Chapter 2

"Istill do not think that this is a good idea at all, Alice!"

Alice averted her gaze from Phoebe's worried one. Her sister had just cause to be worried—the Wolves were not personages to be trifled with, after all.

Even the one who had chosen a life away from the eyes of the ton.

If anything, that should make him all the more dangerous. After all, heaven only knows what the man has been occupying himself with in all that time!

"Do not worry too much about it, Phoebe." She smiled at her younger sister instead. "We are not going into Blackthorn Estate or engaging the Duke of Thorns at all. We are merely conducting some reconnaissance…"

"Reconnaissance prior to theft!" Phoebe hissed at her. "If Mama finds out about this?—"

"Mama should never find out about this," Alice told her younger sister firmly. "Besides, what harm is there in simply taking a look? If His Grace did not want anyone looking in, then he would not have countenanced an open gate, would he?"

Phoebe opened her mouth as if to argue but then shut it as she looked out the window of the carriage contemplatively. Meanwhile, Alice simply let out a sigh of relief.

It would be disastrous if her mama was ever to find out what she was thinking of doing. Unlike her father, the Marchioness of Brandon did not find her eldest daughter's antics charming at all—which was only understandable, as she was currently responsible for ensuring that her two daughters found good matches and married well enough to maintain their current standard of living.

"Phoebe is right, you know," Scarlett told her with a worried frown. "The Wolves are not to be trifled with."

"I daresay that he might be a little annoyed at having strangers gawking at his estate, but nothing more," Alice replied, shrugging her shoulders in as nonchalant a manner as she could.

As much as she wanted to appear so carefree, she could not help but feel a thread of apprehension at the thought of crossing one of the famed Wolves, and the Duke of Thorns at that.

Fortunately, Scarlett did not say anything more on the matter even as she continued to look pointedly at Alice. It was clear that while Scarlett might not agree with her friend's admittedly harebrained scheme to steal a priceless and obscene book from the collection of a known rake, she was still going to stand by Alice and support her. For Scarlett's steadfast loyalty, Alice was grateful.

"Well, we are here."

Alice smiled as the carriage slowed to a stop before the wrought-iron gates of an estate that might have looked impressive in its prime. Now, it simply looked forbidding. An apt residence for someone who was feared to have become more beast than man.

Phoebe nervously twisted her handkerchief in her hand as she eyed the estate. "Now that you have seen it, can we please go back home?"

Alice, however, found it all the more intriguing.

"Wait a moment. I wish to take a closer look," she told her younger sister.

Phoebe let out a mewling sound of despair as Alice merely patted her sister's hand reassuringly.

She fixed her bonnet as she descended from the carriage. She paused slightly and turned towards the two young ladies who remained inside.

"You may stay inside if you wish," she told them.

She was not so callous as to turn a blind eye to their fears. She also did not know how she would be able to explain to her mama or Scarlett's if one of them ever succumbed to the vapors.

"What nonsense!" Scarlett scoffed instead. "Of course, I am going with you!"

"I do not wish to be left alone," Phoebe chimed in, biting her lower lip. "And if this beast of a duke does intend to devour us, I gather that we stand a better chance with our numbers!"

"That's the spirit!" Alice smiled proudly at her sister.

"And right now, it feels like it is about to leave my mortal body." Phoebe shuddered.

Alice let out a little chuckle, sounding much bolder than she truly felt. Before her lay Blackthorn Estate with its immaculately kept grounds and imposing facade. Half a decade ago, a significant portion of it had been engulfed in a horrible fire, claiming the lives of the previous Duke and Duchess.

It was now their son who resided there—a known rake with a penchant for collecting obscene books.

If he had been just another dissolute dandy, then perhaps she might not have felt that foreboding deep within her gut.

If he had been just another foolish nobleman, traipsing around the Continent, casually throwing around his wealth, before coming home to spend even more of it, perhaps she might not have felt that cold shiver running down her spine.

Alice felt as if there was something else lying behind that imposing facade, a dark beast that slumbered away from the public eye.

And she was the one with the plan to just prod it with a proverbial stick.

"I suppose we have seen all there is to see," Phoebe squeaked from behind her. "That should be enough reconnaissance for one day."

"I think I have had enough reconnaissance to last me a lifetime," Scarlett mumbled in reply.

Just then, they saw a tall man with such broad shoulders stalk out from gardens. His long strides, sure and strong, took him back to the front door of the manor while his dark red cape billowed ominously behind him as if he was some sort of malevolent demon. Even from a distance, Alice could make out the strong line of his jaw.

Unbidden, her eyes drank in the broadness of his shoulders, down to his muscled forearms, until she noted that something vividly red dripped down to his long fingers.

"Oh, dear Lord, is that blood?" Phoebe moaned from behind her in horror. "I knew it! I knew that he eats people!"

Her heart pounding in her chest, Alice was amazed she still managed to stand her ground.

"Oh, do not be absurd, Phoebe," she reassured her younger sister. "Even if he was up to devouring humans, I doubt he would do so in broad daylight!"

At that moment, the man turned to face them, his eyebrows snapping together in a dark frown.

"Run!" Scarlett breathed, tugging at Alice's wrist. "We've done it now! He's seen us already!"

But even as she felt her friend tugging insistently at her wrist, Alice could not help but gaze back at him. The tall gates of Blackthorn Estate rose between them, perhaps the only thing that stood between her and the beastly Duke. The wind whipped around them, stinging her eyes.

Only then could she bear to look away.

She shook her head as she hurried back to the carriage after Scarlett and her sister, feeling strangely bereft as she did so.

By the time they reached the carriage, Alice's chest was burning for air. She clutched at the wooden frame as she fought to catch her breath.

"We are never going back there again!" Phoebe declared, breathing heavily and looking pale as a sheet.

"I… absolutely agree!" Scarlett nodded in support. She glanced meaningfully at Alice, her brow furrowed. "I forbid you from ever going to that horrible place again, Alice! Best friend or not, we are never setting foot in that cursed estate again!"

Well, technically speaking, we did not really set foot on the estate, as we were standing outside of it…

Alice did not say anything else as she inhaled lungfuls of air. The Duke of Thorns had looked every bit as fierce as the rumors said. She could feel the heaviness of his stare even from a distance, could feel his mere presence commanding her to stay rooted in her spot.

Logic should have told her that she should stay as far away from him as possible.

It was just too bad she could hardly refuse such a challenge.

* * *

Long fingers, both strong and graceful, wrapped themselves lightly around her neck. Behind her, the wall stood like an impenetrable force, trapping her heated body between its unyielding facade and a warm hardness that pervaded her senses.

"Do you like it when I hold you like this?" A deep voice, soft and mesmerizing, held her in its thrall as much as the hand wrapped around her neck did. "You like this… I can feel it."

She gasped when she felt the warm roughness of a tongue touching the sensitive shell of her ear.

"I can taste it."

Alice woke up with a gasp, her body drenched in sweat as she twisted in her nightclothes. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, so loud that it drowned out her thoughts. Liquid heat snaked down her shuddering frame to pool low in her belly.

She wrapped her arms around herself but found herself wanting something more.

She shook her head.

What is wrong with me?

She had never felt such things before—except maybe that time she spotted Lord Grayson trysting with Lady Cartwright in the moonlit gardens last year. Even then, it had not felt as intense as it did now, and she had managed to brush it off the moment she stepped back into the ballroom—unlike now, when she had to concentrate to steady her wildly beating heart.

She looked out the window to find the moon still shining brightly in the sky, casting its soft light on her carpeted floor. Quietly, she made her way and opened the glass panel, allowing the wind to cool her flaming cheeks.

She clenched her hands, her fingernails digging into the windowpane as she stared out into the night sky. She had so very little time left before her freedom slipped completely from her grasp.

She would make sure she would not waste a minute of it.

Tomorrow, she would go into Blackthorn Estate to retrieve—borrow—the coveted translation of Marquis de Sade's infamous work.

It had to be tomorrow or never at all.