The Duke Who Lied
Page 22
“I’m an expert,” Graham retorted, but then another grin brightened his face. Robert was warmed by it. Just two short years ago, his friend would not have smiled so easily. Love did that, it seemed. “Or I used to be.”
“Ha,” Robert grumbled, winking at the men so his ill humor would not be perceived as a slight. “As if any of you are experts in anything anymore. I am the last bachelor.”
Simon let out a long laugh that turned more than one interested female head. Not that he noticed. He only had eyes for his wife, just as all the others did. “You are not the last bachelor.”
“There’s Kit,” James said with a shake of his head. While he smiled, Robert felt his concern just below the surface. James had always been the King of the Dukes. Robert had always been his most troublesome subject.
“Kit?” he repeated with a snort of derision. “He is a saint—he hardly counts. No, it is left to me to sow all the wild oats for all of you old married men.”
Now all three men looked concerned and Robert began to calculate how quickly he could make a run for it.
“Aren’t you tired of it all?” James asked, his tone soft, all teasing departed.
Robert tensed and looked out at the glittering ball without answering. He couldn’t answer, at least not without gathering himself first. He didn’t want them to see, he didn’t want them to know, to hear it in his voice that James was right. He was tired of all of it.
Once upon a time he used to take such pleasure in…well…pleasure. All the parts of it, anticipation to orgasm. But now, now he went through the motions. It was rote. Expected. He was never fully satisfied, even when the experiences were passionate. And if he stopped, he feared the reasons why would catch up to him, overtake him.
He certainly didn’t want to face them. What his friends had found was not for him. It didn’t exist and he didn’t want it. That kind of intimacy was not something he wished to share with any other human being.
“You believe everyone’s path must take them to where you are,” he said at last, because it was clear they were waiting for some kind of answer. “Just because mine hasn’t and won’t doesn’t mean I am tired of it.”
James caught a breath like he was ready to argue that point, but before he could, another man approached. The Marquess of Berronburg was not a member of their duke club, and judging from the way James, Simon and Graham all recoiled slightly as he stepped into their midst, he was not about to be invited into the periphery. Robert couldn’t blame them for it. Berronburg was often rude, he imbibed too much and his lechery for women was nearly as legendary as Robert’s.
Of course, Berronburg was far less subtle in his advances. He was a lout. But he was Robert’s lout. They often prowled together since he had no old friends to do that with anymore.
“Ah, look, four dukes, all in a row,” Berronburg crowed loudly. “Do I get some kind of special prize if I find them all?”
James shook his head slightly. “I have no idea, Berronburg.” He glanced at Robert. “Perhaps we can continue this conversation later. For now, I will find my wife.”
He turned, and Simon and Graham excused themselves as well. Robert stared as they walked away. As the other men met and married the great loves of their lives, he had often wondered if he might one day be pushed from their ranks because of his refusal to do the same. If at some point his old friends would look at him and see someone no better than the marquess who was prattling at his side.
That would break his heart.
“I say, are you listening at all?”
Berronburg shook his arm and Robert blinked, coming back to the present and turning toward the man with a scowl. “Who would not hear you when you’re practically shouting the ballroom down? A bit of discretion, if you please, my lord.”
Berronburg pursed his lips. “Those dukes are a bad influence on you, Roseford, I swear to Christ. I was asking you if you’d heard the news.”
Robert stifled a sigh and settled himself back into the role of rake, rogue, scoundrel. It settled onto his shoulders, but less readily than it once might have. “News?”
Berronburg was practically bouncing. “Yes, yes, yes.”
“Well, you always do have the best gossip. What is it then?”
“The Countess of Gainsworth is returning to Society.”
All of Robert’s maudlin thoughts vanished in an instant at that unexpected information. He tilted his head. “The Countess of Gainsworth?”
Berronburg grinned. “The very one. The infamous lady whose sexual prowess was so great that she struck her husband dead while in flagrante delicto!” The marquess rubbed his hands together and his eyes lit up lewdly. “Can you imagine?”
Robert shook his head. Everyone knew the story. It had circulated through Society like wildfire about a year ago. The whispers had died down, of course, after the man was buried, but now that his wife was coming out of mourning, there was no doubt the world would go abuzz again.
He almost felt sorry for the lady.
“Can you?” Berronburg insisted, elbowing him.
Robert smiled. “I can, indeed. Who could not? She’ll have her pick of lovers, of course.”
Berronburg laughed. “I agree. There will be dozens who would be willing to risk the cost.”
Robert snorted in derision. “Please. Her husband was an old bastard. Put her with a younger man of…talent? No one will suffer but the bed sheets. Are they taking wagers yet on who will win her to his bed?”
“Of course,” Berronburg chuckled. “I assume you will be putting yourself into the mix.”
Robert jolted at the suggestion. Had he been considering it? In truth, he could scarcely picture the countess. He rarely pursued married women. Too much complication. But certainly the rumors of her prowess interested him. As did the feather that winning her would put in his cap.
He glanced over to find Berronburg watching him closely. Intently, even. “Why are you waiting for my answer with such focus, my friend?”
Berronburg shook his head. “Half the men with interest will drop out if you enter the fray, Your Grace. Including me. That is too much rich competition for my blood.”
Robert shrugged. “I have not yet decided what I will—”
He stopped midsentence because something had caught his eye. Someone, to be more specific. Two ladies had entered the ballroom. The one was slightly older, with dark hair and a kind expression. But it wasn’t the elder who caught Robert’s eye. No, it was the younger. She was stunning, truly beautiful, with thick brown hair and a face that could stop any man in his tracks. She shifted as she said something to the footman at the door and seemed to take a deep breath before she was announced.
“The Countess of Gainsworth,” the footman said. “And Mrs. Sambrook.”
The reaction of the crowd was immediate. There was a stunned silence that rippled through the entire room and then a low rumble as talk began. The countess stood, almost frozen, for a moment. Her companion said something to her, and Lady Gainsworth set her shoulders back and stepped into the ballroom. The women were greeted by the hostess of the ball, Lady Vinesmith, who looked around the crowd as if she regretted asking the countess here now that the room was reacting so strongly.
Robert watched it all unfold, this little drama, and couldn’t take his eyes away. Couldn’t shake a tiny niggle of…memory that itched in the back of his mind as he watched the exquisite countess edge to the wall and stand there, a blank expression on her face.
“Better tell the others to put their blunt away,” he murmured.
“Why?” Berronburg asked, his own gaze fixated on the countess, just as Robert’s was.
“Because the lady is mine. I guarantee it,” Robert said with a grin.
Other Books by
Jess Michaels
The 1797 Club
For information about the upcoming series, go to www.1797club.com to join the club!
The Daring Duke (Available Now!)
The Broken Duke (Available Now!)
The Silent Duke (Available Now!)
The Duke of Nothing (Available Now!)
The Undercover Duke (Available Now!)
The Duke Who Lied (Coming August 2018)
The Duke of Desire (Coming October 2018)
The Last Duke (Coming November 2018)
Seasons
An Affair in Winter (Book 1)
A Spring Deception (Book 2)
One Summer of Surrender (Book 3)
Adored in Autumn (Book 4)
The Wicked Woodleys
Forbidden (Book 1)
Deceived (Book 2)
Tempted (Book 3)
Ruined (Book 4)
Seduced (Book 5)
The Notorious Flynns
The Other Duke (Book 1)
The Scoundrel’s Lover (Book 2)
The Widow Wager (Book 3)
No Gentleman for Georgina (Book 4)
A Marquis for Mary (Book 5)
The Ladies Book of Pleasures
A Matter of Sin
A Moment of Passion
A Measure of Deceit
The Pleasure Wars Series
Taken By the Duke
Pleasuring The Lady
Beauty and the Earl
Beautiful Distraction
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Jess Michaels likes geeky stuff, Vanilla Coke Zero, anything coconut, cheese, fluffy cats, smooth cats, any cats, many dogs and people who care about the welfare of their fellow humans. She watches too much daytime court shows, but just enough Star Wars. She is lucky enough to be married to her favorite person in the world and live in a beautiful home on a golf course lake in Northern Arizona.
When she’s not obsessively checking her steps on Fitbit or trying out new flavors of Greek yogurt, she writes historical romances with smoking hot alpha males and sassy ladies who do anything but wait to get what they want. She has written for numerous publishers and is now fully indie and loving every moment of it (well, almost every moment).
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