Page 62 of In Need of a Duke
Her mouth dried as a slow grin spread across his lips. “Yes.”
She licked her lips, her mouth dry as she walked around the table and headed for the hallway. “Don’t be ridiculous, Ian.”
He folded the paper and set it on the table. “I wish to spend time with you.”
Charlotte laughed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t believe you. There must be something else you must see to?—”
Ian stood, slowly stalking toward her, robbing her of her words.She dropped her hands and backed up, her pulse thrumming in her ears as a nervous giggle escaped her.
“You,” he said, pinching a lock of her hair between his fingers. “All of London can rot. I am here only for you.”
She could smell the tea on his breath from breakfast as she melted back against the doorway.
“We’ll be in the gossip rags tomorrow.”
“Because I am out with my wife? I don’t give a damn what they say.”
He placed his hand on the wall beside her ear, leaning closer, teasing her with the ghost of his lips.
Tempting. Sinful.
“I do,” she countered. She glanced down, then back up to his mouth, attempting her own sort of magic.
“What can they say that will hurt you now, Honeybee? I’m back.”
“They have been terribly cruel.”
Ian’s exhale was cutting and heavy with regret. “Not anymore. I won’t allow it. I will protect you.”
Charlotte clutched her hands to fight from touching him. “I think I need to be protected from you the most.”
“Don’t we desire the same thing?” He rested his forehead against hers, one small touch that set her body on fire.
She wasn’t certain what she wanted any longer. Or how she truly felt about her husband. Only that he had returned, and the life she had carefully created for herself was slowly unraveling.
His breath was hot on her lips, his mouth still too far away from where she wanted it at the moment.
“I will go with you today,” he said, “and if they say anything, today, tomorrow, or three years from now, they will need to answer to me. No one is allowed to say anything cruel to you because of how I acted.”
“It’s not so simple.”
“Nothing ever is.” Ian pulled back enough to gaze at her, his eyes full of lust. “I won’t touch you again until you ask for it. While we’re in London, I am at your disposal.”
“I don’t wish to play games, Ian.”
“Who said anything about playing? No, I want what’s mine, and that’s you.”
“I still want a divorce. I think that’s best given what’s happened between us.”
“You agreed to give me until the end of the summer.”
She slipped away, hating the distance she put between them. “I am not convinced you want me for any other reason than you believe it’s your birthright to have me as your duchess.”
“You’re mine,” he said plainly. “Since that night I saw you across the ballroom. There is no one else for me.”
“Maybe so, but I am not something to own. And I am certainly not a toy you can decide when and where to play with, Ian.”
“Until the end of summer,” he reminded her. “Please.”
