The Seductress' Marriage Ploy

12. I wasn't always the duke of Wynchford

AN INTERMISSION had been given. Julia wanted to find Wychford. The duke was in attendance; she knew that because her mother made a point of listing all the lords she had seen through her quizzing glass. Victoria was detained by a young lord while Ophelia was engaged in doing her favourite work of the day.

Moving through stairs and doors she made her way towards the coffee room where Ophelia last sighted Wychford Even before she reached the coffee room, Julia spotted Wychford and pretended she didn't already know he was in attendance.

"Your Grace, what a great surprise to find you here." Julia rasped out. I didn't picture you as the type who likes literature. Let alone a work by Shakespeare."

Wychford chuckled and placed his hand on his chest in imitation of a wounded person. "You wound me, my lady. If I may ask, what have I done to give you that impression? That perhaps I am not fond of literature."

"Why, nothing you could have said could have given me that notion. Just that your mannerism alone says something else."

"And what does it say." Wychford rasped out.

"That you don't belong here."

Wychford studied Julia with deep eyes. His eyes roaming all over her face. He opened his mouth as if to say something and then snapped it shut again.

"You are right. I dislike being here," he drawled out.

Julia risked a touch at Wychford's firm arm, they were at the theatre. A very open place. She ought not to be caught touching him. He narrowed his eyes as she smiled prettily, the type that transformed one's face into something enchanting. A smile she had practiced and perfected in her looking glass. She smiled again, stretching her lips further as she gazed at his lips. A new trick she had just learned from her mother. There wasn't a limit to what her mother knew.

Wychford swallowed as she brought her eyes back to his. Where hers were filled with excitement and feminine power, his own was filled with passion. Passion and something else she couldn't identify.

Pretending as if she didn't know what she was doing, Julia said. "If you are the Duke of Wychford, how is it you could enlist for the army."

"I wasn't always the duke of Wychford. Before that, I was a second son, a spare. It didn't matter if I enlisted for the army as long as I was not the one responsible for carrying out our family bloodlines, till my brother met with untimely death, then I became the duke of Wychford."

"And still half the ton doesn't even know that it's not the same duke," Julia asked.

Wychford chuckled. "Who said they don't know?" He stared deeply at her. "I have been away far too long for people to remember that my father had two sons. When my brother died, my father had hushed everything. Still, some still know. Besides, me and my brother had an uncanny resemblance. We look so much like each other that you can mistake one for the other."

"Oh," Julia said before Wychford manoeuvred her to an empty hallway. He tipped her chin up, trapping it between his thumb and his index finger. "Why do you ask so many questions about me? Why do you care?" He said, his mouth hovering near hers. His breath fanning her cheeks.

Julia was breathing heavily. How had it gotten to this, she thought? She had only wanted to tease him, but she was out of her element.

He bent as if to kiss her and she stepped back away from him. Chest heaving, she tried to act natural, as if she was in control. That was definitely what her mother would do if she was caught in a situation like this.

Calming her breath. Julia smiled at him, then she shook her head and muttered: "you are not allowed." The words rolling out of her tongue one after the other firm, but the hint of a smile playing about her lips diffused its effect.

Wychford raised his head and chuckled.

Julia quickly made her escape, but not before she was already seen by Sebastian.

~~~~

Sebastian was angry, he couldn't get the image of what he saw outside his head. The picture of Julia staring up at that bastard, Wychford. Her eyes wide, chest heaving as if she was expecting his kiss. To think she came to him pleading for his help, that she was in love with Cole, all the while she played the seductress. If she thought she would make a fool of himself and his friend, she was mistaken. She can't have it all. If she was intent on playing the seductress, he might as well enjoy the show.

Although one thing was clear to him. He would ruin all her efforts. He wanted her to be unsuccessful in whatever scheme she was hatching. With that in mind, he sought Julia, trying his most damn to detain her before she made her way to the box.

It wasn't hard for him to find Julia. With a few quick strides, he had already gotten closer to her. She wore a robe of salmon-coloured tiffany, short sleeves, full plaiting of broad blonde round the neck, White gloves, and shoes. Her hair was combed straight around the face, a few curls danced around her face as her lips were painted red. She looked utterly beautiful.

He got to her and whisked her out to a dark hallway. Sebastian chuckled when he noticed she was already glaring at him, her eyes narrowed. Without warning, he grabbed Julia, held her close to him, and kissed her senseless. The kiss was different. It was gentle and wild. As her breathing hitched, she held onto him while he devoured her mouth as his tongue danced in her mouth. She was making small moans, and each time, he swallowed the sound with his mouth.

His hands were everywhere. On her head, angling her so she received his kisses better. On her back, and even on her round bottom. He palmed it and moulded his hands to it. She gasped, and he plunged his tongue deep into her mouth, breathing harshly. She was driving him nuts with her body. If he didn't stop now, he didn't think he might stop again. Sebastian angled his hips so she could feel his growing arousal, but Julia gasped and wrenched herself from him.

Looking at him with wide, wide eyes. Could it be that she didn't know what that meant? She can't be that innocent, Sebastian scoffed. Both of them stood there staring at each other, trying to catch their breath. She opened her mouth and somehow Sebastian knew that whatever that would come out of her mouth would be unpleasant. But she surprised him when she whispered in a small voice, as if afraid that people might hear.

"Why did you do that?"

Of all the things Sebastian expected to hear, this was not one of them. He stared at her, but at that moment she looked so innocent and confused causing Sebastian to grit his teeth, his eyes flashing. It was all an act. He told himself. She couldn't be that innocent.

He clenched his hand and barked out. "Your hair is a little out of place. You might want to rearrange it. I am sure you wouldn't want your mother to see you like this." With that said he strolled out of the hall, straight to his box, leaving an angry and confused Julia behind.

Fuming, Julia tried her hardest to rearrange her hair into something that looked acceptable as she cursed repeatedly under her breath. When she was done, she made her way over to the box. She wasn't done with him. Did he think he would just come here, humiliate her and act like nothing was amiss? Surely he didn't think she would just keep quiet while he rode roughshod over her.