Page 57 of The Phantom Duke
CHAPTER 16
“Thank you, Uncle Gabriel, for keeping my father from demolishing this place!” Damien called out to the ancient stone walls and the primal, bubbling water.
Maria marveled. Damien had led her down a stone staircase that descended through turn after steep turn until she thought they must be well below ground level. Then into a vaulted stone chamber with fluted pillars, mosaic walls and a large, steaming pool of water.
The pain in her ankle had settled to a dull, uncomfortable ache, but with the newfound fire coursing through her veins, it was readily ignored. She would endure if it meant that Damien would soothe the burning inside her.
“This place pre-dates the house. It was built by the Romans. My father wanted it demolished, but my mother’s brother persuaded him not to.”
They walked along the pool to a stone bench, and Maria looked curiously about her. It was a strange place to do all the things that she wished for him to do to her.
“What became of him? Your mother’s brother,” Maria asked.
“He died many years ago,” Damien said. “I come here to be free of this,” he tapped the mask, “and pretend I am a normal man.”
Maria took his hand, kissing it. His palm was so large that it eclipsed her own.
“I would not wish you to be a normal man,” she said softly. “They are so very disappointing. I will take the Phantom over a normal man.”
His lip twitched at the use of the name the gossips had given him. Damien’s shoulders seemed to relax a little, as though the confession had made him lose all the tension that he had carried for…a very long time, she assumed.
“Are we going to swim?” Maria asked with no little trepidation.
“That is what one typically does in water. Otherwise, one is prone to drown,” Damien said.
Maria rubbed suddenly sweating hands against her dress and licked her lips. She had been anticipating something entirely different when he had asked her to come with him. Was itpossible that he had misunderstood her intentions? Maria would certainly die of embarrassment if she was forced to correct him.
“I have no garments for swimming,” she said.
“Neither do I. I have my skin,” Damien said. “Is that not acceptable?”
She drew in a sharp breath of air, her mind readily supplying the image of her robust husband entirely nude. Maria’s inner walls clenched in anticipation, and she swallowed hard.
“It sounds wonderful, but…” Maria didn’t want to make the admission that was looming in their conversation.
Damien arched an eyebrow.
“I cannot swim!” Maria exclaimed. “It terrified me as a child, and neither my father nor my governess pushed me to overcome that fear.”
“I was much the same. My father threw me into a lake and refused to save me as I drowned,” Damien replied.
Maria gaped at him.
“You are not serious!”
“I never jest when discussing that devil,” Damien snapped. “I swam to save my own life. Dragged myself out of the lake to be cuffed about the head for making him wait.”
“Do not throw me in!” Maria said, urgently.
“I will not. But I will teach you.”
Maria smiled nervously, looking at the dark water. It was as still as a mirror, but the shadows of the vaults hid its depths. She clenched her thighs together in a vain attempt to soothe the ache in her core. She supposed that the water would do that, at least. Damien stood. Maria took a deep breath and then followed suit.
“Where do we start?” she asked.
“Unless you want to get your clothes wet, I suggest we begin by undressing.”
He let his coat fall from his broad shoulders, then unlaced his shirt and tugged it free of his breeches. It came up over his head and was casually tossed aside. Maria’s breath caught in her throat. She could not help but let her eyes roam over that magnificent physique, but they stopped at the leather that masked his shoulder and arms. She looked up at the mask on his face.
