Page 45 of Seven Nights with the Wicked Duke
They swayed in tune with the music and for a second, a deceptive ease crept into his blood. Her body was languid as she sagged into him and he knew it was the aphrodisiac in the wine taking effect.
She clung tightly to him and guilt hit him as he looked down at her. She should have been home, not thinking of pleasurable acts to do but thinking of the nice gentleman he had seen her conversing with and planning for their future together yet while he could have stopped her folly, he had encouraged it and tainted her with every breath he could.
"Why couldn't you just stay home like a good little maiden?" he whispered against her hair.
If she had, he wouldn't be thinking of her and ways to corrupt her even more. He wouldn't feel the naughty delight he felt when he watched her across the room in balls beside her brother like a proper young lady would. He wouldn't be watching her at all and thinking of all the ways to make her flush.
He had tried to stay away from her and healing from his injuries had afforded him that ability but when he had seen her at the Keiton ball, flirting and laughing with Lord Buckley, he hadn't been able to deny himself the pleasure of her company.
The man was a good choice, proper and without scandal, yet he knew the man could never see Cecilia's true potential. He could never stoke her fires the way he had or make her scream with pleasure the way he had.
It was an easy thing for him to make her uncomfortable and lure her into the library because he had seen the slight signs of boredom even if she tried hard to hide it and he had felt her eyes on him even across the room, needing.
He didn't give in when she had expected because he didn't want her under the notion that she would have a say in their arrangement. He was the one who determined the course of their affair and if he grew bored, he would end it just as quickly.
"You know very well why I cannot just stay home," she answered, pulling his gaze.
He hadn't known she had heard him.
Her eyes were glazed, her skin flushed slightly and he wondered if it was the drink or desire for him. He wanted so terribly to find out but he held himself back not knowing why.
"Young ladies do not go out chasing ruination in the name of rebellion, Cecilia," he teased with a smile because smiling was a mask that came easily to him.
It was a weapon he used to lull people into false security with him and using it with her while he didn't like it, it was a necessary thing to do with the thoughts plaguing him.
She frowned lifting a hand to his face.
"I do not like this smile on you," she told him and he stiffened. "This is the smile you give others."
He raised a brow at her.
How had she seen through his mask so easily when his friends had not?
"I smile the same as always, Cecilia. You read meaning in nothing."
She watched him a bit longer before conceding.
"You were telling me your reason for choosing such a dangerous proclivity," he reminded, needing to keep her distracted.
How had she seen through his disguise so easily?
She sighed, laying her head against his chest.
"You know how Magnus is, Your Grace, after all you are close friends."
He nodded.
"He has been protective of me since our parents died and his insistence on seeing me settled in marriage to a man who would guarantee me a safe future financially is his primary concern. He doesn't take my happiness into account because he does not believe in marrying for love and I understand his concerns but his manner is overbearing," she complained. "My life has never felt like my own as he has always had to have an opinion on everything. My dress, my hair, how I eat… It has been too much for me and he has constantly frustrated my efforts on every turn to secure respectable matches that would leave me at least happy and I intend to frustrate him as well."
"It is love that guides him as well as responsibility," he told her. "You were young when he had to care for you and it would be a pain to your late parents if he didn't see you well situated."
"I understand that," she said softly. "I truly do. I just have hated feeling like a burden he wished to be rid of."
"Has he said as much to you?"
"No," she admitted. "At least not in words. His actions say otherwise as though he wishes to be rid of me as quickly. His efforts to see me married has increased and I cannot help but wonder…"
"He doesn't see you as you think, Cecilia." He smiled. "Do not worry."
