Page 32 of The Duke of Deceit

“Your aunt’s the mad one, not me.”

Jess narrowed her eyes to slits. “Perhaps you should leave and never—”

“Whereisyour sister, by the way?” he interrupted. “Why isn’t she here making my life hell herself by turning my black reputation good?”

“Amanda is in Ireland with distant family,” she told him. “She left last month.”

He nodded faintly into his teacup. “That would be about right, if she’s claiming I ruined her at the Hawthorne ball.” He drank down the splash of tea in a single swallow. “She must have been on the brink of beginning to show when she left.”

Uneasiness pricked at the backs of her knees. “How do you know that?”

“Because I know women, Jessamyn.” The look he caressed over her spun heat straight down to her core. “I know everything about them,” he murmured. “How they pour themselves into their corsets and stockings, how their bodies look beneath layers of clothing…and when wearing nothing at all.”

Jess felt as if he could see straight through her clothes. She prayed he couldn’t see the rising heat in her cheeks.

“It’s one of the benefits of being a rake.” He shrugged, remaining in his casual slump as if they were discussing nothing more scandalous than the weather. “I know women, I know their bodies, and I know exactly what causes women to becomeenceinte.More importantly, I know how to prevent it.” The look he gave her then was anything but casual. “Andthat, Jessamyn, is how I know I’m not the father of your sister’s child.”

Her cheeks flushed so intensely, she was certain they’d turned scarlet. Just as she was certain from the sparkle in his eyes that he saw it. “Ialso know how babies are created,” she countered. “You can’t be certain you’re not the father, no matter how careful you were.”

“I’m always very careful. I can count at least a half-dozen ways to take pleasure in a woman and still ensure she won’t get with child. Or lose her innocence.” His sensuous lips curled with amusement. “I’d be happy to demonstrate any of them if you need proof.”

Her mouth fell open, and her suddenly blank mind whirled, unable to latch onto the burning reply his ludicrous offer deserved. All she could come up with was a muttered, “If you’re attempting to frighten me, it won’t work.”

“I’m simply stating the truth.” He sat up and leaned forward, elbows on knees. If his posture before had been devil-may-care, now he looked positively dangerous. “As I’ve told you, I know for certain I had nothing to do with putting your sister into her current circumstances.”

“And as I’ve toldyou, I don’t believe you.”

“Because Amanda said so.”

“Yes.”

“She’s lying.”

Jess tightened her fingers around the teacup to keep from flinging it at him. “Why would she do that?”

“Because she’s in trouble and scared, and what better person to blame than a rakehell? Not the man who truly compromised her, certainly not if she cares for him and wants to protect him.” His eyes softened. “From everything you’ve said about your sister, she would never give herself to a man she didn’t love.”

“She gave herself to you.” Her chest clenched so tightly that she forced back a wince. “Are you saying she loves you?”

“Not at all.” He laced his fingers together and lowered his voice until it was barely more than a deep purr. “What I’m saying is that she never gave herself to me.”

Jess stared at him, instantly bewildered, and repeated quietly, “I don’t believe you.”

“You should.”

She set down her unwanted tea before her shaking hands could spill it. “What proof do you have that you’re telling me the truth?”

He reached into his jacket breast pocket again. This time, it wasn’t the necklace he retrieved but a letter. He placed it on the tea table and pushed it across the smooth surface toward her.

Her eyes darted back up to his. “What is that?”

“Proof.”

This time when she looked at it, she recognized Amanda’s handwriting gracefully forming the direction on the outside of the letter.

“You know that your sister wrote to me a few weeks after the Hawthorne ball,” he explained. “You mentioned it last night.”

“Yes.” Her eyes stung as she stared at the letter. “To tell you she was with child and that she expected you to marry her.”