The Duke's Bed Warmer-Chapter 23: Almost Mine

At the last moment, Alina pulled back, pushing him gently.

"Austin." Her voice was breathless and shaky. "You’re drunk. You’re not thinking straight."

"I’m always thinking straight," he murmured. "And I guess, that’s the problem."

She swallowed, trying to steady herself.

"If you weren’t drunk," she said quietly, "would you still do this?"

Before he could answer, a knock shattered the moment. The sound echoed through the stone walls, loud and jarring, like something breaking.

Alina stepped back immediately while Austin stayed there, his eyes still fixed on her. Alina walked towards the door and opened it.

Audrey stood in the corridor, looking terrible. Her dress was rumpled, her hair messy, falling around her face in tangled strands and her eyes were red and swollen. She looked like she had been crying for a long time.

"Audrey..."

Audrey didn’t respond. She stepped past Alina and into the room, her gaze fixed on Austin.

"I need to speak with him alone."

Alina stood at the door, caught between staying and leaving; between the woman who had been kind to her and the man who had almost kissed her. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

She was about to leave, when Austin spoke up.

"Stop."

She turned. He was looking at her, not at Audrey. His voice was steadier now.

"It’s night. You’re supposed to be in my room...as per the contract."

The words landed like a blow.

Audrey stared at him in disbelief. The tears were still wet on her cheeks, but her mouth tightened, and her jaw clenched.

"Are you serious? She is supposed to be in your room?" Her voice rose. "I asked her to leave. And you’re quoting the contract at me?"

Austin’s jaw tightened.

"Audrey, this isn’t the time."

"I am your fiancée." Audrey’s voice cracked. "I have been your fiancée for three years. For three years, I have waited and I have been patient. I have looked the other way when you brought women into your bed, when you treated this arrangement like something you could put off indefinitely." Her hands curled into fists at her sides, her nails digging into her palms.

"I have given you everything. My patience, my loyalty, and my love." She stepped closer. "And now you won’t even let me have five minutes alone with you without reminding her she’s contractually obligated to stay? Without reminding me that I’m not the one you want in your bed?"

Alina couldn’t breathe. She was standing in a room she wasn’t allowed to leave, while the woman whose place she was taking was falling apart right in front of her.

"I’ll leave," she said and stepped outside, closing the door.

Audrey waited until Alina’s footsteps faded down the corridor.

"Why is she different?"

Austin didn’t answer.

"Why is she different?" Audrey’s voice rose again. "I’ve watched you with the others. I’ve watched you ignore and dismiss them. But tonight you walked past me in front of everyone to dance with her?"

She broke down and immediately covered her face with her hands. She tried to hold it together, but she couldn’t. Austin had never seen her like this, not even when her mother died.

He stepped forward and put his arms around her, holding her as she cried. She clung to him immediately, her fingers gripping his shirt, and her face pressed into his chest. Her whole body was shaking, and he held her tighter.

"I love you," she sobbed. "I’ve loved you through everything....and... I don’t know how to stop."

He closed his eyes.

"I know."

Outside, Alina was pacing, counting her steps as if they might keep her from falling apart.

She was furious at Austin for almost kissing her when he was drunk, and for quoting the contract like she was his property. She was angrier at herself for almost letting him kiss her, and for wanting it.

She turned at the end of the hall and walked back again towards the room. She stopped near the window. The corridor window looked out over the dark, empty courtyard below. But the firelight from Austin’s room was bright enough to cast shadows on the glass.

Alina could see their silhouettes clearly on the window.

Audrey’s arms were around his waist and his arms were around her shoulders. Her face was resting on his chest, his head was bent toward hers, and his mouth close to her ear, as if whispering something.

They fit together.

That was the first thought that struck her. His body curved towards Audrey, as it belonged there.

She had almost let him kiss her just minutes ago. She had almost believed that it meant something and now he was holding Audrey like she was the only thing that mattered to him.

She turned away from the window and walked down the corridor, without looking back. She reached her room and closed the door harder than necessary.

She leaned against the door, her back pressed to the wood and her eyes closed.

Then she pushed off from the door and started pacing again. She wrapped her arms around herself, her fingers digging into her sleeves, her breath becoming fast and uneven. The room suddenly felt too small to breathe properly.

Playing with my feelings. Trying to kiss me and then going back to her. Contract this, contract that. I’m just a contract. I’m just a bed warmer. I’m nothing but a fool.

She then heard footsteps in the corridor and stopped. The footsteps stopped outside her door and someone knocked on the door.

"Alina."

It was Austin. She didn’t answer.

"Alina, open the door."

"Go away," she said.

"Open the door." His voice was firmer now. "You’re supposed to be in my room."

The contract. It is always about the contract.

She was his property. She had no right to be angry, to be hurt, or to expect anything from him except what the contract specified. He could kiss her or hold Audrey. He could quote the contract at her like a leash, pull her close or push her away, and she was supposed to do what it said.

Because in the end, only one thing in her life was real and that was: THE CONTRACT