Page 26 of The Duke’s Lessons in Temptation

He needed to stop thinking about her and what ifs. Damion had done the right thing and walked away. He wouldn’t be the man who prevented a person from being with the one they desired. Still, it confused him. He didn’t believe she was attracted to Bellamy. He didn’t see it.

Maybe that didn’t matter to her. He shook his head in disbelief. The look on her face as she came undone in his arms was permanently seared to his being. He would never escape it. Hell, he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

No, Damion was a glutton for punishment. He’d fallen again for a woman who didn’t want him. He was furious with himself. Damion made a vow long ago never to let his heart be available to any lady. Yet, somehow, Cora changed everything.

“Blythe, I expected you to be at Stanton’s house party,” Lord Harrington said, sitting down across from him.

Damion didn’t want company, but he suppressed the urge to tell him to leave. It wasn’t Harrington’s fault that he was in such a poor mood. “I had business in London that required me to return early.”

“I heard Bellamy made an entrance from his travels abroad.”

Everyone was enthralled with the young lord, it seemed. “He did.”

Harrington grinned. “Did Lady Cora finally catch her man? She is a beautiful one and wouldn’t consider anyone while he traveled the Continent.”

Damion took another large sip of his brandy, hating Harrington’s words. Maybe he was wrong that she shouldn’t be with him. Cora had waited this long for Bellamy. Yet, he couldn’t get it out of his mind that the man wasn’t right for her. Still, he understood it may be selfishness on his part because he wanted her.

He wanted her heart, mind, and body. What the fuck was wrong with him? He pushed the thoughts away. “I have no idea.”

“Would you like to go to the opera with us Wednesday night?”

Harrington hung out with a rowdy crowd that consisted of other lords, widows, and those polite society considered scandalous. Usually, Damion enjoyed his time with Harrington and his friends, but right now he had no desire. Still, he forced himself to nod. He needed to move on from Cora and what happened at the Stanton Country Estate.

“Splendid. It will be great fun. I must go. A lovely widow is waiting for me,” Harrington said, and then departed.

Damion glanced around the club. Dante’s was a place where one could gamble, enjoy drinks, and indulge in other vices. Normally, he was right at home, but tonight he was uneasy and restless. He rose and made his way outside to his awaiting carriage.

Once inside, his mind drifted to Lily. He’d been ecstatic about marrying her and oblivious to her unhappiness about the situation until it was too late. She’d fallen in love with a solicitor who disappeared to the Continent once illness overtook her. After Lily’s death, Damion had wanted to hunt the man down and destroy him, but time calmed the rage within him. Plus, from everything he learned, the man’s life on the Continent hadn’t been easy. Damion was glad he never returned to England.

He pulled out the gold chain containing Lily and his rings from under his clothes. Damion wore the rings as a penance for being so oblivious at a young age. Now they felt heavy or even smothering around his neck. He removed the necklace, deciding he would no longer wear it. He needed to stop fixating on the mistakes of his marriage. Squeezing the rings, he said softly, “I’m sorry, Lily. I’m doing my best to be a better man now.”

He placed the rings and necklace on the seat next to him and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. Cora’s smiling face appeared in his mind. He reminded himself again that at least he’d done the right thing with her. Cora made her choice, and it wasn’t Damion. Why did it hurt far more than when Lily left him?

Damion was no fool. It was because his feelings for Cora were far stronger. It was absurd because he’d known her for years, but it wasn’t until this week that he’d really seen her. Yet now he wasn’t sure he could ever forget the lady.

Chapter 11

Cora stood in the drawing room, waiting for Christopher to collect her and Jeremy for a night at the opera. While he seemed more earnest to woo her, Cora still couldn’t help feeling that something was missing. She suspected he felt it too but was in denial.

Still, she promised to give him a chance, and she would do that. It wasn’t as if any other suitors existed for her. No, Damion had departed the party with Lady Bennett by his side. She pressed her lips together, hating the pain that flared in her chest every time she thought of them.

“I’m sorry that I’m not going. I’m still exhausted from the party,” her mother said.

Jeremy smirked. “You don’t want to go. Admit it.”

Her mother only smiled. Cora walked to the window that overlooked the street. Even though it was dark, the oil lamps lit the area. Not that it mattered; she wasn’t really focused on anything outside. No, she was thinking about Damion. There was an emptiness that she couldn’t quite get rid of since their last encounter.

If she was being honest with herself, she would admit she missed him. Cora ran her fingers across her mouth; their last encounter flashing in her mind. Yes, the attraction was part of it, but it was more than that. Over the week, she’d enjoyed her time with Damion. She missed talking to him.

“Cora, I want you to enjoy yourself tonight. Don’t worry about whether Christopher is the right choice. You’ve been far too sad the last two days,” her mother declared from where she sat on the plush crimson sofa.

She turned away from the window, confused by her mother’s grand statement. Cora glanced at Jeremy, and he shrugged. Her mother continued, “I want both of my children to find love.”

“Thank you, Mother. I am still unsure if Christopher and I are meant to be.”

“Then don’t force it. I want you and Jeremy wed, sooner rather than later, but I also want both of you to be happy in your marriages. I miss your father every day, even five years after his passing.”

They all did. Her mother dabbed at her eyes and stood. “I will be right back.”