Chapter 9

Alice had thought that the conversation between Colin and her father would last longer, or that Colin would even want to talk to her afterwards. Why did he seem as if the very hounds of hell were nipping at his heels, then? Why was he avoiding her?

Well, if he was, then she was not going to make it easy for him either!

She smiled at his obvious discomfort at her sudden invitation. "The gardens are particularly lovely this time of year. Shall we?"

She did not give him any room to refuse as she stood up and walked over to the doorway, throwing him a saccharine smile over her shoulder. If he thought he was going to traipse away just like that without even conferring with her about this farce that he initiated, he was sorely mistaken.

Alice stared unflinchingly at him as he tensed. For a moment, she thought that he was going to refuse her right there in the parlor before her whole family.

She had thrown the gauntlet at him, but there was no certainty that he was going to pick it up.

"Yes, of course," he acquiesced with a curt nod of his head.

Alice smiled inwardly as he followed her. She won this round.

She could feel the tenseness in his body as they stepped out into the lovely afternoon sun, the crisp air filling her lungs. All around them, the chrysanthemums were a riot of colors, but she knew that during this time of the year, the lotus pond was simply perfect.

It was also quite secluded, which would give them greater privacy to talk. Anna, the maid that her mother had ordered to discreetly follow them, would know well enough not to intrude upon her business and stay a short distance away, safely out of earshot.

As soon as they reached the pond, she angrily rounded on him. "Why did you have me lie to my family?" she demanded. "You know very well I have a great aversion to it!"

Colin crossed his arms over his broad chest and regarded her with an arched eyebrow. Even though he was the very picture of arrogance, she had to admit that she had never seen a more handsome man. At times, she found herself irritatingly torn between wanting to sigh over him like a witless mooncalf or murdering him with her bare hands.

"I had you lie to your father because he is a very sick man, little lamb," he told her with implacable calm. "You saw how happy he was to see a suitor asking for your hand—do you even have the heart to disappoint him?"

"He will be more disappointed if he thinks all this is real," she replied brokenly. "If he knew that this was just an arrangement between the both of us?—"

"He will be more disappointed in me once the betrothal is broken," he corrected her. "You do not deserve his disapproval, Alice. Let me shoulder it for you, at least."

"You-you?—"

He smiled at her. "You may think me a heartless cad, but I will not ensnare an unwilling woman into an arrangement that does not benefit her."

Alice could sense that there was some other meaning to his words, but she just could not tell what it was. Something lewd, perhaps? The thought of it made her toes curl in her shoes, even as she roiled in confusion at the same time.

With Colin, she could never tell if he was flirting with her or patronizing her. It was highly frustrating yet thrilling at the same time. So much so that Alice wondered if she had taken leave of her senses if that was the conclusion she had come to.

"Very well then," she muttered, quickly regaining her composure despite the heat flooding her cheeks. "I still do not appreciate you calling on us unannounced. I still do not know what to tell my family as it is. You should have conferred with me at the very least. And what do we tell the rest of the ton, anyway?"

"The same thing I told your parents." He shrugged his broad shoulders with an air of extreme indifference. "It matters not what we tell them, really. The whole of Society will be far more intrigued with the idea of a Wolf actually getting engaged than to question the logic behind it."

"Well, I still think we should get our story straight at the very least," she argued. "It would simply not do if you said one thing and I said something else entirely different."

"Well then, I can tell them what I told your mother—that I was entranced by you the moment I laid eyes on you in the Park—and you can tell them that you found me irresistible the moment you saw me." He grinned mischievously. "Or you can tell them the truth—that you sneaked into my home, intending to rob me of my?—"

"You rogue!" she hissed. "How will I ever be able to find another suitor if I go about declaring something that will have me ruined in the space of a breath!"

Her words seemed to trigger something in him, for his blue-gray eyes shuttered immediately. The teasing glint in them faded, replaced by an aloofness that made her blood run cold.

"Then tell them whatever you think would further your interests best," he snapped.

"Fine!" she huffed. "You know, Your Grace?—"

"Colin."

"Colin," she amended. "If you want to make this work, then you had best cooperate. How can we fake a betrothal if you will not even talk to me?"

His only response was cool silence.

She might as well have been talking to a brick wall. Alice did not know why she felt the need to keep ramming herself against it, though.

"And when do you intend for us to make our first appearance as a couple?" she asked him. "I am sure that rumors are circulating all over London now that you have parked your carriage right outside our gates, anyway."

"Tomorrow night," he answered in a clipped tone. "Lady Salisbury's ball."

"What is the matter with you?" Alice glared at him. "I will not have the ton thinking that I am marrying a brute! I expect friendly conversation at the very least while we are together!"

Where was that mischievous man from last night who teased her until she felt her cheeks would burst into flame from blushing so hard? Who replaced him with this stoic fiend who acted like he could not wait to be rid of her?

Are men always this confusing?

As she stood there, nursing a fine temper, he leaned in and growled in her ear, "Friendly conversation, little lamb? I am afraid that if I am any more ‘friendly' with you, you will find yourself on your back and your conditions broken much too soon…"

Her breath hitched in her throat as the warm air from his lips fanned the sensitive shell of her ear. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she felt as if she was swaying, losing balance…

"Ahem!"

Alice blinked and glanced over at Anna, who had her hand over her mouth as she politely cleared her throat. The maid shifted her gaze to Colin, who was much too close to be considered appropriate, even amongst betrothed couples.

The Duke of Thorns neatly stepped away, and pressing a kiss to the back of Alice's hand, he whispered softly, "I shall see you tomorrow at Lady Salisbury's ball, My Lady."

My Lady. Not little lamb.

As he walked away from her, Alice wondered why she felt so disappointed. A young lady's reputation never survived an encounter with a Wolf—or so she had heard. She should be thankful that he held himself away from her.

But perhaps that was only because he did not find her as "entrancing" as he claimed to her parents.

* * *

He could not have left Brandon Estate much quicker.

Lady Alice Barkley had become a fire in his blood, igniting the desires he had long since resolved to put out. For half a decade, he had secluded himself in his estate, keeping company with his demons.

Who would have thought that all it would take to shatter his carefully crafted composure was an eccentric young lady with a penchant for scandalous books tumbling into his bedchamber?

She was no little lamb, as he liked to call her, but a witch. A succubus of devastating power.

He shook his head in irritation. If he had known that this was what prolonged abstinence resulted in, maybe he should have indulged in those women Ethan had sent over!

But none of them had ever tempted him as much as Alice Barkley did with her wide green eyes. Even if they had paraded around him half-naked, their flesh fully on display, begging for his touch, they did not make him as hard as she did, and she was fully clothed.

On the contrary, it only stoked his fantasies of what it would feel like to peel each layer of fabric from her body, slowly revealing inch after inch of her creamy skin…

Colin groaned as his manhood swelled at the mere thought of Alice in his bed, posing for one of his paintings. He imagined running his brush over her sensitized flesh, her lips open in a sensual moan…

"Your Grace?"

The sound of his butler's voice sharply cut through his lewd fantasies. He opened his eyes, his gaze slightly unfocused as he took in the familiar surroundings. When the logs crackled in the hearth, he nearly jumped.

He was back in his study.

"Yes, Sutton? Is there something amiss?" he asked in annoyance.

"Lady Evelyn and Lady Wellington have sent word that they will be arriving tomorrow morning, Your Grace," the butler informed him.

Colin dismissively waved his hand. "I trust that you have already prepared their rooms, yes?"

"Of course, Your Grace."

"And the?—"

He saw the old butler's normally stoic features falter for a brief moment. If he had blinked, he would have missed it.

"All taken care of, Your Grace."

"Very good, Sutton. If there is nothing more, you may retire for the night."

"Good night, Your Grace."

After the butler had closed the door behind him, Colin turned to face the hearth, watching the flames leap merrily. Every now and then, he would hear a pop loud enough to make him wince.

Evelyn, his younger sister, was the only reason why he was even making an effort. This was to be her first Season, and he wanted to make sure that everything went right. It was already bad enough that she did not have their mother to guide her through the insanity that was the London Social scene.

Colin frowned as he turned away from the fire. There was no use in dwelling on what could have been.

The living must make do with what they were left with—even if all that remained were ashes.