Chapter 6
Chapter Six
The moment he was alone, Philip exhaled deeply and forced his body to calm. That was… probably not a very smart idea.
His heart was beating faster than it ought to have. His body was flushed. And these two reactions, paired together, had his blood flowing down his body so that he could feel his member throbbing with desires brought about by the dangerous game that he was playing.
When Philip had elected to marry Iris in his brother’s stead, he had done so for the right reasons.
Not because he wanted to but because he had no choice.
His cursed brother, forever threatening to upend his family’s good name and ruin everything that Philip had worked so hard to fix, had forced his hand in ways that should have been predictable…
just as they were frustrating beyond measure.
The only reprieve that Philip was able to glean from this intolerable situation was that his new bride, Iris, appeared as uninterested in this marriage as he was.
Dammit, she seemed to loathe the idea of wedding him.
She did not want a happy union, she did not want to fall in love, and she most certainly wanted as little to do with Philip as he did with her. Or so he thought…
For a time there, I allowed myself to breathe a sigh of relief. A marriage in name only with a bride who would be happy to pretend that I did not exist. At least that was the assumption.
Philip was at pains to make it clear to her that all he wished for was a marriage of convenience. Having lived alone now for so long, Philip had grown used to living his life a certain way and with no desire to marry or fall in love ever, he fully intended to keep this lifestyle intact.
In hindsight, perhaps telling her that he expected an heir had been a bad idea.
But it had also been necessary. As a duke, these things were expected, and with this marriage already threatening to turn into its own sort of scandal, the announcement of a pregnancy would soften the rumors and force the pesky whispers of his peers to quiet and go away for good.
And besides, there was a part of Philip that wanted an heir, especially when considering everything he’d put up with in his life.
It would be nice if for once things worked out in his favor…
The problem, he was now beginning to realize, was his wife. Worse than that, it was how he felt about his wife.
He had never meant to be so attracted to her—dammit, this whole thing would be easier if he weren’t.
But it was no good denying the obvious. Physically, he found her dark green eyes and pouty lips mesmerizing.
He loved the way her porcelain skin clashed with her dark brown hair.
And he worshipped her soft curves, his mind constantly going back to the sight of her in that light shift…
But he found too that her fiery temperament and bold personality were just as tantalizing.
She was meek and easily cowered, but there was a fire inside of her that roared to life when she didn’t get her way.
Like a petulant child on the constant verge of throwing a tantrum, Philip relished the idea of putting her in her place and reminding her who exactly was in control here.
Even now… Philip tried to focus again on what he had been doing but his heart continued to pump red hot blood through his veins so that his legs shook and his crotch hardened.
Dammit! I’m the one who is meant to be in control here, but she has me. Oh, how she does…
That kiss had been an accident. What he was supposed to do was lean in close, have her moving for his lips, and then pull away at the last minute. Again, to show her that he was in control.
Alas, no sooner had he started moving for her did he give in because he wanted to taste her. And the effort it took to pull away was beyond what he thought himself capable. She was so innocent. So naive. And so in need of his guidance. What was more, she wanted it. That was undeniable.
Not thinking, Philip rose suddenly and strode across the room. His thoughts on his wife, his need to see her again. She would be eating supper right now and it would be so much fun to join her and tease her again.
Philip forced himself to stop short of the door. He cursed himself and turned around, back to his desk where he could not bring himself to sit.
He was a man of two minds.
One wanted nothing to do with Iris. To keep as he had been and double down on his express decision that this marriage be one of convenience only.
He never wanted to marry. He certainly didn’t want to fall in love.
And he hated the idea of being besotted by someone so that he had no control over his actions.
The other mind wanted to test the limits of this control. Not because he wanted to make this marriage work, but because he wanted to prove that he had the power here. To bait his wife, to punish her further, to see just how far he could push it…
In the end, Philip forced himself to sit down.
Just as he forced his mind to stop focusing on the physical and think about the practical.
At the end of the day he was married to Iris, they would live together for the rest of their lives, and such a state of living could not work if he couldn’t control himself around her.
Tomorrow… I need to prove that I have what it takes to control myself. That I am the one in control and not her.
He came to a decision then. Trying to avoid Iris simply wouldn’t work. It would only frustrate her. It would lead to another incident like this one. And when it did, Philip couldn’t say if he had what it took to deny himself a second time.
What he needed to do was create boundaries.
Better than that, he needed to remind Iris that this was a marriage of convenience only.
That she had no reason to hate him. That she and he could live together peacefully.
And most importantly, that what happened between them moments ago would never happen again.
Was Philip capable of such a thing? He liked to think that he was. But he supposed that tomorrow would prove that for fact. A day that he was both dreading and excited for in equal measure.
My wife… whatever comes of this, our marriage promises to be anything but boring. Not what I wished for from this marriage but what I have got from it. For better or for worse.