Page 106 of The Scandal You Started
“No, that will not do.” He lifted his arm and beckoned her closer. “Come here and lie on me.”
She shook her head with a grimace. “I’ll just start sweating, and then I’ll be even more uncomfortable.”
He lowered his hand back down to the mattress, but a lightbulb soon lit up in his eyes. He tipped onto his back and grabbed something off his bedside cabinet. The distinct beep of the AC turning on, followed by the low hum of its fan, filtered through the room.
He rolled over to face her with a smile. “How about now?”
She grinned playfully. “I thought you couldn’t sleep with the AC on.”
“It will merely take me a little longer, but that is not an issue.” He grasped her elbow and wormed his other hand between her waist and the mattress. “What will keep me up, however, is knowing I did not attempt to ease your pain even the slightest.”
She went pliant as he settled on his back and tucked her against his side, pulling her half over him so that his arm curled all the way around her back. His T-shirt was scented with fresh soap and sunshine mixed with his own warm musk. She filled her lungs to the brim with it as she nestled against him.
When he pulled one of her bare legs further across his thighs, she found herself asking, “Aren’t you uncomfortable with the fact I’m bleeding?”
She was wearing her trusty old, cut leggings and period pants combo, so the chance of her traumatising him by leaking was next to nil. Still, she was curious to know how he felt about it, considering he hadn’t voiced the reactions his face had made throughout the day.
Dominic was quiet and still for so long that she dropped her head back into the crook of his shoulder to look up at him. His brows dipped and rose not exactly in fluster, but he didn’t seem to know what his answer was.
“You can be honest,” she teased.
“I admit,” he started with a roll of his shoulders, “it is disconcerting to think of you simply…bleeding. But it does not make me uncomfortable. Rather, after everything you have told me, I am far more concerned with how it is makingyoufeel.”
Her smirk bloomed into a pleasantly surprised grin. She leaned up and planted a kiss on his lips. “Good answer.”
He smiled and kissed her again, a little longer, a little slower, causing a flutter to start in her chest and spread as a rush of deep satisfaction all through her.
“Where would you like me to start?” he whispered. “Your back or your legs?”
“My back, please.”
Rayna rested her cheek against his chest as he began kneading his long, broad fingers into her hips and lower back.
She hummed when he rubbed a good spot. The gorgeous, receptive man that he was, he knew himself to keep massaging the same area.
As her eyes started growing heavy with slumber, an elusive wonder of the situation blanketed her thoughts, putting a smile on her face.
“You know,” she muttered, drawing tired circles over his heart with one finger. “You’re not anything like what I’ve read and heard noblemen were like.”
She felt his lips curl against her hairline. “My darling, I can guarantee many of the noblemen I know are exactly like what you have read and heard them to be.”
“Entitled, frivolous, misogynistic, aloof, and judgemental?”
“That is an adequate summary, yes.”
“So why aren’t you like that?” She amended, “I mean, don’t get me wrong, you were an entitled prick in your quarantine room. And you’re arrogant and irritatingly high-handed sometimes. But other than that, you’re much more…open and expressive.”
“It is not so much arrogance as it is a lack of false modesty, sweetheart. Modesty is not a trait suited to a man of my position. It would make me appear weak amongst my peers, and the world of the upper crust is cruel. Weakness only ever leads to exploitation. The same way falsely boasting myself would make me a fool too. I am neither. I am merely confident in my judgement.”
She pondered over what he said as he caressed his hands down her arse to knead the back of her thighs.
“And as for what you consider to be high-handedness, you stubborn woman. I am only behaving as a man ought to. By making decisions for the benefit of those I care for, those I am responsible for, that will serve them as well as protect them. That is what it means to be a man and marquess. I lead so that others may live comfortably.”
“But shouldn’t you involve the people you’re making decisions for to know that they actually agree and want that?”
“I do not rule by autocracy, my love, but if I asked everyone’s opinion, nothing would ever be decided.” She went to argue, but he continued, “However,I have come to realise since being herethat havingalldecisions made for you can be rather frustrating. Especially when you are powerless to do anything else.”
She craned her neck and grinned. He granted her a lopsided smile.
