The Duke is Wicked (League of Lords #3) - Tracy Sumner Page 0,54

he’s going to ask Honoria Hazelton to marry him, so you’ve arrived at the ball before the others. If you go bounding in, you’ll scare the life from them.”

“And…?”

“The only people who don’t know Delaney and Sebastian are falling in love are Delaney and Sebastian. It’s maddening, but also the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. Besides our love story.” She sighed dreamily and patted her chest. “The air heats when they’re together, like you’re stepping into his orangery. Yet, he may never admit it. Which could work, as Kitty is a dear girl, but she’s not the girl for our recalcitrant duke.”

“Lots in common, I suppose, he and the American.” Finn stacked his hands behind his head, his gaze shooting to the ceiling in thoughtful deliberation. “They both like that creepy dungeon. They love, and I mean love, to win. Always arguing and trying to best each other. Chess, archery, billiards. Vingt et un is next, I bet. Could keep things interesting. Especially if she brings that competitive spirit to the bedchamber.”

Victoria gasped and punched Finn in the shoulder. “You cad!”

“Thank you, love, but I’m just being honest. Men think about these things all the time.” He held up his hand to ward off another blow, then circled his arm beneath her, tucking her against his body. “Miss Temple doesn’t have the pedigree of his mongrels even. You realize that, don’t you? At least his dogs are English.”

“Finn Alexander, that’s a horrid statement. I may go sleep on the settee.”

“Oh, no, you won’t.” He hugged her, pressing his lips to her brow. “I understand it’s hypocritical coming from a viscount’s supposed byblow. It’s just, we’ve seen what you’ve faced by marrying me. Being given the cut direct on the street, invitations drying up like we stood in the middle of the Mojave.” His tone was light, but sadness bled in like rain through a cracked window pane.

Pressing her cheek to his chest, she listened to his steady heartbeat and thanked God she’d found him. Did her husband honestly imagine his lack of a pedigree mattered when they were weeks away from starting their family, when she loved him more than any person on the planet? “The duke needs someone unconnected to this life, Finn.”

“The League?”

Victoria laughed softly. “No, of course not. Delaney’s an asset to the League and will be an asset to her husband if he’s gifted, once she admits being gifted herself. I mean with society. Sebastian needs someone who loves him for everything else. Maybe going so far as a woman who wishes he wasn’t titled, who considers the dukedom a detriment. There isn’t a woman in this country who could completely overlook it and be honest with herself. And him. Who better than an American who doesn’t respect a meaningless system? I was torn for one blinding second when Sebastian asked me to marry him. Imagine being a duchess!”

Finn leaned in, capturing her mouth in a kiss that left them both breathless. “Must we go there?”

“We owe him. He publicly supported our marriage, held a ball in our honor, has been a true, the truest, of friends. He considers you a brother.”

“Stopped a fight I got into over you at the Blue Moon and forced me to propose, if you want the full truth of the matter.”

Victoria tilted her head until she caught her husband’s rich indigo gaze. “What’s this?”

Finn flashed his charming smile, his dimples winking in the meager moonlight. “You could force yourself to step away from me for a moment. A hundred yards should do it. Then I’ll read his mind and tell you exactly—”

“No mind reading. If Lady Nuisance isn’t the one for Sebastian, he has to figure it out. Plus…” Victoria curled into his body, her smile growing. “Maybe our newly named Kitty will decide she doesn’t want a duke before the duke gets to the asking.”

“You have that devious tone in your voice, the one that frightens me.”

Victoria giggled, horrified to hear the sound arrive, knowing Finn wouldn’t let it pass. She was not the giggling type.

“Out with it, Tori.”

“Well…” Victoria walked her fingers across his chest. “The temperature also rises when Case Temple and Honoria Kitty Hazelton are in the same room, much like the duke and Delaney orangery situation. As humid as a hothouse, both couples. Steaming up the windows at breakfast while trying to appear unaffected.”

“That would solve part of the problem. Case running away with the chit.”

“Oh,” she whispered, and pulled Finn’s hand atop her belly.