Page 23 of A Bride for the Cruel Duke

She did not argue. He listened to the sound of her footsteps scurrying across the room. The door opening and then slamming closed behind her. And then, finally, silence. Silence, save for the thundering of his beating heart.

What was that?

Anthony’s entire body shook, and he stumbled forward, collapsing onto his bed. He had known Lady Caroline to be trouble, but even he had not dreamed just how much she might be—how little control he would have if pushed.

So unlike him, as Anthony had spent his entire adult life hiding from his emotions—afraid of them, it had seemed. Now, after a lifetime spent doing what he could to control his urges, they were coming to the fore in a way he had never known possible. Worse than that, once they did, even he could not say what he might be capable of. And that scared him more than anything.

That settles it. I was determined to avoid her for the rest of this weekend but now I have no choice in the matter, for if I find myself alone with her once more... no, I cannot allow that to happen. For my sake, as well as her own.

ChapterEight

Caroline did not sleep well that night.

She tossed and she turned. Her body flushed so hot that she began to sweat, forced to throw the sheets from her bed lest she drench them. She tried to close her eyes and force sleep, yet each time she did, her mind was filled with the image of the duke, his hand around her throat, his lips nibbling her ear, and his breath on her skin so that she could still feel him as if she was transported back into his bedroom...

Logic told her that she should have been glad to have been dismissed so resolutely by the duke. He wanted nothing to do with her, and she would do well to heed his request. Never mind that he was dangerous, for she could handle that. It was the very real fact that, in his presence, Caroline lost herself completely, and in ways that petrified her sensibilities.

And yet, just to think about being back in that room again… a warmth spread through her body, her heart pounded in her chest, and her limbs tingled each time she closed her eyes and found herself back in that bedroom, suggested that she was nowhere near as determined to avoid the duke as she should have been.

This is wrong! I should not be feeling this way; unable to stop thinking about the duke, wondering what might have happened if it had gone further. I know I should hate how he makes me feel, and yet...

It was thus that Caroline overslept the following morning, rising well after sunrise, having had maybe a handful of hours of true sleep, feeling wretched and looking, she was sure, just as ghastly.

Voices could be heard coming from the front of the house, ones she recognized to belong to her noisy family. Still half asleep, she rose from bed, covered herself in a gown, and started down the hallway to see what was causing the fuss.

“...should we wake her?” she heard her mother say. “It will not do for her to spend all day in bed.”

“Leave her be,” Aurelia countered. “She is simply worn through. Can you blame her? The last two days she has had.”

“She will miss the entire morning!” her mother cried.

“Maybe she is sleeping in on purpose,” Eveline chided, as was her way. “Personally, I wish I had thought to do the same.”

“Enough of that!” her mother warned.

“I am surprised you have even noticed her absence,” Aurelia continued. “Feeling guilty are we, Mother?”

Caroline was surprised to hear that she was at the center of conversation, a rare instance in her life as she was often the last person her mother fretted over. No doubt Aurelia was correct, and her mother was simply feeling guilty for what had happened two days ago. It might have brought a smile to Caroline’s face, was she not still half asleep.

She wandered down the hallway, listening to her family bicker, appearing a moment later at the top of the stairs. Her entire family had gathered in the foyer, dressed by the looks of things for a day out in the sun. Even Daniel was there, although he wore a grumpy expression that suggested he would have preferred not to have been.

The sight of Caroline materializing suddenly saw all eyes turn on her, again made the sole focus of her family.A feeling with which I am not familiar, and now I am starting to wonder if there is a good reason for this.

“Caroline!” her mother exclaimed. “There you are!” She rushed up the stairs toward Caroline. “We were beginning to worry!”

“Good morning, Mother...” She grimaced as her mother took her by the arms, holding her back to get a look at her.

“Are you ill?” her mother asked. “It is well past morning, child. What has gotten into you.”

Despite her best efforts, Caroline’s mind again drifted back to the previous night. The duke holding her. His lips around her ear. His warning which had elicited trapped feelings of excitement, because she knew that she ought not to feel this way, but could not help herself...

“Oh no,” her mother gasped. “It is a fever!”

“What?”

“Your cheeks, girl.” Her mother pressed a hand into her forehead. “They are bright red. Yes, just as I thought...” She clicked her tongue. “You are as hot as an oven.”

Caroline’s eyes widened with embarrassment. “I am not... I feel fine.” She looked away, hating that every set of eyes in the foyer was on her. “Just a little tired, I assure you.”

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