Page 39 of It's In The Duke's Kiss
“Emma.” His voiced throbbed with distress, whether for her or due to fear of losing whatever silly competition he was in with his brother, she didn’t know. “What did Nathaniel say to you?”
She shook her head at him. She just couldn’t have this conversation. Not here and now. She was holding on to her composure by a fine thread. “Please, let me go. I beg you.”
He released her, and she didn’t hesitate to flee. She turned and darted through the crowd to make her way out the terrace doors. When the cool night air enveloped her, she gulped in greedy breaths, yet her nerves did not calm. She trembled where she stood and listened to the tap of Lucian’s footsteps as he approached. He stopped behind her, not too close but a perfectly proper distance. She clenched her jaw.
But of course!They weren’t alone, and he’d never do anything so foolish as to stand too near.Ever the composed duke!
“Emma, what’s this about? Is it because I was dancing with Lady Francine? I can explain that.”
She swung around and faced him, her heart beating so furiously that her blood was roaring in her ears. “Did you pursue me to thwart your brother’s plans to do so?”
His expression was that of complete, undeniable guilt. Her breath quickened, and her cheeks became warm with humiliation. “How could you?” she asked hoarsely. She was as big of a fool as her mother had always worried she’d be.
“Emma, let me explain.”
Humiliation blessedly gave way to anger. “Please do,” she clipped.
“I knew you weren’t right for him,” he growled.
“Is that so?” she snapped. “Why do you think you have the right to decide that? Because you’re a duke? Is that another one of those nonsensical beliefs you live by?”
“You must see what a poor match the two of you would make. He’s foolish and you’re…you’re…”
She crossed her arms over her chest, fury bursting through her. “I’m what? Not afraid to live my life as I wish and not following every dictate Society thrusts upon me?”
“Well, yes,” he clipped even as his face softened. Emma felt as if all her anger had suddenly been yanked out of her. She’d ignored the truth because she’d fallen in love with Lucian.
“I’ve been a fool,” she murmured.
“No, Emma. I’m not explaining myself properly. At first my actions were simply to thwart my brother, but almost right away you piqued my interest. And then we shared our first kiss and I was more than intrigued, I was enchanted.”
“That kiss,” she muttered. She would have likely never given him a second thought if it hadn’t been for that kiss. It had stolen her senses and opened a door to a thousand wonderful possibilities of falling in love. “I wish I’d never allowed you to kiss me!”
Heads swiveled in their direction, but she was too angry to care.
“Don’t say that, Emma,” Lucian replied in a low, pleading voice.
She scowled at him. Had he lowered his voice to avoid gossip?Most likely.It was sensible and infuriating at once.
“You,” she said, in a barely controlled tone, “may be a duke, but you don’t get to order me about. You don’t win this time, Your Grace. You lose.”
His gaze became dark and stormy and made her shiver. “Are you trying to tell me that you’ll allow my brother to court you?”
“Certainly not,” she said, repelled by the prospect of kissing Nathan when Lucian had stolen her heart. “But I will be allowing other gentlemen to court me. You may not have truly cared for me, but I’m positive others will,” she finished, seething.
“Emma, I do care for you very much. I—”
“Oh yes, I could tell by your dancing with Lady Francinetwice.”
“You must let me explain.”
Emma was beyond angry. “I am not required to let you do anything. We aren’t betrothed. You’re not my husband. And beyond those facts, how am I to ever believe a thing you say when you started this…whatever this is between us with a lie!” He hadn’t even mentioned a word of a future together, and if there had ever been a time to do so now would have been the time.
His gaze darted to the few couples on the terrace that were now openly staring at them, and it was simply more than she could take that even now he clung desperately to propriety. She wanted a man who flung caution to the wind to capture her love, not a man who’d let propriety dictate his every move.
“Don’t follow me,” she ordered. Then she turned on her heel and fled the way she’d come.
It didn’t take long to find her mother, plead a megrim, and gather her father and Mary to depart. By the time Emma climbed into the carriage, her temples pounded viciously, and as the carriage started down the road, Emma turned her head out the window and prayed no one would ask about Lucian.
“Emmaline, did you speak with His Grace before you left?” Mother asked.
Was that concern she heard in her mother’s voice? Surely not.
Emma kept her face turned to the window. “Yes, Mother. It’s as you thought. I’m a foolish, silly woman, and I’ll do your bidding from here on out.”
“Emma!” her mother exclaimed. “I never said you were foolish and silly.”
Emma squeezed her eyes shut, but it didn’t stop the tears that trickled down her cheeks. “You did. A thousand times with a thousand actions and a thousand more words. Maybe not those exact ones, I give you that, but ones that meant the same thing.”
Silence fell in the carriage and as it rattled down the street, Emma’s heart ached more with every bump they hit.
