Page 20 of The Duke Who Dared Me
He attempted to dodge her hand before tripping, his hand splaying on the wall beside her ear, bringing them close enough to touch.
A swoosh of air swept past her, carrying the musky scent of his cologne.She opened her mouth to deliver something biting, but before she could, the door swung shut behind him, bringing them into darkness save for the small strip of light at the bottom along the floor.
Verity clasped her hand to her chest, stuffing down the urge to cry out.
Alistair twisted the handle, then cursed softly under his breath.
“What was that?”she asked, dread sinking into her stomach.
“It appears we’re locked in.”
“No,” she said flatly.“No, no, no!Open the door.”
“I would,” he said tightly, “if it weren’t bolted from the outside.”
She rushed forward and banged on the door.“Hello?Is someone out there?We’re… There’s been a mistake!”
Alistair exhaled through his nose.“Don’t shout.”
“We are locked in a closet.Together.We’ll miss the call to dinner, and everyone will know.Of course, I’m shouting!”
Finally, he looked up from the door, turning so he could face her, pinning her there in the dark with his disappointed stare.“If someone hears you, they’ll come.”
“That’s the point.”
“To find us alone, in a closet, in the dark?After everything the scandal sheets have published about us…” His voice dropped.“You’ll be ruined.”
“And you'll be forced to marry someone who despises you,” she shot back, her voice rising again.“We'll both lose…”
His hand clamped over her mouth, warm and slightly rough against her lips.“Verity, please don’t?—”
She bit down on the fleshy part of his palm, not hard enough to truly hurt, but enough to make her point.
He jerked his hand back with a sharp intake of breath.“Did you just bite me?”
“You’ve always told me I have a sharp tongue.Just a reminder, my teeth can do the job as well.”She twisted away, scanning the cramped space, feeling slightly more in control but only just.“Help me find something to loosen the hinge.”
She turned toward the set of shelves on the wall, then sank, crouched beside a trunk.The comb in her hair slipped, and a few curls escaped, cascading over her shoulder.Verity reached to tuck the curls behind her ear, but in doing so, lost her balance and leaned forward a little too far on the balls of her feet.
She heard it before she felt it.
A soft catch, then a snag.
Verity tilted her head, but pain seared at the base of her skull.It was no use.Her curls, it seemed, had found the precise edge of a brass button on Alistair’s buckskins.
Dear Heaven.Her eyes shut as frustration rippled through her.“No.”
“I believe…”
She didn’t look up.“This must be a mistake.”
“No, this is just as bad as you think the situation is.”
“Wonderful,” she scoffed.“My hair is snagged on the button fly of your buckskins.”She reached back gingerly, fingers brushing the soft fabric stretched tight across his muscular thighs.“Stand still.”
“I am standing still.”
“Well, standstill-er.”
