Chapter 26
If she had thought before that dressing according to her status as the betrothed of the Duke of Blackthorn was stressful enough, it was nothing compared to the pressure she now felt, having to dress for two dukes.
If she dressed too shabbily, she might offend the Duke of Sinclair, who had chosen her after winning the competition.
On the other hand, if she dressed too ostentatiously, she might also offend her betrothed, who was already none too pleased about the prospect of her dancing with one of his friends for the entire night. To say that Colin would be absolutely livid might even prove to be an understatement.
“Whatever Ethan has planned, I just hope he knows what he is doing,” she muttered under her breath, frustration seeping into her tone. She stared glumly at the dresses her lady’s maid had laid out for her. “Because, clearly, I don’t.”
Alice did not appreciate being caught between Colin and his friends. It was already complicated enough with her developing feelings for a man who, at the very least, felt some repugnance for such emotions.
But if risking his anger tonight meant that she could take one step closer to him, it would be well worth the risk.
“Has M’Lady chosen her outfit for tonight?” Susan asked her politely.
Fortune favors the brave.
Alice would need all the bravery she possessed for tonight.
“This one,” she said finally, settling on a beautiful peach gown sprinkled with seed pearls.
It was definitely one of her more extravagant dresses. When it had arrived from the atelier, her mama had been convinced that this was the dress that would secure her an offer.
She would use it tonight to win the heart of a duke.
* * *
When she met with the Duke of Sinclair at the foot of the stairs, Alice could only sigh at his appearance. He was exceedingly handsome, with his hair carefully brushed back and that same charming grin on his face. However, she found that he still could not hold a candle to Colin in spite of the latter’s moody temperament.
A Wolf in any other clothing is still a Wolf.
Ethan might seem charming and harmless, capable of easily making a lady drop her guard—or her dignity—but she knew better than to fully trust him.
“You look beautiful tonight, My Lady.” He grinned at her as she slid her hand into his outstretched one. “Colin is going to be awestruck by your magnificence.” Then, he paused and grimaced. “Right after he gets over being apoplectic with rage.”
His remark was uttered with such casual elan that Alice could not help the giggle that bubbled up her throat.
“There, that is much better than the stiff face with which you greeted me earlier.” Her partner smiled most encouragingly at her. “If you can just keep smiling and looking as if you are having a wonderful time, that would be for the best.”
Alice shook her head. “Right now, my knees are knocking together so badly that I fear I am going to topple over.”
“Now, that would be a sight worth watching.”
She glared helplessly at him, and he only grinned back at her, ever the charming Wolf that he was. However, unlike the flurry of butterflies inspired by even the smallest smirk from Colin, she found no such thing happening with Ethan. He was more like a brother or a friend—albeit a funny one. The comfort she derived from his company was not so very different from what she felt with Phoebe or Scarlett.
Ethan continued to regale her with short funny stories from his Grand Tour, and Alice found herself leaning more into the retelling of the adventures he had with Colin. She had a great suspicion, though, that these versions had been heavily watered down for her benefit.
She was still smiling and barely restraining her giggles when they finally made it to the ballroom, where Colin and the Dowager Countess stood by the door to personally greet their guests as they arrived.
When she saw him, her heart thudded so loudly in her chest that she could scarcely hear anything else. Tonight, he was dressed most elegantly in a black jacket that contrasted with the snowy white linen of his shirt.
From within the folds of his cravat winked a large emerald, and when she looked up to him, she found his lips curled slightly into a smile as he gazed back at her, his dark blue-gray eyes seemingly drinking her in.
For a moment, it seemed as if they were the only people in the ballroom. The chatter of the guests faded away into the background, and she was made even more keenly aware of the man before her.
Just then, she heard Ethan laugh at something the Dowager Countess said, and she blinked, reeling slightly when she felt herself being jolted back into the present.
Almost instantaneously, she saw Colin’s sensual lips press into a thin line, and his dark eyes were utterly cold as he stared back at her.
“I hope you enjoy the night, My Lady,” he told her in a glacial tone.
Recalling what Ethan had told her earlier, she lifted her chin and met his gaze with her own smiling one. “Thank you so much, Your Grace. Lady Wellington has taken great care to arrange this ball, so I am certain that I will find myself satisfied with tonight’s revelry.”
She did not say anything more when Ethan led her away from their hosts, choosing to give him one last look over her shoulder as she walked away from him. When she turned away, she could positively feel his gaze boring into her back.
“Marvelous job, My Lady,” Ethan praised under his breath. “You have greatly unsettled him with your appearance alone. That is very good.”
“Somehow, I do not think that baiting a Wolf is a good idea…”
The Duke of Sinclair let out a soft chuckle and winked at her. “Oh, we are going to do more of that later, so keep your chin up and do not falter! It takes courage to capture a Wolf and tame him.”
“But I do not want to tame him,” she protested. “I… very much like him as he is—thorns and all.”
She saw his eyes soften.
“If there is ever anything else you must remember, My Lady, it is this,” he told her solemnly. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to my friend. He has needed someone like you for as long as I can remember.”
Alice pressed her lips and hung her head slightly, blinking away the tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes.
“I do not think he feels the same way about it,” she whispered brokenly.
“He does,” Ethan assured her. “He is just being an extremely obstinate idiot right now.”
She could not help but laugh at that, but her heart soared with hope at his words. He was right—Colin could be rather obstinate, but then so was she.
And if she was ever going to fail, she would do it knowing that she tried her best and gave it everything she had. Nothing less would do.
* * *
“You know, that could have been you.”
Colin frowned as he glanced at his grandmother smiling at the couple on the dance floor. Alice was absolutely breathtaking in a peach-colored gown studded with tiny pearls. When she stood before him earlier, he could not help but admire the soft swell of her breasts peeking over the neckline of her bodice. Now, the thought of his friend enjoying that very same view lit anger in his veins that he kept telling himself he had no right to be feeling.
Three more weeks, three more weeks, he chanted inwardly, reminding himself that this was nothing more than a fake betrothal and that it was in Alice’s best interests that he let her go.
But damn it all to hell, he did not want to.
He wanted nothing more than to yank her away from Ethan and pull her close to him instead. He wanted her to look up at him and smile up at him and not at his traitor of a friend, who selfishly claimed all of her dances for that night.
“Do not even think of claiming one of her dances for tonight,” Lady Wellington warned him.
Colin immediately tucked his thoughts back and affected a nonchalant air. “I am doing no such thing.”
“Do not even bother lying to me,” his grandmother snapped. “I have seen the way you look at her, and it is your fault that you did not claim her for yourself much earlier.”
“You know how much I despise hunting.” He shrugged. “Besides, as one of the hosts of this house party, it is only right that I cede the win to our guests.”
Of course, he had not expected his friend to steal his betrothed from right under his nose, but that was another conversation entirely—one that he would be having with Ethan soon.
Preferably before the night was over.
“I told you not to lie to me,” the Dowager Countess sighed. “I have eyes, Colin. I have seen the way you treated that poor girl. If you do not care for her in the way you should, then you have no right to be so angry if somebody else does.”
He clenched his hands into fists at his sides. Why was it that everyone just seemed to want to give their advice on how he should manage his approach to Alice? Had she somehow bewitched everyone to go against him?
Even if she did manage to do that, I can hardly blame them.
If there was anyone that she had actually bewitched, it was him. She had ensnared him, body and soul. He had thought that if he had but a taste of her, it would satisfy his curiosity, and that would be the end of that.
But that night in his study had only ignited a fiercer flame in him, and now he was roiling in a hell of his own making.
Soon, the music came to an end, and he watched as Ethan and Alice bowed to each other. Both of them were wearing big smiles, as if they truly enjoyed each other’s company. His friend escorted her away from the dance floor before he leaned in and whispered something in his ear. Moments later, he walked away.
To get some refreshments, perhaps. It should have been me getting her refreshments and seeing to her every comfort. It should have been me dancing with her and making her laugh.
As soon as his friend was far enough, he grasped her upper arm as gently as he could in spite of the heightened state of arousal he was in.
“Colin!” Her voice was one of admonishment. Her green eyes narrowed at him.
“I do so like the way you say my name,” he growled softly.
Even that incensed, little huff had him hardening. Was there ever something she did that would not arouse him?
At this point, Colin doubted it.
Alice glared at him in warning. “We are in the middle of a ball, for heaven’s sake. Unhand me at once!”
“Need I remind you of our agreement, little lamb?” he asked her silkily.
His gaze dropped to her bodice, and he felt his mouth go dry, felt his breeches become increasingly uncomfortable.
“You are mine, remember?” he whispered in her ear. “We still have three more weeks to go, you and I…”
He felt her shudder as his warm breath caressed the sensitive shell of her ear. Recalling how she had done the same when she was in his arms, he smiled to himself.
“If you keep this up, we will be in the scandal sheets before we even make it back to London!” she hissed back at him.
He shrugged and smiled roguishly at her. “I am a Wolf, remember? I do not care for those damned scandal sheets.”
“You might not, but I do!” She twisted out of his grip as politely as she could, taking great care not to cause a scene.
“Very well…”
This time, he let her go. He glanced down at her with a hooded gaze, taking in the beautiful flush in her cheeks and her heaving chest as she glared back at him.
“Come to my rooms tonight, little lamb,” he told her softly. “Tonight, when everybody else has gone to their rooms. Do not make me ask again.”
“You are not asking as much as you are ordering!” she protested.
He smiled at that. “Am I, really?”
He took a step back, maintaining the appropriate distance between them once more before the other guests could take notice and start gossiping. It took a great effort, but he turned around and walked away from her.
He had not gone very far when he heard a soft voice call out from behind him.
“I hope you do not regret what you are about to do.”
It was Daniel.
His friend smiled coldly at him as he clasped his hands behind his back. Colin caught the flash of something in his eyes, but then it was gone before he could even decipher what it meant.
“Things are not what they look like sometimes,” Daniel cautioned him in a soft voice. “And some things, like fate, are not to be tested.”
“I did not think you were so sentimental,” Colin scoffed.
Daniel merely shrugged in reply and walked away from him.
For his part, Colin had lost all appetite for the ball. He would much rather run up to his rooms right across Alice’s and await her arrival that evening.
Whether she would come or not was another question.