Page 20 of A Duchess to Reclaim

“It depends,” he replied, “It seems my wife has changed quite a bit since I’ve left. Not the soft mouse I married. She seems to have transformed into something far more vicious.”

“Best of luck,” Tristan scoffed.

“And to you as well,” Dominic retorted.

The two of them shook hands, then Dominic strode back to the carriage. He held his breath as he opened the door again, expecting to see his wife gone, but relief flooded through him as he saw her still perched on the seat.

He couldn’t help but sweep his eyes down her form once again; a hunger roaring up inside as he took in Amelia’s new look. She was positivelydelicious.

“Are you going to get in?” She asked him, crossing her arms, “Or are you going to stand there with the door open, exposing me to the world like this?”

His temper immediately ate through his arousal, and Dominic grit his teeth as he hauled himself back into the carriage.

“So when did you get back?” She asked the moment the door was shut.

“Yesterday,” he ground out. “I didn’t have a full day before I heard of your transgressions.”

Amelia seemed unbothered by the slight he’d tossed at her and haughtily asked, “Where did you go? What did you do? It must have been gravely important to leave me alone and abandoned at your manor foralmost a year!”

“Itwasimportant and my life does not stop just because I had to save you from the auction block!” He slung back.

Amelia flinched, her haughty demeanor slipping, and Dominic clamped his teeth together and exhaled sharply through his nostrils, struggling greatly to regain control.

He hadn’t expected this. Hadn’t expected to get hit with a deadly amount of primal hunger the moment he saw his wife again. She had always been beautiful, yes. Like many other women of thetonseemed to hold a certain amount of beauty. But now, she looked more than beautiful. More than seductive. She had a look that made a man’s mouth water and his cock swell and stir to the point of pain. And in that moment, he loathed her for it.

“I truly did have important business for my people to sort out,” Dominic stated, straining to maintain composed. “Perhaps it was wrong of me to leave without an apology or an explanation, but I knew my staff would take good care of you and guide you properly. Am I wrong?”

Amelia’s gaze fell to the floor of the carriage.

“No,” she said softly. “They have been most helpful. Exemplary, really.”

Dominic let a long, cooling breath through his lips, feeling more in control now.

“I send missives to Mr. Morbate bi-weekly. I had assumed he had shared those with you, but I never demanded it from him.”

“I am aware of the missives,” Amelia replied, “But seeing as none of them were of concern over me, I stopped paying attention to their arrival after the first two months.”

Guilt slithered through his heart. It was true. He never once asked about her specifically. He never had to, knowing his faithful Mr. Morbate would report everything that was going on. Well- at least everything he was aware of. Amelia must have been using at least some discretion, if it meant her little adventures had slid by unnoticed by his staff. Either that…or she had won their favor more than he had. Whatever it was, he would get to the bottom of it.

Silence stretched between them for a long time as the carriage traversed on the long, dark rode back to Ellsworth. It wasn’t often that Dominic was left speechless, but with Amelia, with this matter, he suddenly and frustratingly found himself at odds. Finally, he spoke again.

“I understand that I gave you a promise of freedom before I left, Amelia,” he stated calmly, “And I meant it. Perhaps, if you had went on this little journey alone, it might have still remained a secret. But pulling Theo, Rose, and Ophelia into it was dangerous. It is much easier to disguise one person than it is four, that much, surely, must be plain to you.”

He paused, his mind whirling, then added, “That being said, I am glad you did not go into this alone.”

“So what was I supposed to do then?” Amelia remarked. “It was not as if you were here for me to ask for advice.”

She stared at him as if he had three heads and if he was honest with himself, he didn’t blame her. He’d clearly contradicted himself, essentially damning her no matter what she chose.

“You could have written to me,” Amelia decided to say. “Mr. Morbate always knows how to get word to me. You could have let me know what you wanted. Perhaps I could have taken a break from my work and come home to assist you.”

“And what was I supposed to write?” She asked, her anger clearly rising again.

“My estranged darling. Just a quick thing. I want to go to theDevil’s Masquerade.Even though you ran off on me on our wedding night, might you consider returning home—for the sole purpose of escorting me to a fleshly fête?"

Dominic’s own mood quickly shifted to anger again as that particular word slipped so easily from her lips. He remembered once how she’d blushed so deeply when he’d said that word, and now she spoke it as if she did so often. She was right. She had clearly learned much because the sobbing panicked woman he’d saved was nowhere to be seen.

And damn him if it didn’t arouse every sensation in his already equally hardened mind and body. He reached forward, moving so fast that Amelia had no chance to evade his touch, and grabbed her by the throat. She gasped at the force of it, but after a second of being caught off guard her eyes narrowed at him and she inclined her chin.

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