Free All About the Duke (The Dukes' Club Book 4) by Eva Devon Page B

difficult. He was known to be rather persuasive, after all.
    “You like balls?” Given his previous thoughts, he wanted to know.
    She screwed up her face, “Like? Well, I like dancing, but the introductions, the braying conversations, and the machinations of the marriage-minded mamas? What’s to like about that?” 
    A laugh boomed out of him.
    “What?” she challenged.
    “You sound like a man. Not just any man, but a titled lord.”
    She sighed. “I think I should have been born a man.”
    “God forbid, Alfred.” He grinned. “You make a perfect woman.” And she did. With each moment, he was growing more and more drawn to her oddities.
    She rolled her eyes. “Well, you’re the only one who thinks so.”
    “People are just frightened by different things.”
    “I’m different, for certain.” She tore off a hunk of bread in a most inefficient fashion and handed it to him.
    He eyed the bread. A servant would have brought a knife to cut it into slices. But not Alfred. She’d brought the bread and hadn’t given its serving a second thought. She wasn’t bothered by such things and he admired her for it. Too many people were concerned with appearances and rules.
    “You’re a rarity, Alfred,” he said softly.
    She bowed her head slightly and busied herself with the bread.
    “It’s a compliment.”
    She smiled sadly. “Being a rarity is a dangerous thing, Your Grace.”
    “How so?” He could have sworn most women wanted to be seen as special.
    “Rarities are hunted and killed as trophies, or they’re gotten rid of.”
    Her voice had softened and her blue eyes shone with a cold sheen.
    “Alfred?”
    She shook her head.
    “Tell me?”
    “What?” she said tightly, looking away.
    “What’s made you sad just now?” he asked
    “Not today, Nicholas,” she shook her head then turned her face to him, her lips turned in an overly bright smile. “Today is for happy things.”
    With that, she jumped up abandoning him to their bread. She raced for the frothy water rushing in over the beach.
    So, Alfred, for all her careless joy and silliness, had sorrow in her heart.
    Is that why she’d run off?
    He wanted to know. He had to know. It was inexplicable, his sudden fascination with her. Nicholas paused. Was he doing what she said? Hunting a rarity? No. She wasn’t just some object he wanted to obtain. If that were the case, he would have bedded her already. This morning or here on the beach.
    Alfred was something more. Despite the instincts that had guided his roguish self for the vast majority of his life, he wasn’t going to go about his business until he knew what, exactly, she was doing on his estate and, more surprisingly, in his life.
    ***
    T hat had been a near thing.
    Allegra peeled off her shoes and socks and ran into the saltwater. She nearly yelped at the cold, but she was made of stern stuff. Her family’s estate was in York and she and her sister had gone swimming any time of year. As long as snow wasn’t falling, they’d made mad dashes into the wickedly cold water and loved every moment of it.
    She kicked the waves and looked back over her shoulder at Nicholas. He was still sitting, staring at her, a strange look on his face.
    He was dangerous.
    She knew that.
    He was the sort of man that women risked it all for a taste of. She’d already made her decision. She’d tossed her good reputation by running away. In for a penny, in for a pound and all that. She wanted him. Granted, she’d thrown herself at him and been turned down, but. . .
    He wanted her.
    She was almost certain of it.
    There was something in his gaze that suggested he was going to try to possess her body and soul.
    Usually even the very idea of someone trying to own her would have sent her hackles rising, but not him. She wanted to be taken by him. To be with a man of such force, of such power once in one’s life was a dream. Only a fool would pass up a dream.
    And then she wanted to take him in her turn. How powerful