Free The Devil Duke Takes a Bride by Rachel van Dyken

she was going to last the carriage ride home. The man was altogether too large to fit in that stifling carriage .
    A fter his aunt accidently tread on her father's foot with her cane, well, he felt a bruised foot as well as a bruised ego, no doubt.
    Meaning, her parents left the opera early.
    Thanking the heavens that she still had Benedict’s fire - breathing a unt with them, Katherine soon realized her joy would be short-lived. When the very dragon toppled over in her chair.
    “Oh, you two stay, stay! After all, you are betrothed.”
    “I will see that Lady Katherine reaches her home this evening , ” Benedict had drawled , his smirk giving way to the utter satisfaction he most likely felt with Katherine in his clutches again.
    “Well, if you insist . ” The d owager looked to Katherine.
    “I would be delighted to stay and watch the remainder of the opera with his grace.”
    “Well, that’s settled!” The dowager nodded her head slowly. The poor thing did look quite put out, perhaps she was coming down with the ague? Which is exactly what she had suggested to Benedict.
    He laughed, and stated that she was known for having a list of ailments , all of which were non - existent but always helpful in her manipulations and strategies.
    They were silent the rest of the opera.
    And in the carriage.
    Until, all of a sudden Benedict stopped the carriage a block from her house. “You cannot be silent!”
    “Why ever not ? ” she near shouted.
    “It isn’t like you!”
    “Pardon?”
    “Silence? Beauty? Intelligence? Devil take me, it isn’t at all like you! Be disagreeable. Saints alive, help a man out! It would be so much easier to marry a woman who was… was…”
    She must have hit him harder than she thought.
    “Let me see if I understand you correctly. You desire for me to be undesirable.”
    “Thank the saints, yes!” He lifted his eyes heavenward and sighed happily. “Do you not understand? I was just getting used to the idea of being married, of being forced — nay , coerced, perhaps manipulated is a better word? Yes, manipulated — into marrying you! At least then, I knew I could keep my distance . A fter all , you’d probably send me to an early grave , and then I wouldn’t have to suffer along side you in holy matrimony.”
    “How romantic.”
    He shrugged. He would shrug at a time like this. Devil take him.
    “But now, don’t you see how much more difficult it is going to be for me to be… W ell , to be…” He bit his lip and scowled.
    “Selfish?” she offered.
    “Yes!” he roared. “Now wait one minute, I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s selfish to want to live one ’ s life without the irritation of a woman by their side.”
    “Your words are like poetry,” she gushed mockingly.
    Banbury glared. “I do not want marriage. Least of all with a woman who can throw a right punch with the best of them, nor one who I can’t imagine without pigtails. Besides, she picked you.”
    “By she you mean the d owager? Were we not just discussing this last night? She picked me for your cousin, not you. Truly, you need to learn the art of humility.”
    “She tricked me,” he said, ignoring her. “Besides, you’re stuck with me. Forget the courting, hang it all! You will marry me, and you will be boring!”
    Perhaps she should tell the footman to take them to Bedlam instead of her home. “Are you unwell?” She leaned forward and lifted a hand to his cheek.
    “Why the blazes would I be well? A few days ago, I was happily drinking the night away at a gambling hell. And now, now, I’m… going to the opera with my aunt of all people! Along with my soon-to-be wife. By Jove, I’m going to have a wife…” He leaned his head back against the seat.
    “And an apoplectic fit if you don’t calm down,” she added.
    He glared. “My thanks. That was ever so helpful in putting my mood in a better state.”
    “I don’t love you,” she stated rather boldly.
    He opened his eyes and burst out