Page 19 of The Mistress
She straightened her shoulders. “I advise that you return me to my home forthwith.”
Alaric’s top lip turned back in a sneer. “The home that Redding provides for you so that he can fuck you any time he feels like it? Why do you look so shocked, Grace?” he taunted when she gave a shaky gasp at his overt crudeness. “When it is the same way in which you described the act to me at our very first meeting.”
“My intention was to shock,” she defended.
“As is mine.”
She gave an impatient shake of her head. “You know nothing of my circumstances.”
He snorted. “Whatever those circumstances are, I know that I am far wealthier than Redding, and that once you are my mistress, I shall not only provide for you, but ensure you have everything your heart desires.”
“I have no intention of becoming your mistress. And my heart, along with the rest of me, desires that you return me to my home immediately,” she repeated with a determined lift of her chin. “If you do so now, I give you my word I will not tell anyone you tried to abduct me.”
He appeared unconcerned. “I did not try, Grace. I succeeded.”
Grace could not deny the truth of that. But this situation could not continue. “And as I have said, if you return me to my home now, I shall tell no one about it.”
“Not even Redding?”
“Not even George,” she confirmed, knowing George would be furious if he even suspected Melborne had spirited her away once the two of them had left the theater together.
The duke’s mouth thinned at her use of the other man’s name, his narrowed gaze becoming hard and unyielding. “Now that you are mine, I intend to do everything in my power to obliterate even your memory of that man.”
Grace winced. “But I am not yours.”
“And yet you are exactly where I wish you to be,” he stated with satisfaction.
“That does not make me yours.” Grace realized her mistake in in using that scornful tone when Alaric’s expression became even grimmer as he stepped toward her, a look of intent in the hard glitter of his eyes.
CHAPTEREIGHT
“What are you doing?”
Alaric could hear the undeniable quiver of nervousness in Grace’s voice as he came to a halt in front of her. He lightly placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back until she was lying on the bed.
He held her gaze as he followed her down, placing one knee on either side of Grace’s thighs.
He searched for any signs that she was more than nervous. The last thing he wanted was for Grace to fear him in any way.
Her breasts quickly rose and fell in rhythm with her shallow breathing. Her eyes were a bright green, her cheeks delicately flushed, and, as Alaric stared down at her, she moistened her lips with the tip of her pink tongue. As if readying those lips to receive his kiss.
Alaric was not about to disappoint those lips.
He slowly lowered his torso until he could place his elbows on the pillow either side of her head and the palms of his hands could cradle each side of her face. Her eyes darkened, and her cheeks blazed with color and heat beneath that gentle touch.
But she made no effort to escape the confinement of his thighs and hands, or the hard evidence of his arousal now pressing against her abdomen. Instead, she met his gaze without flinching.
“I am going to kiss you now,” he warned gruffly.
“That is a very bad idea,” she groaned huskily.
“But you are not saying no?” Alaric prompted.
She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth for several seconds before answering. “Finn is waiting for me at home.”
Which was not an outright refusal to Alaric kissing her. “I have already sent word to James Stanley and asked him to deal with that situation.”
She looked alarmed. “In what manner will he be ‘dealing’ with Finn?”