Page 8 of A Deal with her Forbidden Duke
She saw the challenge in his face, “A man would not help but admire you, my lady.”
Madeleine gasped, pulling back as she realized she had missed two buttons from the front of her dress, revealing far too much skin than was appropriate for a stranger.
And yet, as she fixed her dress, covering herself once more, she took another good look at the man across from her.
There was something about the Duke’s imposition that made her compelled to move closer. She could not stop looking at the hard, angry planes of his face.
“You are lonely in this house, are you not?” he guessed.
And it had to be a guess. For how would he know? How could this man know that Donald had been absent for four days?
“No,” she bit out. “My husband will return any moment, I am sure.”
I have never been more uncertain of anything in my life.
“And loneliness… well, of course it could leave a woman left wanting to be desired bysomeone. Perhaps that is why you wish to distract me,” the Duke added.
“I do not wish to,” she snapped. “It is your eyes that wandered, Your Grace. I merely came to answer to an insistent guest.”
“All by yourself, at night.”
“I do not know what you are suggesting, Your Grace,” her voice remained firm.
The Duke moved closer but his eyes remained above her neckline.
“I think you do,” he said.
“So, youarehere to simply admire my nightwear.”
“No,” his word was clipped, a harsh swipe of an answer that left her feeling almost embarrassed.
I should have thrown a robe or a shawl over me at least. Still, he is the one intruding here.
“I am here to ask of your husband’s whereabouts. His debts are staggering, and he will not leave them unpaid,” he said.
“I repeat,” Madeleine said slowly, “I do not know where my husband is, Your Grace.”
He laughed humorlessly at her, taking three slow steps until his chest was a mere inch away from hers.
She found that she could not help but lift her gaze to his, losing herself in those blue eyes, which held so much dark authority, that she could not help but feel a swoop in her stomach.
She stepped back, not wanting to back down, but that step back only had the Duke closing in.
Her back hit the wall, and there was nowhere left to go.
“Protecting a man who has left you to fend for yourself,” Alexander noted. “How noble.”
His voice was softer, almost a caress.
“And you have come to save me from myself, is that it, Your Grace?” Madeleine countered, her voice just as low.
Heavens, if anybody sees me in such a predicament.
Yet… there was a thrill inside of her. The Duke’s presence was interesting, a challenge, a blush of warmth in the cold emptiness she had grown accustomed to at only twenty years old.
“Or,” she continued, “is that merely an opportunity to flaunt your superiority? I do recall my brother always said you had a bit of a bent in that direction.”
He had not but it was enough to see a moment of triumph as the Duke’s gaze flickered, as if she hit a nerve.
