My American Duchess by James Eloisa

Author:James, Eloisa [James, Eloisa]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-01-26T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Merry’s mind reeled as she sank back into the chair, watching the door close behind the Duke of Trent. One minute she had been talking to him about her forsaken betrothals, and then she had found herself being kissed more passionately than ever before in her life.

She put her hand to her mouth, as if his lips had left an imprint there. At first, he had been comforting. But there had been nothing soothing about his kisses.

They were untamed, ferocious, demanding.

Even thinking about them made her pulse pound in her ears. As soon as his mouth touched hers, she had felt as if she were melting inside. As if she might open her mouth and embarrass herself.

No.

They were only kisses. He was a duke, a man who would never marry someone like her. They were intended to make her feel better after the unpleasantness with Cedric.

Just as she tried to decide whether men actually kissed in an effort to comfort—she had the strong feeling that Miss Fairfax would not agree—a noise startled her.

She looked in the direction of the sound, the part of the room farthest from the door, and she was stupefied to see Cedric emerge from behind an armchair.

Her hand fell from her face. Her mouth opened in astonishment, but she was incapable of speech. Cedric ambled over and seated himself opposite her, making certain that his pantaloons were perfectly smooth before he crossed his legs.

“That is an extremely unattractive expression,” he observed. “You should close your mouth.”

With this insult, she found her voice. “What are you doing here?” she squeaked. It was the least of her questions, but the first to come to mind. He’d heard everything. He must have heard everything. Oh God, he must have heard her kissing Trent.

“I retreated to think over your charming remarks in the ballroom. When you and my brother entered, I could hardly leave. One hesitates to interrupt people who are so passionately engaged in the fine art of betrayal.”

Yes, he heard her kissing Trent.

“Betrayal!” Merry cried, though she could scarcely deny it. She had betrayed him. Still, she had to try to defend herself. “That would imply that our betrothal was still intact, which any person in the ballroom could tell you was not the case.”

It wasn’t very convincing, even to her own ears. It was despicable to kiss another man five minutes after breaking an engagement.

Cedric rose, drew a cheroot from his inside pocket, and lit it with a rush he took from the fireplace.

“I didn’t know you smoke!”

“Apparently, there are many things that neither of us knew of the other.” He turned back from the fire. “For example, I knew you were a lusty wench, but I was still surprised to see you so enthusiastically returning my brother’s, shall we say, addresses? Though perhaps advances is a more accurate word.”

“He was merely trying to reassure me,” Merry said, knowing her excuse sounded feeble.

“No, he wasn’t,” Cedric stated, sitting back down. “I informed my brother a few

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