Read Online The Hallucinatory Duke by Meta Mathews - Free Book Online

courtesan,” Amelia said, rolling her eyes towards the ceiling. “I’ve tried to tell you that all along.”
    “Yes, but—What’s that noise?”
    “My doorbell.” Amelia jumped out of bed and dashed to the closet to retrieve a robe. “Good God, it’s going on four o’clock in the morning. If this is Ben, so help me…”
    She glanced back towards the bed only to discover that the duke had disappeared. Both irritated and relieved, she stomped to the front door and stared through the peephole.
    Jack, appearing thoroughly dishevelled and somehow more handsome because of it, stared back at her.
    She unlocked the door and jerked it open. Jack looked so wonderful standing there—so real and so steady and so permanent—that she simply stepped into his arms.
    “Hey,” he murmured. She could judge from his slight hesitation that she had surprised him, but his reaction was everything she could have hoped for.
    He pulled her close, and she rested her head against his shoulder. His fragrance, which already seemed as familiar and as comforting to her as the smell of brewing tea, filled her nostrils and soothed her jumpy nerves.
    His T-shirt was soft against her face, and his warmth that seeped through the worn cotton brought with it the realisation that she’d been physically chilled by the duke’s presence. Thank heavens Jack was here now, to counteract that horrible sense of disconnect that had inundated her when she’d awoken to find the duke in bed with her.
    Jack didn’t speak until she finally lifted her head off his shoulder. Even then, he still held her close, and his breath tickled her ear and sent delicious tingles dashing down her spine. “He’s been here, hasn’t he?” he asked.
    She shivered and pulled back. “Yes.” She grasped his hand and pulled him inside. “I assume you’re here because you also had a visitor.”
    He nodded. “That same female, of course. But tonight I forced her to talk to me, and I learned a few things. Just as we thought, she was married to the duke, but she admitted that she’d had lovers before her marriage. That’s why she’s so knowledgeable about men, but I wouldn’t let her touch me tonight.”
    Amelia shivered again. “The duke tried to touch me, but I made him stop. Although he disappeared when you rang the doorbell, I felt especially unnerved this time. Chilled, even. Come on, I’ll brew us some coffee.” She headed for the kitchen.
    Jack closed the door and followed her. “Ben told me you don’t like coffee.”
    “I’ll drink almost anything that will warm me up and help me stay awake.” She retrieved a drip coffeemaker from the pantry and pulled a bag of coffee from the freezer.
    “You freeze your coffee?” Jack had seated himself at a stool pulled up to the bar.
    “Freezing keeps it fresh, which is pretty important when you only use it once every six months or so.”
    “Gotcha,” Jack murmured.
    As soon as she got the coffee started, she turned back around and propped her elbows on the counter across from Jack. Their faces were almost touching, so she closed her eyes and inhaled the fragrance of his aftershave, a delicious blend of citrus and spice that screamed male, male and that entered her bloodstream like an aphrodisiac. She straightened and took a step back. Based on their conversation earlier that evening, she figured they’d end up in bed sooner or later, but she also knew that now wasn’t the time. “So what happened this evening?”
    “After I left here, I went by Ben’s. He’s more than ever convinced that we’re legitimate descendants of the Duke of Durbane and he’s getting impatient to prove it.”
    “So what else is new? Literally, I mean. After you left Ben and went home. Was Amy waiting for you?”
    “No. She arrived after I went to sleep. But I woke up when she touched me. This wasn’t a dream.”
    “What did you do?”
    “I told her to leave, that I didn’t want anything more to do with her.”
    “And what did