Page 40 of His Ruined Duchess

“I am doing all this for your own good. I assure you.”

Selina scoffed at him, rolling her eyes, which only served to allow a tear to slide free.

“Was pulling me from a potential match and dragging me down a hallway into the shadows for my own good? Was touching me in secret in the middle of a ball put on by my friends for my own good?”

Defensive anger pulled at him again. She had not been so innocent in that exchange. Selina had not protested once.

“You had provoked me during that ball, Selina. You knew exactly what you were doing when you came up to the Viscount and flirted with him.”

“I was trying to find a husband as you demanded!”

He stepped forward, closing the distance as he verbally sparred with her.

“You were provoking a reaction, and you are only upset that it worked.” The words came out on a growl, and Selina bristled further, glowering at him as she reeled backward. “And you are doing the same now. Coming to me to announce your plan to spend more money instead of simply leaving and doing so.”

The expression that took hold of Selina’s face was one he had never seen her make before. She was furious, as angry as she could ever be, and she let out a tiny scream of frustration.

“If my coming to speak with you provokes such a reaction, is it not I who needs to evaluate my strength? Are you so weak to my words that a simple conversation is enough to incite madness?”

“Watch. Your. Tone,” Hugh growled, “Selina.”

The furious, wicked smirk that crossed Selina’s face sent shivers down Hugh’s spine.

“Or what? You arrogant jolterhead!”

A volcano of emotion erupted from within him, and Hugh saw red. Hell, he saw white and purple as well. He’d been insulted to his face. Selina had screamed at him, coming to him when he was minding his own business in the study, and sought to bait himagain.

Without thinking, because all rational thought had evaporated in a flash, Hugh snatched Selina by the arms. He yanked her against him, crashing his lips down on hers, making her yelp. The feel of her mouth on his, the sensation of her slight form pressed up against his, it was all too much and not enough.

Hugh was a rudderless ship, tossed about in a violent storm to which he had no defense. Being around this woman rattled him so much that it made it impossible to think straight or even breathe properly.

His tongue slid against Selina’s as he entwined them, his shaft aching with the need to claim her as it had so many times before. She was laudanum, opium, some ensorcelled drug forced into his veins by the Fair Folk, and he was no match for it. Hugh could not tell up from down when Selina had him riled so his entire being burned.

What am I doing? This is madness. Selina was right. I… Dammit.

But she had not pulled herself away. She had not shoved his chest. The small fingers wound through the fabric of his shirt, and her kiss demanded as much from him as his did from her.

How could they both still fall prey to these feelings? What would it take to splinter them apart?

Hugh moaned against Selina’s lips, the sound vibrating them. Circling his hand around her waist, he pulled her against him, needing the feeling of her brushing against the desperate ache trapped beneath the fall of his trousers.

Knock, knock, knock.

Selina sprang back from him, tearing herself from his grasp. Hugh struggled to breathe evenly, his eyes going to the door of the study. He’d been interrupted again, and this interruption was far less forgivable.

“Your Grace,” the butler called out, “a guest has arrived to speak with both you and the Dowager.”

Hugh cursed under his breath, struggling to catch it and right his clothing. He needed to smooth himself down so that he was presentable. But who the hell was here?

“Who is it?” Hugh called out, eyeing Selina hard. She glared at him, but it was obvious she was shaken.

“The Duke of Aldworth, Your Grace. He wishes to speak with the Dowager.”

Chapter Eighteen

Magnus was at the estate. Magnus was at the estate without warning, and the last time she had seen him was at the ball.Oh God. Has he come to…

“Your Graces, the Duke of Aldworth.” The butler bowed toward Selina and then to Hugh. He then left them alone in the drawing room with Magnus. Her blood was still hot in her veins, and the thumping of her heart had changed from fury to arousal to shock to concern. And it had all happened far too quickly.

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