Page 34 of A Bride for the Devilish Duke
“Well, she usually does,” Emma amended, furrowing her brows, “however, you seem to have a way with her.”
Damien grinned. “I have always enjoyed the company of animals. More than people for the most part. I keep a healthy stable myself, as well as hounds.”
“For hunting?” Emma said with distaste.
Damien looked at her. “My father was a hunter. I am not. Nor have I ever been.”
Emma twisted. She found herself gazing into Damien's sapphire eyes. Both had hands outstretched to the horse, who nuzzled and nodded, seeking attention from each.
As Emma reached for the horse’s mane, her fingers touched Damien’s. The touch lasted for the briefest of moments before Emma snatched her hand away. A brief moment but it felt as though it had lasted an hour. Emma’s breath quickened and she felt her face flushing. For a heartbeat of time, a sliver of a second, his fingers had stroked across hers.Caressed. The contact seemed to send a spark, like lightning, coursing through her.
“What did you discuss with my father?” Emma asked, suddenly breathless.
“I asked his consent to your hand in marriage. As you must have expected that I would.”
He was looking at her, his face two feet from hers, separated by the bobbing head of the mare. His eyes glinted sky blue and she found herself unable to look away.
Unable or unwilling? She did notwantto look away. She wanted to be touched. But she could not. Must not.
“Ididexpect you to seek his consent. Mine is obviously irrelevant,” she muttered, putting irritation into her voice as a wall between them.
“Not so. It is vital,” Damien replied.
“Then it is refused. Seek another,” Emma said bluntly.
“Your behavior does not suggest to me that I need to seek another. I did not expect to be attracted to you but I find it is so. Can that not be an added and unexpected bonus?”
Emma felt a sudden urge to slap him. He was speaking so matter-of-factly about intimacy, as though it was purely a transactional matter.
“You make it sound as though you regard me as... as some kind of loose woman,” she accused.
Damien's eyes widened.
“That was not my intention! Nor was it my intention that any intimacy should ever occur between us. Let me make myself clear. You are to be my wife in name only. We will present the face of a married couple to the world. In private, we shall be separate individuals with lives that do not intersect.
“In time, I will help your father to free himself of Sutherland's clutches, and my position and rank will help secure favorable marriages for your sisters both. All will benefit.”
Emma lifted a suspicious brow. “And what ofus? Will you thrive in a loveless, passionless marriage of convenience? What manner of man does not seek the comfort of the marriage bed?”
Emma knew that she was contradicting herself, but she wanted to point out to him how ludicrous this proposal was. Try and make him see sense and allow her to slip free of the trap that she found herself in.
Damien glanced around the deserted stable yard as though fearing that they might be overheard. Emma realized that she had raised her voice, almost shouting, and immediately regretted it. She did not want to risk her sisters hearing her.
She thought she imagined a flitting shadow at the corner of the house, as of someone ducking out of sight. She took hold of Damien's arm and led him away.
Or tried to.
At first, Damien did not move. Emma's grip tightened instinctively and she became very aware of his musculature and the carefully controlled power therein. It reminded her of the times he had held her in those arms. Held her firmly. It made her heart skip and her stomach flutter with butterfly wings.
“Please, there is somewhere more private,” she whispered.
Damien relented and followed her. Emma led him away from the stable yard. Behind the stone building that housed the stalls,there was the well-house. It was a dark, brick structure with a conical, tiled roof and a rusty gate in one wall.
Emma pulled the gate open carefully and went in, Damien following. In the middle of the room was a low stone wall with a pulley, rope, and bucket suspended over it. Emma put her finger to her lips. Damien nodded, looking around the room with interest.
Presently, the clicks of shoes on cobbles reached them. Emma saw a shadow emerging from around the corner of the stables, as though peering. Then it disappeared and the sound of footsteps receded.
“Whom do you suppose that was?” Damien whispered.
