Page 40 of The Duchess' Ultimatum
“You look lovely,” he said to her.
She frowned as if she thought he was joking. “Is that right?”
“It is,” he said seriously. “I might even say beautiful.”
Her cheeks flushed pink, and she looked away with embarrassment. “Thank you… as do you – handsome, I mean.”
“I am crushed, madam, crushed. I was hoping ‘pretty’.” He laughed and she laughed with him. Although he noticed Barabra watching the action curiously, he did not care.
And because he did not care, Dorian settled into supper with his wife, his sister, and his friends, feeling as relaxed and at peace as he had in years. He watched Penelope closely through much of it, for the first time wondering what it might be like if he was to stop lying to himself and take a chance like he never knew he wanted.
Did he have it in himself to be happy? Did he deserve such a thing? Barbara was still his main purpose, but if this weekend went as he wanted it to, who knew what might happen next?
And that was a thought that for the first time excited him.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Penelope tossed and she turned as she tried to fall asleep. She threw back the covers. She pulled them up to her chin. She attempted to clear her mind and find a sense of peace that might see sleep finally arrive. But as the minutes dragged on, she knew that sleep was not going to find her on this night.
She knew too the reason why.
Of course I do! It has been building inside of me all day… no, all week. And tonight, where I have tried to deny it, to fight against it, to pretend it is not there, it would be like ignoring the sun as it shone on my face.
The realization was on her, but Penelope was still not ready to admit the truth. At least not until she knew how the one person that really mattered felt – if they were of the same mind, or if she was reading into everything that which had happened. Only then might she finally be ready to speak it out loud.
For that reason, knowing she could not sleep, and knowing that she could not face this weekend without an answer, Penelope climbed from her bed, threw a robe over her shoulders, and slipped from her bedroom.
The hallways were silent as she walked, the only sounds those of her beating heart and heavy breathing. It was funny that she so often thought of herself as a strong and confident woman, forced to become one these last three years. And now, on her way to do that which she had no choice in, she had never felt so afraid.
But that did not stop her. If anything, it pushed her forward. By the time this night ended she would have her answer, and for better or for worse, it would change everything.
So it was that she found herself outside of the duke’s bedroom door.
She raised her hand and curled it into a fist, heart still racing, eyes flicking to the crack in the doorway where she could see the light coming from inside. Dorian was still awake, and she wondered if he could not sleep for the same reason as herself.
A soft knock on the door and she held her breath.
“Yes?” his voice called from inside.
“D… Dorian,” she stammered. “I… are you awake?”
His footsteps hurried across the room. Pausing at the doorway, she could almost picture him standing there, no doubt as confused as she was feeling. After some seconds, the sound of locks unclicking and she caught her breath just as the door swung open.
“Penelope?”
This was a bad idea…
That thought struck her the moment her eyes landed upon the duke. Where she knew that she had to speak with him, for it was the only thing that she could do, what Penelope had not considered was the time of night and the state the duke might be in.
As if this wasn’t going to be hard enough.
His dark hair was a matted mess atop his head. His face was cloaked in shadow, as his large body blocked the light from the fire coming from inside the room. This had the effect of making him appear even bigger than usual, his massive frame leering over her in a way that was dominating and powerful. And that wasn’t to mention the fact he was dressed only in a loose-fitting nightshirt, unbuttoned to show black curls covering his upper chest, high enough on his thigh that at a glance she spied his bare skin… naked and exposed beneath that thin piece of linen.
Her mouth dropped open and her stomach almost left her.
“Is something the matter?” he asked.
Just that I find myself in your chambers of a night, you nearly naked, me not much different, here to ask a question that will either force me to leave before this weekend starts, or change completely the dynamics of whatever we thought this relationship was…
