Page 103 of Dukes Are Forever
"I wasn't talking about a gown. It seems they share a fondness for fine undergarments."
His mind immediately pictured Adele in a flimsy little scrap of silk in vibrant red.
He didn't have to wonder about the precise color of Adele's nipples anymore. The softest, palest of pinks, imprinted in his memory as firmly as his signet ring into hot wax.
Knowledge he'd generally prefer not to have.
Just like he hadn't wanted to know what precise sound would escape her when she cried out with pleasure.
Malloryn punched the automaton's padded flanks, but though it might help alleviate the nightmares he fought, it did nothing to vanquish those licentious thoughts. "I did not need to know that."
Obsidian smiled faintly as he began stripping his coat off. "Consider yourself warned."
They'd been enemies once upon a time, and Malloryn had struggled to trust him, but all of that changed when Obsidian helped rescue him in Russia. Curiously, the assassin was the one Rogue who almost seemed to understand him.
Obsidian didn't push where he felt he wasn't wanted—unlike certain others. And he knew how to keep a secret.
It was becoming remarkably easy to deal with him.
"So you just happened to seek me out?"
"I knew where you'd be." Obsidian hauled his shirt over his head and folded it atop his coat.
"I'm growing a little weary of everyone nursemaiding me...."
"You're on edge and you're tired. That's the sort of combination that sees mistakes creep in. Considering you're the one in charge, you cannot afford to make mistakes."
Nobody else spoke to him like this. Anger flared. "You dare?"
"Technically, I outrank you, Your Grace," Obsidian said dryly. "So I'm not afraid of the Duke of Malloryn act."
"Do you want me to curtsy?"
"No." Obsidian padded toward him on bare feet. "I want you to fight."
They met in a flurry of blows.
Obsidian had an inch or two on him, and hence a longer reach. He was faster, stronger, and had trained all his life to be an assassin.
It was the only time Malloryn had ever found himself outclassed.
He took it as a challenge, each and every time.
The man who feared to face a worthier opponent was the man who stopped learning. Already, his bouts with Obsidian had tightened his reaction time, and taught him a unique style of combat he'd never known before.
He staggered back beneath a blow, and Obsidian pulled up to give him a chance to get his feet.
"Don't go easy on me," he warned. "If we go up against Dido and Jelena, then I cannot afford to be too weak or slow."
"You'll never match them for speed or strength."
"I know."
Which meant he had to be able to protect himself long enough to work out their weaknesses. Everyone had a weakness. Even him.
But his greatest strength was using his mind to dissect others.
The next time he and Jelena crossed paths, he would kill her. There was no other option.
