Page 50 of Married to the Forbidden Duke
Her eyes flew to his face, and she examined those features she knew so well. Piercing blue eyes, which were frowning into hers. A long nose offset by full lips that she had felt press against hers. A dimple on his chin she wanted to reach out and trace. He always dressed soberly, the starched white of his cravat a stark contrast.
He searched her face as though he was memorizing her features just the same.
“Lord Denshire,” she gasped, feeling as though he had ducked her underwater and was withholding her breath.
His eyes warmed in a smile. “Lord Denshire,” he agreed. “Did you have a point to make about him?”
He knew what he did to her.Damn him.
“We should discuss—” She had nothing about his friend to discuss. Nothing in her mind except what it would feel like when he massaged her leg again. What she had given to him in exchange for his help. “Is that the right thing?” she asked suddenly.
“You mean… helping Helena?” He sucked in his cheeks as he thought, leaning away from Alice, and she ought to be relieved, but she felt the coolness of his absence keenly. “Or approaching Mr. Kingsley?”
“Both.”
“Denshire takes his duty by his sister very seriously, and it might be that he would not be immediately eager to embrace the match. But Helena knows her own mind when she has fixed on something, and while she won’t outright disobey him, she will dig her heels in. As for Mr. Kingsley—if there is a chance for them to be married sooner than later, he ought to know so he can make provisions for it. So yes, I think that was the right decision.”
“Oh.” Alice wilted against him a little. Given she had already decided that it was, she didn’t know why his approbation meant so much to her now. “That’s… good.”
“Is there anything else you would like to ask?” Frederick’s eyes gleamed wickedly as he looked down at her. “Or should I make our excuses and take you home now?”
“Now?”
“I find myself eager to claim my prize.”
She tilted her chin. “A favor to me is not aprize.”
“On the contrary. I am very much looking forward to it.” At her scowl, he grinned. “I have been wishing to be the person you would allow to help you all this time,” he whispered lowly. “At least now, I am getting that chance. It may mean very little to you, but it means a great deal to me.”
She sucked in a breath, once more feeling as though he had punched the air from her lungs. “It… does?”
“Of course. So, will you allow me to whisk you away?”
She considered, but in all honesty, her leg wasn’t hurting her that much, and she was rather enjoying this social occasion. Yes, people still stared, but she felt as though she had overcome some mental hurdle, and now she truly felt as though she was the Duchess of Langford.
Let them mock her behind her back. She was the Duchess and wielded significant social power; all she had to do was use it.
“I would rather stay,” she finally said.
Frederick dipped his head in acknowledgment. “Then we will stay.”
Frederick felt his patience wear thin as Alice insisted on making her rounds around the room. All the other dances were more boisterous ones that she couldn’t entertain, so she spoke with a collection of dowagers in a way that made Frederick feel as though she was quietly holding them accountable for their gossiping.
If he hadn’t been so eager to get her back into the carriage and back home, he would have been in awe at how much more confident she looked striding across the room. Of course, she still had her stick, but she relied on it far less. He wondered if she noticed.
Even dancing, she had felt almost sure against him, confident and capable.
As the evening wore on, he found himself returning to her side again and again, acknowledging her private little smile whenever he did so, but practically ready to dismantle the room and everyone inside it so long as she would return with him.
Finally, she raised her gaze to him and held out her hand. “I believe it is time to return home, dear husband.”
He could have picked her up and carried her there himself.
All for a massage.
He knew he was being ridiculous, and yet he couldn’t stop himself. After what happened the last time, he knew there was a chance she would let him go further, touch more of her body, make her feel good.... More than anything, he wanted to be the reason pleasure flushed in her cheeks. Perhaps this wasn’t what he had initially expected when he had contemplated marriage, but now his world revolved around her and the ways he might make her life better.
This was a very easy way, and one that—selfishly—would bring him pleasure, too.
