Heartless Duke
Page 29
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If you’d like a preview of my upcoming standalone Dangerous Duke, Book Three in the League of Dukes series featuring Griffin, Duke of Strathmore, do read on.
Until next time,
Scarlett
Dangerous Duke
League of Dukes Book Three
By
Scarlett Scott
He’s lethal and ruthless.
Suspended from his work as an agent for the Crown, Griffin, Duke of Strathmore, exists under a dark cloud of suspicion for crimes he didn’t commit. He’s on a desperate race to clear his name by any means, until a grave error lands him under house arrest with the last sort of distraction he needs.
She’s the sister of his nemesis.
Lady Violet West is about to be married to the most boring man in England. When the disgraced Duke of Strathmore lands in her lap—literally—she decides he is the answer to her longing for adventure. Though her brother is convinced of Strathmore’s guilt, Violet isn’t as certain.
Falling in love is out of the question.
Griffin doesn’t want her interference. Violet won’t take no for an answer. So begins a secret partnership between the fallen duke and the determined lady. Their quest to uncover the truth leads to danger and desire. But the most perilous risk of all is losing their hearts.
Chapter One
1882
Violet had not intended to trip the Duke of Strathmore.
Nor had she meant for him to land in her lap.
But as his large body pitched forward into her silken skirts, hands finding purchase on her bosom, she could not deny it was the most interesting thing to have happened to her since…well, ever.
Far more exciting than listening to Charles drone on about horticulture. Unless she could eat it, she had no desire to know the name of a plant. And even then, the name truly did not signify, unless she was required to ask her brother’s chef to prepare it for dinner.
Yes indeed, Strathmore tumbling into her lap was infinitely better than spending the afternoon reading a book, while Great Aunt Hortense snored into her needlework. Or a bleary morning with only herself for company, because Lucien was far too busy with whatever nonsense recently interested him at the Home Office.
Bemused, she stared down at the giant she had inadvertently felled with her crocheting. His left hand had landed upon her right breast, and his right was buried in her skirts.
Was it her imagination, or did his fingers deliberately tighten upon her, as if he were testing the size and weight of the bosom he had unintentionally discovered?
She ought to be horrified. Shocked.
His shoulders were shaking, she realized, vibrating beneath his coat.
Oh dear.
Was he injured? Weeping?
Violet laid a hand gingerly upon his biceps, startled to feel its flexed strength beneath her touch. “Duke? Are you hurt?”
His head raised.
Her heart did something odd. It stumbled, then galloped. Her breath caught. Here was her first sighting of their infamous house guest, in proximity. His dark hair was too long, his eyes astoundingly blue, his lips far too full for a man’s mouth, his jaw covered in a neatly trimmed beard.
When he had first entered the salon, she had been struck by how handsome he was. But he was not just handsome. He was striking. His face had character. It was intriguing, from the bump in the bridge of his nose, to the lines bracketing his vivid eyes. The air of tarnished elegance he exuded somehow magnified his masculine beauty. She had never seen a duke—or any gentleman for that matter—like him.
“I am relatively unscathed,” he said at last, removing his hand from her breast.
That was when she realized belatedly he had not been weeping or in pain at all. Rather, he had been laughing.
And a smile on that mouth was something to behold.
She blinked. Tried to summon up thoughts of Charles. Her betrothed too was undeniably handsome. Well-titled. The Earl of Almsley, Viscount Nattingworth, Baron Erstwhile.
Or was it Viscount Nattingwhile and Baron Erstworth?
She could not seem to recall. Mayhap it was the overly large duke who was still all but in her lap addling her wits.
Perchance it was the unseasonably warm weather. Late spring, and hotter than July. Where was a fan when she needed it? Why would the duke not stop trapping her in that brilliant gaze? What would the bristle of his whiskers feel like beneath her fingertips?
No.
That is wicked, Violet. You must not think such thoughts.
What would those lips feel like pressed to hers?
She was willing to wager they would not be arid and cool like Charles’s. Instead, they would be warm and supple, coaxing and perhaps even demanding…
Drat it, Violet. Cease this at once.
“I am sorry about the crocheting,” she said, needing to say something so her whirling thoughts would quiet. “I did not mean to catch you with it.”
She did not even like crocheting but Aunt Hortense deemed it a suitable activity for a lady because the queen herself enjoyed the practice. Admittedly, Violet’s appreciation for the skill was hindered by being dreadful at it.
“I should have watched where I was walking.” A rueful grin flirted at the corners of his lips now. “I did not expect anyone to be within, and I am afraid I was rather preoccupied with my own thoughts. I did not notice your string until it had felled me.”
His hand was still in her skirts, and he remained on his knees before her. She resisted the urge to reach for his left hand and place it back upon her breast. Why had the weight of him, that forbidden touch, felt so irresistible?
She wetted her suddenly dry lips. “It is a bad habit, leaving the ball of wool halfway across the chamber, in the midst of the floor. If I had not pulled it toward me with the intention of sparing you from falling over it, you likely would not have tripped in the first place. The fault is all mine.”
“Nonsense, Lady Violet.” He rose at last, towering over her with his broad, strong frame. “I am the interloper here.”
“Yes,” she agreed, before thinking better of it. Her cheeks went hot. “That is to say, you are a guest, Your Grace.”
Should she stand?
Craning her neck at him was dratted uncomfortable, but he remained near enough to her that if she stood, she would brush against him. And if she touched this man, she felt certain she may swoon.
Where was a fan when she needed one?
His smile faded, his jaw going rigid, expression hardening. “A forced guest is hardly a guest, Lady Violet. It would be more apt, perhaps, to say I am a prisoner.”
“But Lark House is not a jail,” she felt compelled to protest. In truth, it had been hers for four-and-twenty years, and it would remain so until she left it for the next one. The thought of having to share a home with Charles’s mother was enough to make her eyes twitch.
“We shall agree to disagree, my lady.” His gaze traveled down to her lap, leaving a path of fire in its wake. “What are you making?”
Her flush increased, and she swore she felt it to the roots of her hair. “It is meant to be a seed pouch for my fiancé. He is a horticulturist.”
Strathmore frowned. “That sounds deadly dull.”
Her sentiments exactly, but that didn’t mean his dismissive tone did not nettle her, for it did. “On the contrary, sir. It is horribly interesting.”
His lips quirked. “You have the ‘horrible’ of it right, I would reckon.”
“To think I was feeling guilty for tripping you,” she snapped. Charles was as interesting as a pile of sawdust, but having this breathtakingly handsome, arrogant duke point out the shortcomings which already gri
eved her was irksome indeed. “There is no need to be cruel.”
“Honesty and cruelty are two distinct beasts.” His stare worked its leisurely way back to hers, so intense, a shock of giddiness rippled straight through her.
Ruthlessly, she banished it and stood, tired of him looming over her, the judgmental beast. But she miscalculated her haste, and his nearness, which meant that once she rose, she had nowhere to go but into his chest.
So she did.
Her palms flattened over the muscled heat of him. Even through the layers of civility, he was hot. Smoldering like a flame. And she was drawn to him.
Why could she not stop staring at his lips? Why did she insist upon wondering what they would feel like upon hers?
“Lady Violet?” His tone was darkly amused.
Blinking, she raised her gaze back to his. “Yes?”
“I would like to beg your fiancé’s pardon,” he surprised her by saying.
There.
That was better, was it not?
The man had simply needed a reminder of how to conduct himself in a gentlemanly fashion. Suspected of treason though he may be, he was still a peer of the realm. A duke.
“For insulting his love of horticulture?” she asked, telling herself she ought to remove her hands from Strathmore’s person. It was unseemly, the way she was touching him.
“No.” He traced her jaw with a lone, long finger, stopping at her chin, tipping it gently up. “For kissing his fiancée.”
Before she could say a word of protest, that sinful mouth was upon hers.
Want more? Get Dangerous Duke here!
Don’t miss Scarlett’s other romances!
(Listed by Series)
Complete Book List
HISTORICAL ROMANCE
Heart’s Temptation
A Mad Passion (Book One)
Rebel Love (Book Two)
Reckless Need (Book Three)
Sweet Scandal (Book Four)
Restless Rake (Book Five)
Darling Duke (Book Six)
The Night Before Scandal (Book Seven)
Wicked Husbands
Her Errant Earl (Book One)
Her Lovestruck Lord (Book Two)
Her Reformed Rake (Book Three)
Her Deceptive Duke (Book Four)
League of Dukes
Nobody’s Duke (Book One)
Heartless Duke (Book Two)
Dangerous Duke (Book Three)
Sins and Scoundrels
Duke of Depravity (Book One)
Prince of Persuasion (Book Two)
Stand-alone Novella
Lord of Pirates
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Love’s Second Chance
Reprieve (Book One)
Perfect Persuasion (Book Two)
Win My Love (Book Three)
Coastal Heat
Loved Up (Book One)
About the Author
Amazon bestselling author Scarlett Scott writes steamy Victorian and Regency romance with strong, intelligent heroines and sexy alpha heroes. She lives in Pennsylvania with her Canadian husband, adorable identical twins, and one TV-loving dog.
A self-professed literary junkie and nerd, she loves reading anything, but especially romance novels, poetry, and Middle English verse. Catch up with her on her website www.scarlettscottauthor.com. Hearing from readers never fails to make her day.
Scarlett’s complete book list and information about upcoming releases can be found at www.scarlettscottauthor.com.
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Heartless Duke
League of Dukes Book Two
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2019 by Scarlett Scott
Published by Happily Ever After Books, LLC
Kindle Edition
Edited by Grace Bradley
Proofread by CM Wright
Cover Design by Wicked Smart Designs
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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events, or locales, is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
For more information, contact author Scarlett Scott.
www.scarslettscottauthor.com