Lord Colin slowly peeled his hand from her lips, a grin on his lips as he regarded her in a way that made her want to throw up.
“You know, Lady Augusta, I’m beginning to think that the reason you keep following me into dimly lit and secluded areas is because you wish to be one of the women I bring in here with me,” he sneered, tossing her his most charming grin.
Augusta hadn’t eaten anything save for the breakfast she had, yet the contents of her stomach churned violently, threatening to upend itself as the implication of his words and the suggestive grin on his lips hit her.
She glared at him, trying to tug her hand free of his but he held her tight. “I’d sooner be a disgraced spinster left to rot on the shelf than have anything to do with you, Lord Colin.”
Her words were met with a flash of annoyance which was quickly replaced with something else. Satisfaction creeped over his face, his eyes mocking as he laughed.
“You’re already on your way to being a spinster forever on the shelf, however, I believe I can help with thedisgrace.”
The mockery in his voice and the hand still holding hers in a vice-like grip gave meaning to what he meant. Her face turned ashen as she recognized the hateful look in his eyes.
“You, my dear, have been interfering ever since the season started and I have now tired of your annoying meddling. Now, it is time for you to pay back for all the embarrassment you’ve put me through and for ruining my fun,” he said, tossing his free hand about in a nonchalant twirl.
“You are angry that I saved these girls from you and wish to ruin me because of that?” she asked, swallowing back the anger that was beginning to rise rapidly.
The first time she met Lord Colin, she’d known he was nothing short of a spoiled child who got whatever he wanted, now grown into a spoiled man with no responsibilities who believed that the world revolved only around him and his needs, and cared not how it affected anyone else.
She refrained from saying any of that, choosing instead to hold her tongue. It did her no good to vex him, especially since he held all the cards while she held none. She’d been lured into a trap and none would believe that she’d only been trying to help a girl she’d believed to be in danger of ruination-- a certainty for any lady who chose to associate with Lord Colin.
It would be the words of a spinster against that of a rake. They would see her as desperate for marriage or attention and would choose instead to believe him despite his lies.
“All I have to do is hold you close long enough and wait for someone to find us together in the dark,” he grinned coldly at her.
“Let go of me, you brute,” she said in a strong but quiet voice. The last thing she wished to do was to draw people to them.
Augusta struggled against him, pushing with one hand as she tried to wriggle her hand free. She set her foot down hard on his, the shock of what she did stunning him long enough for her to pull her hand from his. With a hushed sound, she broke into a run.
She looked behind her, her feet mere inches away from the exit when he suddenly appeared behind her, his face a mask of determination as he once again wrapped his hands around hers, pulling her close until there was no space between their bodies.
“You cannot escape from me,Lady Augusta,”he spat. “I’ve waited so long for this for me to let you go so easily.”
He pushed her against the wall, pinning her body with his, his breath on her neck as she looked away from him. A deep laugh roared through him, vibrating through both their bodies. For the first time since she’d known him, she was truly and utterly terrified. She bit her lower lip between her teeth to hide the trembling but it was no use. Her hands still pinned down by his gave off just how terrified she was.
“Oh, you’re shaking. I can taste the fear all over you. It’s exhilarating but now isn’t the time for that. You need to save some of this for when you get caught by members of the ton and your heroine complex is dashed in the mud, never to be recovered.”
Her mind flashed to her family, her panic more for them than for herself. She’d constantly disappointed and frustrated them with her decision to stay unmarried but they always had her back. She’d hate to see the look on their faces when they found her in the middle of this scandal. They’d warned her countlessly, to stay away from him but she’d been too stubborn.
Oh, Nancy.
Would Matthew still wish to marry her when this got out? No one ever wanted to be involved with the families of those involved in a scandal. She only hoped Matthew loved Nancy enough to stay by her side.
“It feels nice to have you in this position,” he said, drawing her attention back to him. “Maybe if the men could see you like this, they would like you better and one of them might choose to make you his mistress.
He lifted a hand to her face, pressing his body even closer to hers. He caressed her chin to her lips, pulling on the lower one from between her teeth.
Augusta shuddered in disgust as she tried to remain as still as she could while she thought up a way out of her predicament. She refused to squirm and allow his body to press up even further against her or move against his.
Her head blanked, nothing she thought of being able to help her out of her predicament. She was ruined. No one would ever believe her, not even Benedict whom she’d confessed her love to only moments ago.
Colin’s head snapped to the side, a look of concentration on his face as he listened for what she couldn’t hear. His face morphed as he smiled victoriously at her, solidifying her sorrow. She was ruined now. There was no way out of it.
The fight left her as she waited for the inevitable to happen, her eyes shutting as the footsteps inched closer and closer to them. Colin laughed, jerking her face towards him. She had missed it all along but he was maniacal. Now, it was too late to do anything with that information.
She looked to the side to see who’d witnessed her downfall just as Benedict rounded the corner, his face coming into focus. Relief flowed through her until she saw the shock painted clear as day on his face as he stood there frozen. Colin snickered and her mouth, open and ready to call him for help closes shut.
Is this part of the trap? To make him feel like I would do something like this with the one man I claim to hate.
