Page 52 of A Duke But No Gentleman
Imogene made a wordless protest when Norgrave pressed the glass to her lips.She didn’t want the brandy, but the gentleman was stronger.The brandy burned a trail down to her stomach.The glass was empty in less than a minute.She felt oddly lightheaded, but he hadn’t given her much choice in the matter.She was unable to take a deep breath until she consumed the entire glass.
“I have to leave,” she said, her voice sounding odd to her ears.“I do not want to be here when he returns.”
Probably with a new lover in his arms.
“You have nothing to fear.I told you, Tristan is the one who sent me.As always, he will leave the task to me.He won’t interfere.”
Imogene pressed the empty glass into his chest.Norgrave grabbed it and set it aside.She thought of the note she had sent Tristan.Of course he would not be coming to the house.He had sent his friend to collect the key and send her away.
“Good.”She swayed against Norgrave.“Then I shall be on my way.”
“I cannot leave you in this condition, my dear.There’s no telling what trouble you might encounter on the streets this time of night.”
His touch was firm, but soothing.Imogene laid her cheek against his chest.The warmth of his body comforted her.He smelled good, too.She closed her eyes and pretended for a moment that the strong arms holding her belonged to Tristan.
Imogene pulled away from him.“I was counting on—it no longer matters.A hackney coach will take me home.If you can secure one for me, you will be free of me as well, Lord Norgrave.”
Norgrave’s fingers gripped her waist so she could not step away from him.“What if I do not wish to be free?”
He kissed her.
Her head still spinning from the marquess’s revelations about Tristan and from the brandy he had poured down her throat, Imogene did not protest when Norgrave hauled her against him and channeled all of his passion into that kiss.His actions, while she assumed they were inspired by genuine feelings, left her bereft for the man who hadn’t had the courage to tell her that he was finished with her.She felt his hot breath as he kissed her mouth, the line of her jaw, and her throat in a desperate attempt to elicit some kind of response from her.
The marquess was handsome, witty, and he had shown her kindness.Imogene willed herself to respond, but she felt nothing.She had given everything to Tristan.A hysterical bubble of laughter rose like bile in her throat as she tried to push him away.
“Norgrave… I cannot… please stop,” she said, stirring in his embrace that was beginning to feel as restrictive as her stays.
“Now that he has discarded you, I no longer have to hide my feelings, Imogene.”His hand slid up her arm and cupped her face.His mouth was merely inches from hers.“Tristan might have claimed you first, but you will find that I am a generous lover.Before long, I will make you forget—”
He thought his confession would please her, but she sensed that she was overlooking something important.Tristan had mentioned that his friendship with Norgrave was complicated, and often jealousy had driven their competitive natures.“It does not bother you that Tristan was my lover?”
Norgrave scowled.“You are not the first lady to surrender her maidenhead to Tristan.He can be quite charming to gain a lady’s favor.”He tried to kiss her again, but she turned her face so his lips brushed her cheek.
Once again, the marquess’s words did not align with what she had been told.Tristan had confessed to her that her innocence had troubled him.Out of habit, he generally avoided young ladies who had marriage-minded mothers and he had been chagrined at himself that he had succumbed to temptation.
Either Norgrave or Tristan was lying to her, and she was too hurt and confused to deduce which one had been telling her the truth.
“Forgive me, my lord,” she said, feeling the weight of regret that he might have misunderstood her actions.“You are generous to overlook what many would view as a flaw in my character.Nevertheless, I have no intention of being any man’s mistress.Not the Duke of Blackbern’s.Not yours.”
She pushed away his hands and managed three unsteady steps before he grabbed her and whirled her around to face him.
“You are upset with Tristan, and deservedly so.Just give me a chance to prove myself,” he entreated, his hands moving up and down her arms in a soothing fashion.“Here and now.You won’t regret it.”
His fingers bit into her flesh when she tried to pull away.
“I already do,” she said, struggling as he tugged her closer to the bed.“I thought we were friends, Norgrave.”
“We are, my love.This evening we will become good friends,” he promised, but his leering gaze made her feel unclean.
Imogene slapped him.Horrified, she gaped at him.She had never struck anyone in her life, but the marquess seemed to be impervious to her pleas and struggles.Norgrave froze.His eyes flared in fury, and she instantly regretted her actions.His stillness was even more frightening than his unwanted caresses.
Before she could apologize, he lunged at her.They collided with the table.The empty glass slid across the table’s surface and shattered when it hit the floor.He captured her arms and shook her.
“You ungrateful chit!”he raged.“No one strikes me.Certainly not some silly little girl who ruined her good name by playing the eager whore for Blackbern.”
“It was never like that,” Imogene shouted back, even though she knew he was not the only one who would see her affair with Tristan in such an unflattering light.“I love him!He may no longer want me, but that doesn’t change how I feel.There will always be a part of me that loves him, and neither you nor Tristan can take that away from me.”
Norgrave’s handsome face darkened and twisted in fury.“Let’s just see about that, shall we?”He shoved her onto the bed, but he was on top of her before she could crawl to the other side of the mattress.“Oh no, love.There’s no escape for you.I promised that I would be a generous lover, and I intend to see it through even though you don’t deserve it.”
