Damn, but she had nice breasts. He had a brief vision of freeing them from that ridiculous dress, tasting them, exploring them, a pinch here, a lick there.
"Benedict!" she screamed his Christian name quite loudly. Why the hell had she done that? Had she no care for the foxed?
"Stop yelling!" he yelled.
"Why did you kidnap me like that? I'm completely and utterly ruined now! My parents are probably already announcing our engagement, elated that I left with you! Oh, this is so horrible!" She sat back against the cushions and punched the seat with her hand.
"Yes well, I obviously hadn't thought that through very well," he admitted touching a hand yet again to his throbbing face.
"You don't say," she mocked.
"Now see here." His head felt much clearer when he was enraged, funny that. "We will marry and that is that."
"Hours ago, you wanted to murder me, and now you want to marry me?"
"Yes, well no, I'm not sure."
"I feel so desired, la, I'm going to be a puddle at your feet if you keep speaking to me with such delicate words and phrases."
"You don't want to marry me," he stated boldly. "You've told your parents and my aunt, though you grudgingly admitted to allowing me two weeks to court you."
"I thought it a kindness." She smiled sweetly.
Minx. "No, you thought to inflict more torture on my person. But not again, I will not be ruined and then jilted out of a proposal."
"Pardon?" She leaned forward.
"You heard me, I was quite ruined tonight."
"What?"
"Ah, so she lacks intelligence as well as hearing?" Benedict grinned at his brilliance. "You ruined me, not the other way around. It was you on top of me, and you who clumsily fell into my carriage; all it would take is one word from me to your family and you'd be stuck with me."
Katherine folded her arms across her chest, giving him another lovely view he wouldn't mind staring at for the remainder of the evening. "Smarter when you're foxed, hmm?"
His eyes darted back up to her face. He really needed to stop getting so distracted. "I'm always smarter, and don't you forget it. The way I see things is you have no choice but to marry me. But never fear. I will allow you to earn the right to choose and court me as you see fit."
"Me?" Katherine laughed. "Court you? A man? How much whiskey did you consume?"
Not near enough, not near enough. Blazes, her smile was beautiful. Why was it so blasted hot in that carriage? He cleared his throat. "I'll call upon you tomorrow, and you may court me as you see fit."
"Or else?" she asked in a tiny voice.
"Or else I'll ruin you even more than you're ruined at this very moment. You won't be accepted anywhere, and my slip of a cousin will be sorry he ever danced with you.
A defeated look washed across her features as her eyebrows drew together and her mouth gaped open. "I know what you're doing."
He sure hoped not.
"You, you!" She pointed at him and pounded the cushion again. Poor, sad, little cushion seat. "You mean to make it look like it's my fault when the engagement doesn't work! You mean to salvage your pride, you hateful man!"
He sneered. "But of course. It works for the both of us. Your parents see that you truly tried to make it work, you put forth such a gallant effort. And in the end, when it still isn't enough to win over the most infamous duke of the ton, they'll nurse your broken heart, and you will be free to do whatever you like."
"But—" She chewed her lower lip. What he wouldn't give to be that lip.
Plump.
Red, with just a hint of pink in the middle.
Wet.
Hell, her lips looked wet didn't they? One tiny taste would satisfy any sort of curiosity, now wouldn't it?
Water, he needed some sort of water to get rid of his foxed state. He was starting to feel… sentimental.
"But I'll still be ruined, won't I?"
"Of course." He grinned. What did he care if she was ruined? He'd already planned on ruining her, ravishing her, and then leaving. That was to be her punishment for all the torture she'd put him through, and she was more than deserving. He would enjoy every single second.
She took a deep breath and cursed — quite impressively for a young lady — ending with, "You're the devil."
"So I've been told, love. So I've been told." He picked up her hand, though she tried to keep it at her side, and bestowed a kiss across her knuckles. "And always at your service should you need to make another deal with the devil." With a wink, he pulled back, chuckling.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The devil is in the details