Duke of Dishonor (Lords of Scandal 11)

He’d be lying if he didn’t confess, at least to himself, that he’d noticed her from the first. She was uncommonly beautiful, and she had this voice…low and sultry. Just the sort a man liked whispering in his ear. Or moaning. That would work too.

But once he’d gotten past the sound, he’d listened to the words. Abigail was…spoiled. There was no other term for it. Youngest of the pack, she was the least useful and the most vocal and—

She spun about narrowing her gaze again as though she could hear his thoughts. “I shan’t marry him.”

“Abby,” Bash said as he held out his hands. “You don’t have a choice. Your safety depends on a match and with your reputation in tatters, this is the best I can do.”

Chad winced but not before he watched her face crumble.

He understood the situation. Her older sister Emily had been kidnapped and dragged through the streets of London. She’d been saved but not before she’d been seen. Only the wag

ging tongues of the ton had mistaken the two sisters. They thought it was Abigail who’d been out alone with a man.

Shame. Even he could understand that. Your sibling leaving a bundle of problems at your door. “I’m your best option, Princess.”

Her shoulders slumped and her chin melted down toward her chest.

He watched her eyes close and stay that way as she hugged herself. A niggle of sympathy slid down his back. “So that’s it then? I’m to be the Baroness of Blasphemy? Does that mean I can commence cursing?”

“No,” both men said at the same time.

Chad frowned, his brows drawing together. The title Baroness of Blasphemy irritated him, for a reason he couldn’t seem to name. It was too crass for a such a lovely woman even if she did go about loudly spouting her opinion all the time.

Abigail’s chin snapped back up and her eyes met his. But she didn’t express her dissatisfaction with words. Instead, she stared at him with a challenge glittering in her rich chocolate colored eyes.

He loved a challenge. And he had to confess, he respected that she’d pulled herself back together.

“What are you thinking?” he softly murmured as he took another step closer. He was close enough to touch her and her scent, like a fresh spring on a crisp autumn day wrapped about him.

One perfect brow arched up. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” Her words weren’t loud like he’d expected.

In fact, her voice had dropped into a sultry whisper that actually made him shiver. He recognized the sensation…anticipation. “I would. That’s why I asked.”

Her tongue darted out and she licked her lips looking up at the ceiling as though she were choosing her next words very carefully. He didn’t think she was intentionally teasing him with her tongue but the tip, as pretty in its pink as her lips, made everything in his body harden.

Her eyes drifted down meeting his again. “I may not have a choice in our nuptials, but I will have choices in our marriage. And I guarantee that if you force me into this, you’re not going to like them.”

He cocked his head at an angle as he assessed the imp before him. “Challenge accepted, Princess.”

* * *