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“Oh, it was worth it,” the duke goaded.

“You don’t care about protecting me,” Eleanor said, her voice rising. “You want to control me. You don’t have anyone in your life who you can control, but you stumbled into this little agreement, and now you think you can control every aspect of my life, including who I can dance with and who I can’t.”

“Don’t let me stop you ranting,” the duke dismissed.

Eleanor felt her blood boil. “What are you going to do at the end of all of this? Leave me at the end of the Season with no suitor, and I will be a spinster. I will face social obscurity, and have no one to rely on, and my dowry will be whittled away until I must rely on Nate for everything while he is trying to live his own life and start a family. Perhaps I will take up gazing at the stars!”

Eleanor spun around and waved both hands theatrically at the night sky.

“We are not yet even through our first ball,” the duke said. “You will undoubtedly find a suitor before the Season is done. There is no need to make a scene like this. I couldn’t care less what people think about me, but do you really want the men of London hearing about the woman who was screaming at the Duke of Ravenshire at a ball?”

“They will think he must have deserved it,” Eleanor countered, not holding back. “And you do deserve it. My dance card was full, but protocol and decorum mean nothing to you. They will talk about me anyway. I’d rather they talk about me for shouting at you than for being forced into a dance with you that you had no right to take. If you⁠—”

“Last warning,” the duke said. “I’m no longer asking you not to make a scene; I’m telling you.”

“Or, you’ll do what?” she asked. “Stare me down like a scared lord? Perhaps you will⁠—”

“Oh, for goodness sake,” he spat. “If only to shut you up.”

Eleanor only had a second to wonder what that meant before he stepped forward, grabbed her, and pulled her in as if he meant to dance with her there on the balcony; then he kissed her.

CHAPTER 10

The stone balustrade pressed into her back, hard and cold, but Eleanor didn’t notice. She only felt the warmth. His lips pressed to hers, pinning her to the stonework behind, as his hands gripped her hips.

A welcome shiver ran up her spine. Unconnected to the tingle at her back, his hands held her tighter, keeping her firmly in place. His body was against hers, not pressed, but close enough for her to feel the incredible heat of his body.

Gabriel pulled back, just far enough to give her breathing room, but he remained close enough that Eleanor knew another kiss was coming. Only if she wanted it.

She gazed into his hungry eyes, unable to look away. Gabriel let out shallow breaths as if he were a wild animal that had cornered its prey and was ready to devour it. She could see the need, the raging need to kiss her again, no matter the stakes, the risk, or the damage it could do.

And she didn’t just want it.

I need it.

Gabriel came for her again, his lips pushing harder this time, pressing her back into the stonework that bit at her back. Any discomfort she might have felt was lost to the exhilaration of his kiss as it enraptured her whole body. How could she think about anything else when he made her feel this way?

He almost lifted her off her feet, his firm grasp on the gentle curve of her hips, and she reached down to place a hand atop each of his before sliding her hands up onto his torso. Her hands rose to the hard planes of his chest, and she gasped as she felt his muscular frame beneath.

His cologne drifted between them, tinged with sweat from dancing. He tasted of the champagne he had drunk, sweet and bubbly, but the kiss was anything but. He had informed her that he was in charge, and he commanded her compliance with his lips.

It was a command that she adhered to readily.

She sank into him, deeper and deeper, longing for the kiss to never end. Her hands wanted to explore more of his body, but she was scared to move them from his chest; it was already brazen to have them there. Then she thought about his hands at her hips. How would it feel if they were not confined there? What if…?

Another shiver ran up her spine.

Eleanor had never dared to imagine those sorts of things in any great detail, but with Gabriel’s lips on hers, she dared to dream.

When he pulled back from her a second time, she instinctively leaned forward, trying to make the kiss last longer, but their lips came apart.

The look in his eyes had changed. It wasn’t the look of a wild animal, with a fiery stare, but something else completely. He looked as though he had suddenly been hit with the revelation that he had tasted forbidden fruit.

Eleanor did the only reasonable thing. If she lingered a moment longer, she might be kissed again, and they had already been fortunate enough to be left alone for so long. She tried to remain calm in the situation and removed herself from between the duke and the balustrade, and walked toward the entrance to the hall without looking back.

She didn’t want Gabriel to see the smile plastered to her swollen lips.

* * *