Page 61 of The Duke’s Rejected Mate

Begging their leave to go to the privy, I make my way through the house until I find the library. There, I’ll be able to hole up and simply be until the ball is over. After that, I’ll have the strength to be around the others again.

I can only hope the solitude will help. It can’t hurt. Right?

Chapter 32

Charles

I glance about the ball, looking for the sparkling blond of Cynthia’s hair. So far, I see nothing. Worse, I can’t even smell her. Has some mischief befallen?

Glancing over at Henhaven, I watch as he mingles with various men, engaging in conversations, but never staying. He seems preoccupied enough. Downing a small glass of brandy, I set off to find the wayward omega.

She’s avoided me long enough. I will have a private conversation with her if it’s the last thing I do. But first, I have to find her.

A slight prick of fear stings my heart as I walk to the alcoves and balconies and come up empty. Could she have left? I cannot ask Henhaven. He’ll either refuse to give me the answer or demand to know why I wish to ascertain her whereabouts.

Neither option is open to me right now. I must see her. I must talk to her. I must figure out a plan.

The night I took her arse, I was selfish. I only thought about my needs and not hers. Though she ended up enjoying it, I was a cad for how I treated her.

I long to apologize, to beg her to let me back into her life. Even if she is married, I cannot stand to be apart. There has to be a way for us to coexist.

Damn. Nowhere in the ballroom itself. That means she has to be somewhere else. But where? Where could she have possibly gone?

I slip out of the crush and make my way to the gardens, but find them empty. Unease clenches my gut as I come back in and start to search the other rooms. As I near the library, her scent blooms, revealing her location. But, of course, I should have checked there first.

My cock jerks as I slip into the room, keeping my steps as silent as possible. There, huddled in the corner, with a book in her lap that remains unopened, is Cynthia. She sits there with her eyes closed, a weary expression on her face.

“We certainly have to stop meeting like this,” I grumble into the silence.

Her eyes shoot open as a hint of arousal drifts from her body. Just like that first night between us, the night that revealed what a perfect omega she was for me. If only my brother had kept his damned mouth shut.

“Or,” she whispers. “You could just stop going into libraries to be alone. Tell me, is a maid accompanying you this time? Or do you expect me to come to you on my hands and knees and draw your cock into my mouth?”

“Though the idea does have some merit,” I chuckle, “this library would not be a good place for such an intimate act.”

“But yours was?”

A heavy sigh flits from my lips as I motion for her to come to me. “It was my house. I knew all the people in it. The sounds, the smells. All of it is familiar. Here, I am at a loss.”

She walks over to me, taking small, tentative steps, but still she comes. I will take that small victory.

“Cynthia,” I breathe, taking in her scent. “I cannot think without you by my side. I cannot live. I am merely a hollowed-out shell. I need you. Please, do not keep turning me away.”

“You need me,” she says, her voice going up a touch in volume. “You need me?” Unshed tears shine in her eyes as she plants her hands on her hips and glares at me. “Then what’s keeping you from having me? What’s keeping you from taking me as your own? Damning the consequences? Why do you keep tormenting me with your presence? Can you not let me be happy?”

“Happy?” I bark out. “Happy? And you’re oh, so very happy with Henhaven, I suppose. I see the happiness all over your face every time you’re with him. The polite smiles, the soft winces. I see all of it. I note all of it.”

“I am not some battle plan for you to study,” she sputters. “You have no right-”

“No right? No bloody right? Who are you to tell me I have no right when the scent of your skin is embedded in my very bones? My heart beats to a refrain that cries out for you. No right? Your happiness is my right.”

“Not anymore. You lost that the moment my engagement was announced.”

I stand there in shocked silence, taking in her words. “You can’t mean that.”

Her chin wobbles a bit, but she holds firm. “You’ve rejected me over and over. You stand there surprised that I’m the one to reject you?”

“You don’t understand-”