Page 14 of Alone with the Beastly Duke
“Your Grace, you could rebuild your life with the right woman by your side. You could be happy again. Just close your eyes and imagine your beautiful wife and two beautiful children: a boy and a girl. Could you imagine how lovely that would be?” Fillmore continued. “Having two little demons who would bother you to no end—a little boy that would be your heir someday and a little girl that would be the apple of your eye. Your heart will be full, and so will your house.”
Axel smiled, despite himself, and even he could not help but agree that that would be a good thing to have, especially for a man like himself who had gone long without any affection in his life.
When he pictured the beautiful family that he could have, he could only see one woman in the picture: the petite, brown-haired, and blue-eyed woman that had vexed him to no end today.
The smile, however, left his face as quickly as it came when he remembered all that had happened in his previous marriage. He could not afford to repeat the events of his past.
Axel shook his head. “I would rather not.”
“Think about it,” Fillmore suggested. “You could be happy again.”
Axel shook his head even more vehemently this time. “Or I could kill her as I killed...” He choked on his words.
He could not bear to utter her name. It still hurt like it was yesterday.
Wham!Fillmore’s fist landed on his cheek, sending him reeling backward. Axel landed on his back and lay there, welcoming the pain. Fillmore walked over and pulled him up.
“Are you sure you are fine, Your Grace?” Fillmore asked.
Axel nodded. “I am.”
“I am sure you did not kill her, and even…” Fillmore started.
Axel held up a hand. “I do not want to talk about her.”
“I understand, Your Grace. But you still have to move on at a point. You need to start to live again,” Fillmore urged.
Axel understood what he meant. Ever since his wife died, he had pretty much given up on living. He found joy in nothing and simply gave up.
“I think I will just stop here for the day,” he said. “I have not been able to concentrate, but I know this for a fact, England is no place for me, and once spring finally comes, I shall leave to make a fresh start in my mother’s homeland, Norway, where no one knows me.”
“If that is the case, I will miss you dearly,” Fillmore said.
Fillmore left soon after, and Axel went to his study. He pored over his financial documents, but as much as he tried to work, his mind kept returning to the day’s events.
He could see the image of the woman in his mind and her resonant voice that also grated on his nerves, but he knew for a fact that he wanted to see her again.
A knock woke him up from his reverie, and he looked up to see his butler standing at the door.
“The lady is here,” his butler said in a voice just a tad above a whisper.
“What? How did she…” Axel’s mind was momentarily confused.
“Lady Dorothy, Your Grace,” said his butler when he caught Axel’s confused expression.
“Today?” Axel was even more confused.
“She insists on seeing you now, Your Grace,” his butler said.
“Tell her I will be right with her,” Axel ordered, finishing up with his work.
He finally went to an abandoned room that used to serve as a drawing room, but he was not eager to see his unexpected guest. The moment he opened the door to the room, she jumped on him and began to rip at his clothes.
“Keep calm, Dorothy,” Axel urged, overwhelmed. “What are you—”
His guest, a young woman with a sizable bosom and a face that belied the fact that she was, in fact, a few years older than Axel, tugged at him with even more fervor than before.
“I have missed you, Axel. Have you not missed me?” she asked while she ran her hand over his body, even with his clothes on. Axel had to hold her hands to stop her from tearing his clothes off him.
