Read Online The Ugly Duckling Debutante_FINAL-3 by Rachel van Dyken - Free Book Online

ragged exhale. He really shouldn’t have worn such tight breeches. What in the blazes had he been thinking?
    No one would find him guilty of any coherent thought at the moment. His mouth dropped open when Sai made her entrance and twirled in a circle to present herself for Lady Fenton's approval.
    Oh, how he loved twirling.
    Her hair was piled around her head in a beautiful adornment of crystals. The longer he studied her the more he realized she looked like a Greek goddess—like Aphrodite herself. Everything about her screamed perfection, she smiled and curtsied. He had to put his hand on the back of the chair to steady his own shaky disposition. He felt faint….again. That would be twice in one day. She was not good for his newfound faith in a higher power. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil… he prayed silently, trying desperately to bring some semblance of control back into his melting composure.
    It became painfully obvious in that moment, one of two things would happen this night. Either he would die from unsatisfied lust, or he would beat to death the first man who laid a hand on her.
    The thought of the other men brought with it the sudden impulse to immediately cover Sai's exposed chest with a napkin, or a table cloth, or better yet, his own hands—anything, just so other men wouldn’t take notice. But how could they not? Her low cut gown profoundly accentuated her perfect breasts. Yes, her skin was dark, but it cast a bronze glow from the vast expanse of skin, merely adding to the effect of the perfect likeness of Aphrodite.
    “Perhaps you should take a moment to compose yourself, Nicholas,” Lady Fenton whispered stepping between him and Sai.
    His pride also t ook a blow when he realized his apparel didn’t have the same effect on Sai as hers did on him. She merely smiled and followed him to the carriage. He decided he wouldn’t allow her to touch him lest it completely undo him; not that he wasn’t already in that exact predicament. It’s only because he didn’t have a wife, or a mistress, or any sort of spirit stronger than wine in his possession at the moment. At least that’s what he told himself when he looked longingly across the carriage. She wasn’t wearing one of those awful contraptions that women often did when they wore ball gowns, in fact if he were a betting man he would say she wasn’t wearing a corset at all, or was she? He leaned over to her side briefly to determine the answer to the mystery, but she turned and locked eyes with him.
    “Find what you were looking for?” she asked mockingly.
    He cleared his throat. “I thought I saw a spider," he stammered. His stupidity was nothing short of legendary this evening; never had he been so at a loss for words.
    “A spider?” she replied. “Really?” Her tone patronized him like a mother catching her son in a ridiculous lie.
    “It was a large spider,” he insisted.
    A large spider? He shook his head and longingly looked out the window wishing for any sort of distraction to keep Sai from pursuing the conversation further.
    The lips of her mouth turned up into a smile. “Well, that obviously changes things.”
    He crossed his arms. “I agree.”
    “After all,” she continued, “large spiders need to be captured immediately. How dare they go skittering about in nature? From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your concern over my welfare; my, if you are so concerned with a spider, just think how you will protect me at the ball!”
    He mumbled something inaudible and prayed the carriage would swallow him whole. He seriously needed to rethink the whole perpetually drunk idea.
    They arrived at the ball not a moment too soon.
    Sai’s eyes were fluttering all over the large house. “Who lives here?”
    “The Duke and Duchess of Cavens,” he answered, bored by her question. Everyone knew who Cavens was. Just how far away from society had this girl lived before coming to stay with her aunt this season? He