Page 52 of The Duke and the Temporary Bride

And then, he crossed the room to meet her.

Selina did not cower. If anything, she stood taller, welcoming the barrage that was his hulking body flying toward her like a cannonball.

Her chemise was still soaked through, her nipples straining against the fabric, her curves wickedly tempting. Her hair was matted and clinging to her face and neck. But she did not look small and frail, like he might break her if he came too close. The strength that he knew she possessed in spades was at the fore, and she dared him to try and match it.

This only excited him further.

“What were you thinking!” he barked, coming to a halt less than three feet away from her. Again, he was caught off guard that she did not step back or even flinch. “You could have been killed!”

“And that would have upset you?” she responded coolly.

“What?” He recoiled in surprise. “Yes! Of course, it would have upset me!”

“It would not have made you happy? Even relieved? It seems to me that if I had died, it might have solved a lot of problems at once.”

“That is not…” His brow furrowed. “How could you say such a thing?”

“Just a thought.”

“Is that what you think of me?” he growled. “That I am some sort of monster who would wish death upon his own wife? That I might rejoice in it!”

She scoffed. “From what I have heard of you, dear husband, you might eat the carcass after for good measure.”

That felt like a slap to the face. Benedict took a step back, his anger mixing with shame. He searched her face desperately, to see if she was joking, but the fact that she did not so much as blink told him that she was being serious.

“I am not like that,” he snarled at her, taking a step forward, and then another. He towered over her, his body shaking, his fists clenched. Heat surged inside him, only to die down at the sight of that cold expression on her face. “I have never—I would never—” He clenched his jaw. “I am not a monster.”

She laughed mirthlessly. “Is that so? The way you are behaving right now contradicts that claim.” Her lip curled, and she looked him over. “Not a monster? I find that hard to believe.”

She was baiting him. He knew that she was. But that did not make it any easier to bear, for she had touched a nerve that, ironically enough, only proved the point that he was arguing against in the first place.

“I would watch what I say next if I were you.”

“I am not scared of you,” she declared bravely. “Despite how much you wish I was.”

“I do not wish that you?—”

“You do,” she cut him off, which had him wincing because oh how he hated it when she did that. “Not because you want it. Not because you desire it of me. But because it would make things easier for you if it was the case. That is why you wish that I fear you.”

“That’s a lie!”

“Ha!” Her mocking laughter sent a pang through him, and he groaned as it worked its way up his legs and through his stomach. “You want me to fear you so that you can explain why our marriage is doomed to failure. You want me to think of you as this hideous, scarred beast because that way, when I turn you down, you can cry foul as if there was nothing you could have done.”

Her words were like knives, and the way she sneered as she spoke them was as demoralizing as it was tantalizing. Never one to be spoken to like this, Benedict wanted nothing more than to grab her by the arms and demand that she stop at once.

His hands clenched into fists. His body shook. He glared at her, and she matched it, licking her lips as if daring him to take her.

Does she know what she is doing? Is this her plan? To provoke me so that I have no choice but to demonstrate my power over her? What does she want from me?

“Honestly, I never took you for a coward, Benedict, but that is what you are.”

“Say that again, woman,” he snarled and stepped toward her.

She stayed put, looking into his eyes, daring him. “You are a coward, Benedict, because you are too weak and pathetic to admit the truth.”

“And what truth is that?” His heart raced, for he began to understand what she was saying. But whether he could say it out loud or not…

She scoffed. “Even now you cannot say it. Even after everything we have been through, you still cannot say it.”

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