The Unwanted Dukes Collection by Jessie Clever

Author:Jessie Clever [Clever, Jessie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798985201826
Publisher: Someday Lady Publishing, LLC

Chapter 9

She was flushed by the time she entered the drawing room where the other guests were shown to wait for the start of dinner. Louisa counted eight other couples upon their entrance, not including the viscountess and her husband. The viscountess, in fact, was noticeably absent.

She felt a modicum of relief at not facing the woman immediately. She was already feeling rather more vigorous than usual, and she feared her boldness would get her into further trouble that evening. She didn’t know why she had behaved so on the carriage ride, but after Jo’s startling revelation, Louisa was rather tired of the people in her life making decisions of which she knew little or nothing until their impact was felt on her.

For why on earth had she teased Sebastian?

Yes, she had felt a thrill of power when she saw her ministrations working, but it only served to drive her further into a frenzy. Her skin ached for his touch, her lips craved his kiss, and he had sat there with all the emotional response of an eel.

And now she was forced to dine with his mother.

Could this evening get any worse?

She rued the thought as soon as the couple beside her turned, and she was faced with Jonathan Devlin. She took an involuntary step back, only to have Sebastian’s hand at the small of her back stop her. The touch sent a bolt of lightning through her as he had not touched her since their wedding day, and now was the absolutely worst time to remind her of how good it felt.

She blinked, forcing away all of her roiling emotions to focus on the man who stood in front of her. It wasn’t Devlin at all. It was her own silly mind playing games on her. It was the earl himself, Westrick, and his countess, whom Louisa understood not to be Jonathan’s mother but rather the earl’s second wife. Louisa hated herself for being so jumpy and vowed to one day return the favor to that sniveling weasel.

For now she nodded in acknowledgment to the earl and countess and moved deeper into the room with Sebastian directly behind her. The other couples Louisa knew only by name and the brief occasions where they had passed during social functions such as these.

She felt the weight of the day and her responsibilities as the Duchess of Waverly suddenly press down on her shoulders. She didn’t wish to be here tonight. She wanted to run back to Ravenwood House and demand that Jo explain what she had meant. She wanted to be at home, nestled into bed, waiting for her husband to come to her.

The last thought stabbed her directly in the chest for when had she come to think of Waverly House as home and why would she keep expecting Sebastian to come to her? He’d already made his position on their marriage perfectly clear.

She knew she would need to face that soon. Throwing herself into a household renovation was only an excuse to avoid the subject she knew she must confront.

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