Page 59 of Taken By the Beastly Duke

" Your Grace," she greeted with a perfect curtesy but the pinched look on her face was one of a person that was deeply unhappy. Her demeanor was a far cry from the cheerful young girl she had met years ago when she married Theo.

" It is my pleasure to meet you again Lady Seton. My deepest apologies for your loss " she said making sure her tone conveyed her sorrow about the incident.

" Thank you your grace" the lady clipped out. Victoria was shocked by her tone and when she peered into her eyes she was sure something faintly resembling resentment.

She felt her face furrow into a frown. She could not think of any reason why Theodore's wife would have a reason to resent her.

Theodore seemed to notice the tension in the air and tried to place a hand on his wife's waist, probably to convey tenderness but she sidestepped his touch, her gaze trained somewhere behind Victoria.

That behavior cast a shadow on Victoria's belief that Anthony had a happy marriage with his wife. She wanted to ask what the problem was, but worried that she might come across as prying. The situation was quite awkward and she wondered how best to extricate herself from the situation

" Here you are darling. I have been looking all over the room for you" Anthony said beside her, pausing when he noted the people she stood with.

" Seton" he greeted Theodore with a slight nod of his head " My lady he said bowing to Lady Henri.

" I must apologize because I would like to have my wife back. She owes me a dance " he said with an adoring smile on his face that dared her to contradict him.

He must have known she could not contradict him considering the state of their reputation in the ton

" Of course " she said with an agreeing smile. Turning to her companions she apologized " Please excuse me".

She took Anthony's arm as he guided her towards the middle of the ballroom, when the musicians struck up the tune, she realized it was a waltz and her eyes narrowed wondering why he would choose such a dance that involved such close proximity with one's partner when he have been studiously avoiding her for the past week.

When he finally placed his arm around her, leading the step of the dance

" What are you planning" she asked bluntly.

" I do not know what you speak of" he said with an apparently innocent expression. She. might have believed him if not for the mischievous smile that tugged at his lips.

" Why would you choose such an intimate dance as our first dance of the night. You abhor my presence remember?" She said bitterness spilling into her tone.

Drawing her even closer than was proper so that she felt or the contours of his body including his rosing arousal he said.

" You should know better kitten. What I feel for you is a far cry from hatred. You should know, since you feel it too."

When she started to shake her head in denial, he chuckled darkly

" You can deny it all you want, your body does not lie and right now in this moment, I can feel your body melting into mine" he said the last one so close to her ear that she had to try hard to conceal her shudder.

" It is that intense attraction that caused me to be away from your bed for over a week. You felt I had abandoned you, believe me it was torture for me as well."

When she would have pulled a way, he held her fast by his arm around her waist.

" I still wonder how I was able to leave you that night, our wedding night when you wore that lingerie. I was so sure that I had died and gone to heaven. I still regret leaving when I could have just tore the thing away from your body and worship you all over. Touching and licking you all over.

Victoria became aware that her breathing was now faster, her cheeks burned and she ached in places she could not mention.

He was not done. He seemed to have decided to torture her with his words tonight.

" It is never late though. He said with a surreptitious lick on the shell of her eye. Victoria gave a strangled whimper in response. " We can consummate our marriage tonight. I would really love to stop this struggle against our attraction. I am sure that we could give each other pleasure.... So much pleasure ".

With that he stopped to bow to her. Now she looked around, she found that the waltz had ended. While she burned with desire and felt like jelly, her tormentor appeared unflappable.

It was only his arm around hers that prevented her from melting in a pool at her feet. It was mortifying how easily he could reduce her to a mess of longing and arousal. This time he had not even needed to touch her, just with his words he had managed to shoot her arousal to the roof.

Just as they stepped off the dance floor, she felt Anthony stiffen beside her, staring off in a distance. When she followed his gaze, she saw a tall blonde lady, shapely and beautiful, animatedly speaking to her companions

The feeling of jealousy they stirred in her chest quickly died when she realized that the expression on his face was not that of admiration, instead his eyes conveyed pain and a profound sense of betrayal.

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