Alice gasped. “He is truly courting me?” Tingles of pleasure played down her spine. It would be nice to have that confirmation.
“In his own way, yes.” Elizabeth patted her hand while she guided them out of the church. The warmth of the late afternoon sun beat upon Alice’s arms and chest. “Shall we adjourn to the party? Weddings make me famished, and I do so enjoy fancy food.”
“Don’t mind me. I’ll just be walking by myself back here instead of talking with the woman I came to see,” Donovan said in a sing-song voice, much to the amusement of his sister. Even Alice couldn’t help but laugh, so light was her heart now that the misunderstanding had cleared.
“Time enough for all of that, brother dear,” Elizabeth replied and kept her arm linked with Alice’s. “I have a few questions for her… or perhaps I’ll reveal a few secrets.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” he whispered, and a certain warning hardened the words.
Alice wondered at the interplay between them, but since Elizabeth remained silent, she didn’t question it. What secrets did the duke keep he didn’t want her to know?
Once at the cottage, where people milled about the grounds, laughter and conversation buzzing around her, Fanny tugged her a bit away from Elizabeth, but Donovan hovered, not quite close but not far.
“Why did you bring him?” Fanny hissed into her ear as she tightened her grip on Alice’s arm. “People are talking about the duke and not me.” Her huff of frustration ruffled the curls on Alice’s forehead. “It’s my wedding day!”
The joy Alice found at having Donovan with her again faded in the face of Fanny’s discontent. “I didn’t bring him. He showed up. I do not dictate his movements.” The very idea of manipulating a duke made her giggle, which further annoyed her friend.
Fanny let go Alice’s arm. “I never thought you’d wish to steal the attention from me—the bride. How cruel you’ve shown yourself to be, Alice. I thought I knew you, but now this day will forever be ruined in my memory. You have changed, and not for the better. Have you always been so jealous?” Then she presented her back to Alice.
“Fanny, I…” How many more bewildering emotions would assault her this day? Alice stood with a tight chest and tears in her eyes for a different reason. “I didn’t… I would never,” she whispered, but Fanny stalked away. She set off to follow her friend.
“Alice.” Donovan gained her side and drew her hand into the crook of his elbow. “Perhaps it’s best to give her some time. If she’s truly a friend, she’ll realize you didn’t do what she’s accused you of.” Kindness threaded through his tone, and her eyes once more filled with tears. “Come. Walk with me back into the village proper.”
“Where is Elizabeth?” Alice asked as she let him guide her away from the festive activity around them.
“It’s her turn to trail behind.” He released her only to clasp his hands behind his back as they walked the dusty, hard-packed road.
Silence brewed between them for long moments. Finally, Alice couldn’t stand the void, and with a fair amount of annoyance behind her words, she asked, “I wish to know what your plans are, for you have put, and continue to put me, on precarious ground in Shalford. My reputation is being cut to ribbons, and I do not appreciate it.” Even if she remained flattered by his attention.
“My plans?” A certain note of wariness crept into his voice.
“With me. For me.” That was as plain as she could say it. If he couldn’t understand, then he didn’t deserve her continued time.
“I’m not certain yet.” Nothing except honesty hung on the reply.
At least there was that. “Are you only amusing yourself until I give you whatever it is you want?” From behind them, Elizabeth snorted with apparent hilarity. Alice ignored her. “I won’t be best pleased with you if so. My condition does not give you leave to trifle with my affections.”
“I well understand that.” Donovan drew to a halt, which forced Alice to do the same. She faced him, planted her gaze on him even though she couldn’t see him. Let him look into her eyes and discern the very real emotions there. “Do I feature into your affections, Alice?” he asked in a low voice.
The heat of embarrassment blazed in her cheeks while butterflies tickled through her insides. “I’m not sure.”
“Ah.” But he chuckled and the sound sent awareness of him sailing over her. “What will it take on my part to secure such feelings?”
She gaped, stunned. Was he serious or was it part of a game? Emboldened by her earlier words in the church, Alice closed the distance between them and traced his face without waiting for permission or even asking it. There was nothing in his expression to indicate he made jest of her. Lines of somberness framed his mouth and the corners of his eyes, but he stood still as she explored. Satisfied, she stepped away. “Show me you are different than other men. Show me that you care.”
Another swath of silence lengthened between them. Finally, he cleared his throat and took her hand. “I can do that.” He pressed a kiss into her palm and the warmth of his lips seeped through the fine lace of her fingerless gloves. “I promise to do just that in the coming days.” Then he drew her hand through the crook of his elbow. “Allow me to take you back to your room. It is not my intention to cause you further embarrassment.”
But what exactly is your intention, my lord?
She didn’t know, but perhaps now wasn’t the time to question it, for he’d been nothing but a gentleman so far… except their first meeting when he was nude. Or the fact that he’d stolen a few kisses. For the moment she’d remain thankful he was here. The puzzle of why could wait.
CHAPTER SEVEN
September 21, 1815
London
Donovan returned home from a run well after midnight. He slipped into the townhouse, completely nude, for unless he made the decision to undress ahead of the shift, once the ancient magic took hold, his clothing was shredded and disintegrated with the change.
Oftentimes, he didn’t waste time with such things, which was good that his staff knew to not to question his choice of dress or undress, as the case might be.
The night had been cathartic. As the beast, he’d feasted upon a sheep, bedeviled another one until it became lodged in a thicket of thorny hedges, chased a handful of rabbits and then ran until he’d worked out all the knots from his muscles and smoothed the questions from his mind.
And through it all, thoughts of Alice continued to plague him. He’d even visited Shalford and stood guard near her door for long hours. What the deuce was he to do about his sweet, innocent country flower? She wished him to show himself as different. He snorted as he lowered himself into the copper bathtub his butler, Griggs, had arranged for him upon his arrival. If she only knew how different he truly was.
He’d just begun to lather himself with the fine-milled French soap that smelled of sandalwood and various citrus fruits and spices, when Griggs appeared at his door.
“I apologize for the interruption, Your Grace. However, the Earl of Devon is here to see you.” The older gentleman with salt-and-pepper hair averted his gaze. “Where shall I show him?”
Why come to call so bloody late? Donovan closed his eyes. He blew out a breath before pushing the soapy lather over his face. “Show him in here. I’m much too tired for formality tonight.”
“Very well, my lord.”
While the butler was gone, Donovan continued his ablutions and had just washed the dirt, grime and blood from his hair when the earl appeared in the room. Literally appeared, for one of the man’s attributes of being a vampire was his ability to move at quicker than human speeds.
“Do you not have women to feed from at his hour, Devon?” Donovan complained as he slicked the hair back from his forehead. Water ran down his face and neck. His mood hadn’t improved after his extended run, and that annoyed him more.
The earl wasn’t perturbed. Instead, still dressed in immaculate evening clothing, he leaned a shoulder against the doorframe and crossed his arms a
t his chest. “Don’t you have livestock to terrorize or virgins to debase?” he countered with a jaunty grin.
“Well played.” Donovan shared a laugh with his best friend. Then he finished with his bath, and after grabbing a towel from the floor beside the tub, he stood and wrapped the cloth about his waist. “What do you want?” He eyed the man as he climbed out of the bath. “Looking like you’ve come from a ton event.”
“I have, in fact, come from the Earl of Coventry’s rout. He’s apparently indulging his sister in allowing her to mix with society in the hopes that—”
“Yes, yes.” Donovan impatiently waved a hand. “In the hopes that she’ll manage to snag a husband despite the rumors attached to his name.” He rolled his eyes. “I have one of those myself, except mine is hell bent on protecting me from the nest of vipers we refer to as Polite Society.”
“There is that.” The earl pushed off the doorframe and followed Donovan into his dressing room where Burroughs waited. “How have you kept yourself these last couple of days? I haven’t seen you about Town.”
Donovan shrugged. “I’ve stuck close to home when I’m not running the countryside as the wolf.” He allowed his valet to suggest clothing more appropriate to making an afternoon call over sleeping like most men did at such an early morning hour.
His friend snorted. “You’re brooding, which essentially means you’re closeting yourself in your study, oftentimes in the dark, staring out the window in contemplation, overthinking your existence.”
It didn’t escape Donovan’s notice that his valet shared a knowing smirk with the earl. “I’m not. What concerns me at the present time requires a bit of handling with metaphorical kid gloves.” All of which centered around Alice and how the devil he was to show her he wasn’t the lecherous man she thought. Not to mention how to charm her enough that she’d fall quickly for him. Time was rapidly running out.
“Ah.” The vampire moved about the room so that he remained in eye contact with Donovan. “Then you are mooning about the female currently turning your life to sixes and sevens.”
“Also not true.”
“I see.”
It was unfortunate that his friend knew him so well. “Why do you bedevil me, Rogue?”
“Because it’s so easy.” The earl grinned and the faint red ring around his pupils glowed brighter for an instant. “Why did you not come to the club last night? You never miss our card evenings. Hell, Coventry was even there and commented upon it.”
Donovan rolled his eyes. He waved away the help of his valet in favor of folding and tying his cravat by himself. “There is much on my mind at present. I didn’t need additional cluttering by spending hours at a table playing cards with you fellows or listening to you categorizing the charms of the new female in your life.” And he certainly didn’t want to share anything about Alice with his chums, for such talk would cheapen her, and she was much more than fodder over a table of drinks at a gentleman’s club.
Do you hear yourself? Inside his head, his wolf howled with laughter. How can you tell this man you’re above all of that when you cannot manage to banish thoughts of the woman from your mind?
He gritted his teeth against the truth his beast dredged up. It means nothing.
It means everything, human.
“Would that I had a female in my life.” Rogue narrowed his eyes and contemplated him with speculation lining his handsome face. “For the hell of it, let’s assume what’s uppermost in your mind is the curse, since obviously the next full moon comes due soon.”
“Yes.” The word was clipped and terse. He summarily dismissed his valet as soon as he donned a jacket of navy superfine that matched the embroidery on his gray waistcoat—a color that seemed dull and lifeless when he remembered the glint of silver in Alice’s eyes.
Damn it all to hell and back.
His wolf, thankfully, didn’t comment.
“You’re not happy your days of being a slave to your beast are almost over?” Rogue frowned. He looked truly surprised. “This is a good thing, yes? It’s what we all are striving for. After all, we have, the four of us, failed in that on more than one occasion.”
Donovan’s shrug only lifted one shoulder. He flung himself into a maroon-and-navy brocade wingback chair and slumped into the interior. “It’s… bittersweet. More of an ethical dilemma, actually.” He waved a hand and then let it fall into his lap. “How can I end his life while embracing mine?”
His wolf whined in agreement.
Rogue nodded. “Understandable, and a unique problem I do not need to wrestle with.” He cocked his head to one side as he stared at Donovan. “What of the woman you mentioned the other day?”
Alice, and the unique pull she had upon him. And the spirit she showed at the rustic wedding. That had impressed him more than it should have. “I’m going slowly.” Even though every time he was with her, his wolf urged him to throw her down and claim her. There were limits, after all, and he had his.
“Have you told her yet of any part of your life, the curse, your secret?”
“No.” Donovan rubbed a hand along his jaw. Day old stubble rasped against his palm but he was disinclined to shave. “That level of trust isn’t quite there between us yet. As it is, Miss Morrowe battles for her place within village life. My presence isn’t helping her cause.”
“And this makes you wary?” Rogue clasped his hands behind his back. He paced the confines of the dressing room, his gaze never leaving Donovan’s face.
“If she’s on the outskirts of a village society, how the deuce will she fit into ton life?” He held up a hand before his friend could catch the slip. “That is, if I choose to go forward with my seduction, and if I wish to bring her to London to deepen our relationship.”
The earl’s lips twitched. Amusement danced in his eyes and the red ring glowed stronger. “Do you wish for her to integrate into a society where you yourself aren’t fully welcome?”
“I’m not certain.” He raised his gaze to Rogue’s. “On anything at this point.”
Silence brewed between them while the earl continued to pace. Finally, he came to a halt near a window and faced Donovan. “Do you care for her? That’s the only reason I can find for your unaccountable confliction. You’ve never been so before.”
This was true. In all of his dealings through life, he’d never second-guessed himself. Until now. “No.” He shook his head. “What I feel for her is protection, interest, empathy—”
“—lust,” Rogue interrupted with a slightly crooked smile.
Donovan couldn’t hold one of his own back. “Certainly.” He drummed his fingers on the armrests of the chair. “Her curves tempt me beyond reason each time I see her.”
“Yet you’ve done nothing about it. Interesting.” The earl cocked a blond eyebrow. “What else? There must be another reason for your regard.”
“She has challenged me to do something different, something no other man has done for her, something that shows her I care.” He frowned. “An impossible task, I sometimes think.”
“And one you desperately wish to fulfill.” Rogue nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face. Then he laughed. “She’s coming to understand you. Perhaps you are well-matched and that is what bothers you.”
Donovan rolled his eyes. He made a vulgar gesture at his friend, to which the earl laughed harder.
“You wonder if you’ll change your mind about the seduction and wish for other things from life,” Rogue continued, ever the devil’s advocate.
“Perhaps.” Donovan stared at his friend. Why wouldn’t he give over solid advice? Of course, if the roles were reversed, what would he say to the earl to help the confliction of mind? Nothing, for this problem was unique to the man, and no one could make the decision for him. “We shall see what occurs after my secret is revealed.”
“When you bed her.”
“Yes.” For that’s what always happened. It was a part of the curse. As soon as he found release and his heartbeat returned to normal, the
truth burst forth from him no matter how hard he attempted to fight the urge. Some women lasted one night more after that fantastical revelation; most dressed and ran from the house with mumbled excuses. If they bandied the tale about London, he didn’t know, for rumors about him had always abounded.
Neither did he care. This is who I am, and if they will not accept me for that… I don’t need them.
His wolf snuffled into his mind. Will Miss Morrowe accept you? Will she accept me?
Anxiety clawed at the pit of his stomach. It’s critical she do exactly that.
The fact she showed such jealousy regarding Elizabeth was encouraging. Yet…
Rogue softly cleared his throat, which brought Donovan’s wandering attention back to him. “Are you seeing her today?”
“Yes. I plan to catch her unawares early this morning.” He lowered his voice. “And while Elizabeth, Alice’s self-appointed chaperone, is still abed.” Donovan grinned at the earl’s knowing look.
“Dear God. Your sister will flay the skin from your bones once she’s aware of your plans.” Rogue’s joke held the sting of truth, for Elizabeth had made herself and her strong personality known already to his small circle of friends. At one time he’d fondly thought that perhaps Rogue might have courted her, but romance hadn’t bloomed. “Perhaps it’s time to truly seduce Miss Morrowe, to accelerate her tumble into love.”
“Good luck.” A smirk curved his friend’s lips. “It is a razor’s edge you walk. In every way.”
“Indeed it is, but isn’t that part of the challenge?” And when he finally coupled with Alice, the act would be all the sweeter for the chase.
By the time Donovan reached Shalford—for he and Rogue had continued to talk for some time, then they’d raided the kitchens while the staff still slumbered—dawn was an hour or so off. Somewhat fitting, for the first time he’d met Alice, dawn had not yet crested.
He’d parked his curricle in the woods and then accessed the village on foot. What the gossiping tabbies didn’t see, they couldn’t circulate, and for the time being, he didn’t wish for this visit to have witnesses.
Devil Take the Duke (Lords of the Night Book 1) Page 8