Page 55 of Who Wants to Marry a Duke
“I’d thinkyouwere five.” Olivia sniffed. “You were so rude to Mr. Juncker, baiting him all night.”
Leaning forward, Thorn fixed her with a dark look. “You seem terribly concerned about Juncker’s feelings. Were you hoping he might stay longer? Shall I call him back so you can flirt with him some more?”
“What? I wasn’t flirting, for pity’s sake. Clearly your jealousy is overriding your common sense.”
“I am not jealous of that . . . that buffoon!” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re the one who claimed I couldn’t be because I’m a duke.”
“I was talking about you being jealous of his playwriting. But tonight you’re showing yourself to be jealous of his interest inme, too, although why that should be the case, I have no idea. You’ve always made it clear I’m good for only one thing . . . and it isn’t marriage.”
Thorn raked his fingers through his hair, mussing it thoroughly. “I never said that. I never even implied it.”
“Right.” She rose and tossed down her napkin. “I’m going to bed. Would you please let your sister know I’ve retired?”
She rounded the table, but she wasn’t quick enough to avoid Thorn, who met her at the end to catch her by the arm.
He scoured her attire with blatant impudence. “Did you wear that gown to tempt Juncker? Or to tormentme?”
“I wore this gown because I like it,” she said sweetly. “The fact that it makes you jealous is merely icing on the cake.” Then she added, just to see how he would react, “And apparently Mr. Juncker likes it as well. He certainly stared at it enough.”
Thorn’s thunderous expression gave her pause. “He wasn’t staring at the gown; he was staring atyouin it.” Checking to be sure he was blocking the footman’s view, Thorn took one finger and dragged it down from her neck to between the swells of her bosom, then dropped his voice. “He was wondering how these taste, and what the nipples would feel like in his mouth. He was wondering if he dared get you alone to find out.”
Despite the delicious shivers his words and caress were provoking in her, she managed to sound marginally calm. “So now you can read Mr. Juncker’s mind, can you?”
“Oh, yes.” He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Because I can promise he was thinking the same things I was throughout dinner. That he wanted to engage in very wicked acts with you. Repeatedly. Often.”
Struggling not to let his words turn her to jelly, she moved his finger away from her bodice. “You seem to have gleaned a great many naughty ideas from one look. But not everyone has your predilection for . . . sordid behavior.”
“I can assure you that Juncker does.”
“By the way you speak of him, I’d never have guessed you two were as good friends as Grey said you were, Your Grace.”
He shook his head. “You’re the only person I know who can make ‘Your Grace’ sound like an insult.”
“And you’re the only one who takes insult from a perfectly appropriate honorific.”
“Because you use it to put me in my place,” he said.
“Now you can readmymind? Perhaps you should join the mesmerizers, sir. I’m sure they would love to have a man as brilliant as you.”
“Ah, but wouldyoulove to have me?”
She took a sharp breath. “As what? Entertainment?”
“Olivia,” he said softly. “That’s not what I—”
A new voice sounded from the door. “Is my brother bothering you?” Gwyn asked. “Because he too has overstayed his welcome.” Gwyn approached them as they took a step back from each other. “Come, Thorn, you have your own house. You should probably go stay in it. Especially with our ‘long journey’ ahead of us tomorrow.”
“Of course,” Thorn said, though his eyes were still on Olivia. “Very well, I’ll be here at ten in the morning. Make sure you’re both ready and packed.”
“Fine.” Gwyn pushed him. “Now go. Unless you want to hear me snoring in the carriage tomorrow, you must allow me and Olivia to get some sleep. So ‘good night, sweet prince.’”
Thorn lifted an eyebrow. “You do realize that line is spoken by Horatio to a dead Hamlet, right?”
“Is it?” Gwyn remarked, a decided glint in her eye. “I had no idea.”
“I’m merely saying I hope you’re not wishing me dead.”
“Certainly not.” Gwyn winked at Olivia. “I’m just wishing you gone so Olivia and I can have some peace at last.”
