Page 14 of Duke of Wickedness
“I take it back,” he murmured. “Youcanbe blunter. Marvelous.”
She ignored him again. This man probably needed it more than most.
“What I mean to say,” he continued after a moment, “is that it was impolitic of me to turn you away when you came to me with open curiosity. But I rebuffed you. It wasn’t right.”
Before she could think better of it, Ariadne scoffed. “Since when doyoucare about what’s right?”
She regretted the words as soon as they left her lips. Bluntness was one thing, but the bite to her tone verged on cruelty, and she didn’t want that.
“I shouldn’t have?—”
“No,” he interjected, his voice gentle despite the way his jaw looked tight. “You are right. I am not known for proper behavior—and indeed, I do not care much for it. But I do care about being welcoming, and last night, I was not that.” He cleared his throat. “And I think you may have seen things that you might not understand. I hope I can trust you to be discreet about any questions you might have about what you witnessed.”
Oh.
The sudden clarity that washed over Ariadne was so acute that it nearly felt like relief. He wasn’t here because news about her presence at his home the night prior had gotten around theton—he was there to make certain that did not ever come to pass.
“I’m not going to tell anyone,” she told him. “So, if that’s what you’re concerned about, you needn’t fret. Surely you must realize that I couldn’t do so without putting my own reputation at risk.”
This should have reassured him, but instead, he looked uncomfortable.
“I appreciate that,” he said. “But, as I said, I have already erred. I wish to make amends. So, I have come to offer you a deal: if you keep any questions about what you witnessed yesterday between us, I shall show you whatever it is that you want to see.” He paused, though for only half a breath. “But slowly. Gradually.”
Any relief that Ariadne might have felt disappeared.
“Or what?” she asked. Better to ask now, while she was safe in her own home, her sister by marriage within her eyeline and her brother no more than a shout away.
The Duke of Wilds frowned down at her. “Or what…what?” he asked.
“What if I don’t take your deal?” she demanded. “What if I don’t let you—” She put irony on the words. “—show methings?”
She would give the man his due: he looked properly startled and appalled at the implication.
And then he looked angry.
“Lady Ariadne,” he said tersely, “let me be clear. This is not blackmail. I do not abide blackmail. I am offering this because I saw your curiosity—and I do not blame you for it,” he added, holding up a hand when she opened her mouth to respond.“Indeed, I think it likely that there are many young ladies in your position, women who wish to know more about what transpires between lovers than vague references to ‘marital relations.’”
This time, Ariadne didn’t try to interject. He has saidlovers. He had said the word loversout loudin her brother’sgarden.
Somehow, that was almost as shocking as anything she had seen the night before.
“So this,” the duke continued, “is an offer for your benefit first and foremost. As I said, I owe you a debt.” He shook his head, frustration briefly taking hold before he dispelled it again. “Hell, go ahead and tell people about what you saw if you want to. I’ll have to change how we operate, but that is not a true hardship. We’ve had to change before.”
This was…so very much information. She couldn’t seem to process it quickly enough.
“Or,” he said, “I can owe you a boon. It needn’t be this. We can think of something else.”
This last piece broke through the maelstrom in Ariadne’s mind. She should take that option. She should absolutely take that option. She didn’t reallyneeda favor from a duke; she was related, in some way or another, to half the dukes in England.
Butheseemed to need to do something to repair the balance between them. She could likely wrangle some kind of beneficialintroduction. He likely knew someone who knew someone who could connect her to some powerful hostess. Something like that.
It would be easy. She could put this whole thing behind her. She could go back to her plan.
And yet…
Yet, she couldn’t put the image of that couple from her mind—the ones she’d glimpsed through the windows when the curtain had fluttered aside.
It wasn’t just that the woman had been bared to her waist—Ariadnehadbreasts; she’dseenbreasts. It was more that the woman had been as visibly enjoying the encounter as the man beneath her.Shehad been leading the encounter, in fact. She wasn’t just a woman who was putting up with a man’s attentions because of duty or some other form of obligation.
