Chapter 10 #2
He shrank back in a way that she would never have thought possible. His eyes dropped, looking to her feet as if in shame. The darkness around him was gone, no anger anywhere to speak of, and if Octavia did not know any better, she would have said that he was embarrassed.
“I think the two of you need to spend more time together,” she started carefully. “I think that if you and he –”
“I do not care what you think,” he snapped suddenly and forced his eyes back on her. “I hired you to teach my son, not to tell me how to raise him. Do your job, Miss Finch, that is all you should be focused on right now.”
With that said, the Duke fixed her with a final glare of warning and stormed across the room as if he meant to walk right through her and out the door.
“I did not mean anything by it,” she hurried to apologize. “I am only trying to help.”
He said nothing, stepping around her, his eyes fixed on the exit.
Octavia thought to let him go.
Her words had obviously affected him, taken personally so that even one as stubborn and headstrong as the Duke would rather ignore them and run. It told her that she was right, and not just about Aaron, but about the Duke also.
If he did not agree with me, he would not care what I had to say. But that he reacts with such vehemence and passion tells me that I have struck a little too close to a more personal issue…
Her mind raced as she tried to come up with a way to stop him before he fled. He agreed with her; she knew that he did, she just had to get him to stand still and listen to her for long enough so that he might see it.
She turned, her eyes fell on the covered painting, and that was when it struck her. Octavia’s eyes widened, the sense of danger in her plan rippled across her body, but that was how she knew that she was on the right path.
“What are you painting?” she said loudly, making sure the Duke heard her.
“What?” He was at the door, but he stopped and turned.
“Might I see it?” Without waiting for his approval, she strode across the room. “I don’t have much of an eye for art myself, but I would love to see –”
“Don’t!” he called out.
“Art is not meant to be hidden,” she said as she reached the painting. “It is to show off to the world. You should be proud.” She snatched at the sheet that covered the painting, she turned back, and was sure to look right at the Duke before throwing back the sheet.
“No!” he growled and charged across the room.
The floor shook as he raced, but she hardly noticed him coming.
The painting was unlike anything she might have expected someone as dark and foreboding as the Duke to paint.
It was a landscape, one populated by lush grass and verdant trees and blue skies.
On the horizon, she noticed, there were storm clouds gathering, but they sat in the distance, almost as if they were afraid to get too near to the sun and the beauty of the scene before them.
Octavia knew little of paintings and art, but even she could see just how magnificent this piece was. The use of color, the contrast between the beauty of the landscape and those clouds, and how lifelike it looked… who is this man?
“I told you no.” The Duke reached the painting, snatched the sheet, and threw it back over his work. “What is wrong with you?”
He puffed, and he panted as he stood over her. He tried to make himself big and angry and fearsome. But with that painting in mind, with his reaction to his son still clear, Octavia saw him in a new light… one that she could not believe that she had missed.
Was it all an act? Was he truly as dispassionate and sinister as he put on? Or was he just trying to make himself out to be something that he believed was right, even if he did not wish it to be the case?
There was more to the Duke than Octavia had realized, and only now was she starting to understand what that other side might be.
“That was beautiful,” she said, not in the least bit frightened. “I had no idea that you… How long have you been painting for?”
“What part of no do you not understand?” he snapped. “What is the point of rules if you do not obey them? And how can I expect you to help my son behave if you won’t do so yourself?”
“Rules?” She folded her arms. “I don’t remember there being any rules concerning your paintings. You never mentioned them.”
“I –” His tongue caught in his mouth. “That is not the point.”
“Then what is the point?”
“You should not be here,” he hissed. “I hired you to help with my son and –”
“Which is exactly what I am doing,” she cut him off, seeing her chance. “But how can I help if you will not listen?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “You are so obsessed with rules, perhaps it is time that I make one of my own.”
“What…” He leaned back. “What are you talking about?”
“You truly want to help your son? You really want to see him grow into the man we both know he can be? Then you need to start spending time with him.”
“I… I am busy,” he attempted lamely.
“Do you eat?” she asked.
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Food,” she explained. “Do you eat food? Even a duke must eat.”
“Of course I do,” he said sharply.
“Good. Then my rule is that once a day, you and Master Aaron share a meal together. It does not have to be anything extravagant. It does not have to take up so much time. But you will be surprised what thirty minutes a day does, just as you might be surprised to the effect.”
He looked down at her as if he did not understand what she was saying. Confusion reigned supreme behind his dark eyes, and they searched her as if he were trying to find an answer to a question he did not know.
Octavia refused to look away. She let those dark eyes roam her, drinking her up, devouring her in ways that were not wholly unfamiliar and not nearly as discerning as they used to be. She wanted him to see her.
“You… you really are stubborn, aren’t you?” he growled.
“You are only just realizing this now?”
He chuckled darkly. “I was right about hiring you. Not how effective you will be… but how dangerous.” He licked his lips. “This was a mistake.”
“It was not.” She swallowed the lump in her throat because the way he looked at her had transformed from curious to something else… and it made her pulse quicken. “I –”
“Will get your wish,” he spoke over her, his voice a low whisper. “Which I am sure you like to hear. Don’t you? You enjoy beating me.” He stepped toward her suddenly, so quickly that she did not have time to move back.
Her eyes widened. Her heart erupted against her chest. The atmosphere between the two shifted and transformed from argumentative and hostile to something else… something infinitely more dangerous but also exciting.
“I… I am not trying to beat you,” she stammered nervously as he looked down at her. “I am only trying to… to help Master Aaron.”
“No.” A shake of the head. “This isn’t about Aaron.”
“It is.”
His laughter came from his chest, mixed with a growl, and felt throughout her body. “You can tell yourself that, but I don’t believe it. Not for a second.”
“I don’t care what you believe…” Octavia knew she needed to leave, but she could not bring herself to move. She continued to look at the Duke, their eyes held, and the world caught fire around them.
“Yes, you do.”
“I –”
His hand snatched out and grabbed her chin.
“No more talking, Miss Finch. You have won, and that should be enough to sate you for now. However…” His hand around her chin tightened, his eyes flicked to her lips, and she knew what was coming…
just as she knew that she couldn’t fight it.
Nor did she want to. “I will require something in return.”
“Wh – what?” she asked, knowing the answer. “What do you –”
He moved on her like a lion on a felled deer. Gripping her under the chin, standing over her so that she had nowhere to go, he pulled her face into his, he moved their lips together, and before Octavia knew what was happening, she and the Duke were locked in a passionate kiss.
It was as if he tried to devour her. Their lips met, their tongues lashed, and he kissed her with such intensity and hunger that she felt his desire erupt across her entire body.
A small part of Octavia thought to fight him off. That was the smart thing to do. But the longer that the kiss went on, the more she coveted it, and the more she gave herself in so that she belonged to him completely.
They kissed for seconds… minutes… hours… she had no idea. Time stopped. The room vanished. All that mattered was the Duke’s tongue, his lips, and how much he wanted her.
Octavia’s body melted, she stepped into him, her hands went to his face, and started to run through his hair as if she was trying to pull him closer and take him with her. She never wanted to let go.
Stop, Octavia… push him away… do not let him… Oh, God…
A soft whimper escaped her lips, and that was enough to break the moment.
The Duke pulled away suddenly. He dropped her face. For a moment, she saw surprise and shame reflected in his eyes, but he covered those emotions quickly.
“There,” he said. “Much better.”
“Wh… wh… wh…” She could not speak.
“You are dismissed, Miss Finch,” he said to her coldly. “Hopefully, you will consider the consequences next time you decide to break one of my rules.”
“What?”
“We are done.” He turned his back on her.
For once, Octavia knew better than to argue. Her body was on fire, her lips just as much, but she did not think for a second to demand answers or to stick around. Heart racing, breathing heavy, she turned, and she fled the room as if it had caught fire.
Only once she was alone in the hallway did she stop and consider what had just happened… and how she felt about it.
It was easy to try to dismiss that kiss as if it meant nothing. He had caught her by surprise. He had forced her. Octavia did not want to kiss the Duke, and if he tried again… she almost laughed at the notion.
No, Octavia knew her true feelings, just as she knew how powerless she was. She might have won a small battle here today, but that kiss had done enough to remind Octavia of how the scales of power were truly balanced in this household.
That just left one more question, a question that burned hot so that Octavia had no idea of its answer.
Did the Duke kiss her because he wanted to? Or was it so that he could pry a victory out of today and put her back in her place?
Just when she thought that she was starting to understand her employer, Octavia’s world shattered, and she admitted with resounding defeat that she did not know him at all.
Just as she did not know herself…