Page 47 of A Duchess to Unravel
He felt Theo shiver under his touch, and those beautiful, still-dazed eyes dilated further at his commands. Pleasure surged through him as she nodded slowly, as if completely under his thrall.
“Say, ‘Yes, Your Grace.’”
“Yes, Your Grace,” Theo obediently replied.
“Very good,” he praised, brushing his lips against hers as a reward.
Need surged through him as he did so and silently grappled with it.
“Now go.” He commanded, “And only come back for your next lesson.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
TWO WEEKS LATER
“And I thought Dominic’s and my estate was large,” Amelia murmured, looking around at the largess of Theo’s personal sitting room. “It is lovely though.”
Theo’s lips twitched toward a smile as she stroked her fingers along the sides of her teacup. She felt pride for how far the vast castle had come. All because of her.
“I am glad you waited to pay your visit,” she replied, “It was in such a sorry state when I arrived, you would not believe.”
“You must have been working night and day,” Amelia remarked, finally settling her gaze back on her friend.
She had indeed. And it had involved far more people than Theo had originally predicted. After gaining blanket approval for anything regarding the castle, she had hired forty additional new staff instead of twenty. Every surface of the stone giant had beenscrubbed. Old torches replaced with modern lamps. Rugs had been rolled out and tapestries had been hung.
The mirrors, as she had predicted, reflected the sun from the large windows, filling the dark space with light during the day, and the many massive hearths were lit at night. It was finally starting to look like a home.
“The masons are still finishing up their work, but the roof is thatched, the carpentry work is done, and new glass has been installed in the windows,” Theo explained.
Amelia shook her head in wonder.
“No wonder I have not heard from you,” she said, setting her teacup down. “The others and I have missed you, Theo. So please, now that we have discussed what you have been doing, tell mehowyou have been doing.”
Theo did her best to hide her blush behind her teacup. Amelia had told her many scintillating things about her relationship with Dominic, but she was not sure she could do the same. Her mind and body were reeling from what had happened in Alistair’s office.
Being given commands like that was something she never would have expected herself to enjoy, but the way he’d spoken to and led her had held her in an erotic daze.
“I am fine,” she replied at last, then sipped at her tea. “My work keeps me busy.”
Amelia leaned closer, giving Theo an introspective look that made her want to look away.
“What are you not telling me?” Amelia asked.
“Is it Alistair? Is he not being kind to you?”
Theo let out a laugh.
“I have not seen him,” she replied.
“What!” Amelia exclaimed.
“Well, once, a couple of weeks ago, when I first wanted to hire more people. But not since then.”
“Alistair did not even tell you that Everett, Dominic, and I were coming?” Amelia asked, “He is the one that sent for us!”
“He had a servant deliver a message to me this morning that you would be visiting,” Theo replied with a shrug.
Amelia’s brows furrowed with worry.
