Page 88 of Wedded to the Duke of Seduction

His length slipped in and out of her in a slow, steady motion. Marina kissed him, her own tongue demanding more. His hand slipped down and found her pearl once more, and he pinched it gently.

He felt her quiver and knew she was close. He rocked himself into her harder and faster, unable to hold back. His breath grew ragged as he held himself back from release, intent on pleasing her. When he thrummed her pearl again with his fingers, Marina cried out and raked her nails down his back as her insides clenched on the length of him.

Unable to hold back, Leo pushed deeper and harder until his own release joined hers, the dam breaking as he spilled inside of her.

As their breathing slowed and reality returned, Leo gazed at Marina, her skin glowing with a fine sheen in the candlelight. He reached for her discarded gown and gently draped it over her shoulders, his touch now tender where it had been passionate moments before. Marina smiled up at him from the piano bench, her hair tumbling in dark waves around her face, her eyes still hazy with pleasure. Neither spoke. Instead, Leo lifted her into his arms, cradling her against his chest as if she were made of porcelain. As he carried her from the music room toward their chambers, the echo of their passion lingered in the silent house.

CHAPTER 31

“The delivery from Bond Street has arrived, Your Grace,” Mrs. Phillips announced as Marina finished her breakfast in the morning room. “I’ve had the footmen place the packages in the blue drawing room as you requested.”

“Thank you,” Marina replied, setting down her teacup. “And has His Grace mentioned what time he expects to return today?”

The housekeeper’s efficient manner faltered. “He intended to visit his solicitor this morning regarding some property matters, but I believe he should return by midday. He’s been much more regular in his habits since your marriage than he was during the Felicity years.”

Marina froze, her hand halfway to her napkin. “The Felicity years?”

Mrs. Phillips’s eyes widened in alarm. “Forgive me, Your Grace. I assumed His Grace had mentioned… that is to say, it was before your time of course, and not at all a suitable topic for?—”

“It’s quite all right, Mrs. Phillips,” Marina interrupted trying to calm the woman’s distress.

The housekeeper bobbed a hasty curtsy. Her face flushed with embarrassment. “If there’s nothing else you require, Your Grace?”

“That will be all, thank you.”

As Mrs. Phillips left the room, Marina sat motionless, turning the casual reference over in her mind. She knew the basics of Leo’s history—that his brother had disappeared under scandalous circumstances and that Leo had spent years searching for him. The details, though, were hazy, and Leo still shied away from mentioning William except in the broadest terms.

The name Felicity, however, was new. A woman whose impact on Leo’s life was substantial enough to define a period before his travels.

Marina spent the morning in her usual pursuits, answering correspondence and reviewing household accounts, but her mind kept returning to the housekeeper’s slip. By noon, when she heard Leo’s voice in the entrance hall as he returned, her curiosity had become a nearly physical ache.

“You’re looking thoughtful today,” Leo observed as he joined her in the library where she had retreated with a book she hadn’t actually been reading. He bent to kiss her cheek, a simple act of affection that had become their habit in recent weeks. “Has something happened?”

Marina closed her book, setting it aside as she gathered her courage. “Mrs. Phillips mentioned something this morning that puzzled me.”

“Oh?” Leo settled into the chair opposite hers, loosening his cravat after his morning out. “What was that?”

“She referred to a time in your life as ‘the Felicity years.’”

The effect on him upon hearing the name was immediate. Leo went completely still, his fingers froze on his cravat, and his expression shuttered like a door slammed shut. For a long moment, he said nothing, and Marina feared she had crossed some invisible boundary between them.

“I see,” he finally said, his voice neutral. “I suppose it was only a matter of time before you would eventually hear that name.”

Marina leaned forward, her eyes searching his face. “Leo, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. We all have parts of our past we prefer to keep private.”

Something softened in his expression at her words. “No, you deserve to know. Especially now that things between us have changed.”

Marina felt warmth spread through her at his simple words, and it eased some of her tension. Over the past weeks, what started as mere attraction had quietly grown into something deeper. They hadn’t talked about love, neither of them were ready for that, but something real had formed between them, and they both knew it.

Leo rose and moved to the window, looking out at the garden as if gathering his thoughts. “Felicity Exeter was the daughter of Baron Killian,” he began, his back still turned to Marina. “I met her when she made her debut eight years ago. She was beautiful, vivacious, utterly charming and entirely unsuitable as a match for the heir to a dukedom.”

He turned back to face Marina, his expression unreadable. “At least, that was my father’s opinion. Mine was different. I fell in love with her almost immediately.”

Marina kept her face carefully neutral, but something twisted in her chest at the thought of Leo in love with another woman. “What happened?”

“What typically happens when duty conflicts with desire,” Leo said with a bitter smile. “I chose duty. When my father threatened to cut off both William and me if I persisted in my ‘unsuitable attachment,’ I ended the relationship.”

“That must have been difficult,” Marina said softly.

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