Strike at Midnight(6)

A genuine smile formed on my lips when I noticed the duke was no longer wearing his gloves, and I had to thank the lucky stars for men who found it hard to keep it in their breeches.

“Please excuse us,” the duke said, all full of charm. He bowed towards me and I forced a little trip so I could end up in his arms.

“Oops,” I said, “I’m such a klutz this evening.”

He held me steady with both of his hands on my shoulders, which gave me the chance to try and look at his hand. The lack of lighting made it impossible to see anything for certain, so I had to change tactics.

“Thank you so much, my lord,” I said as sexily as I could manage, and the cheeky bastard responded quickly enough by holding me a little bit tighter.

Lady Stanley was fuming next to us, and I couldn’t blame her. He was looking at me like he wanted to switch partners. Or have us both. Ass.

My hand trailed along his arm, and I lifted it off me so I could continue the trail and latch on to his hand. I did a little twirl so his arm was wrapped around my neck and my back was against his chest.

“Lady Stanley,” I said, not looking at her, as I was too busy trying to study the duke’s hand. “I think your husband is looking for you.”

She let out an exasperated growl and marched away, and then the duke twirled me around to face him. Damn it. I’d lost another chance at checking out that hand.

He pushed me against the wall before I could stop him and his lips were on my neck before I even got a peck of a kiss. His eyes lit up like wildfire when I pushed him away, and I didn’t miss the challenge on his face when he realized I would be a fighter. The bastard.

There was no doubt in my mind that this man standing in front of me wasn’t the duke. As much as he was rumored to be one who liked the ladies, the real duke was also rumored to be very much a gentleman—not to mention a sought-after lover. That was probably what Lady Stanley had been expecting tonight.

The duke—or imposter duke—pushed me back against the wall and put his arms on the wall on either side of my head to trap me in.

Stupid. Idiotic. Asshole. Anyone who knew me well knew never to lay a hand on me without expecting repercussions. And anyone who chose to get this close without my permission tended to be responsible for bringing up old memories that created an automated fight response that I couldn’t always control. However, this time, I didn’t really want to.

His head snapped back when my fist connected with his chin, and he looked momentarily stunned that I had done such a thing. Then he came at me again.

“Cinderella?”

The voice that broke through the shadows left me reeling for a moment. What the hell was he doing here?

“Are you well?” Lemonade Guy asked as his face came into full view. It stopped the duke in his tracks and I panicked at the thought of Lemonade Guy being in danger from the duke. He looked like he had never even heard a cuss word in his life, let alone witnessed any violence.

He made his way towards me and I went to tell him that I was fine and to go back to the ball. But before I could get the words out of my mouth, the imposter duke took off running down the darkened hallway.

“Crap.” I was about to run after him, but Lemonade Guy put his hand on my arm to stop me.

“What happened?” he asked with genuine concern on his features. “Are you sure everything is all right?”

“I’m fine,” I said, “but I need to leave. Please understand.”

His face fell as I raced away, but that didn’t matter. The imposter duke was on the run, and I needed to get to him before he disappeared completely.

Distant footsteps of the imposter duke running ahead of me were audible enough for me to detect in which direction he was going. That was good. But then I realized that there was another set of footsteps trailing behind me that belonged to Lemonade Guy who was now calling my name. That was bad. It made me run faster and push through the pain of the sadistic dress, and my glass slippers clashed louder against the hard flooring as I put all I had into the run. I knew I shouldn’t have been swayed by my roommate to wear the shoes, but she had gnawed my ears off until I had agreed to wear them when she discovered them at the bottom of my closet.

They had never been worn by me before, but they were the only thing I had left of my mother’s and the only thing of any value that I had taken from my previous home. Between the slippers and a miniature painting of my father, I had nothing else left of my deceased parents. Now I wished that I had opted for my usual hunting boots rather than this fashion choice.

Two doors appeared before me as I took another turn through the labyrinth of halls, and they were crashing back and forth as if someone had just run through them with haste. It looked like the imposter duke was making a proper run for it.

There were steps on the other side of the doors that led to the outside gardens, and when I raced down them, I saw a large maze of greenery appear before me.

There had been no other way for the stupid shit to have gone except into the maze of brambles that stared back at me like an evil temptress. I had no choice but to go looking for him inside of it—in the dark—and I couldn’t believe my cursed luck.

Lemonade Guy was still on my tail, so I headed towards the maze without giving it a second thought. He shouldn’t get hurt because of me, and he had “hero” written all over him. I really needed to lose him, and fast.