herself. In doing that, she remembered Victor’s kiss and heat flared up in her.
She would not kiss him again so easily, of course. He would have to call on her in the morning, meet her parents, and set a date for the wedding banns to be read.
Daphne stepped into the night. Insects chirped around her, hopping from one hedge in the gardens to the next. Fragrant flowers filled her nostrils with their scents. As she took the first step in, her mind jumped.
She tried her best to hide the effects of what Weatherton had tried to do, but at times like these, it was simply inevitable. She ground her cold palms to her dress, wiping the chilled sweat that clung to it. Her skin was riddled with terrified goosebumps.
There was a path lit by gas lamps, but they had been there that night that Weatherton stalked her. They offered no protection. Thankfully, the man had not looked her way since the threats from Victor.
This thought reassured Daphne and she pushed through the debilitating fear. She made her steps light as she approached him. It was her intention to surprise Victor as he had her, on their first night.
She could already see the smile lighting his sinfully handsome face. Four years had done little to the man’s appearance. If anything, it made him more elegantly roguish.
She would make him suffer a bit before letting him back in her life. He deserved it, for making her wait without a word.
