Chapter Fifteen #2
“For me.” She stood and came around the table to stand beside his chair.
“I’d like to spend time in there with you.
Read while you work on your correspondence, perhaps.
Discuss business matters—I find them quite fascinating, actually.
But the room is so very much yours that I feel like an intruder when I enter it. ”
Raven understood what she was really asking. She wanted her own space in his private domain. A claim to that most masculine of rooms, where he’d spent three months hiding from her.
“What did you have in mind?”
“Nothing dramatic.” Ashley’s enthusiasm was infectious. “Perhaps a more comfortable chair near the window where the light is good for reading. Some of my books on the shelves alongside yours. Maybe a few softer colors to balance all that dark wood and leather.”
“You want to redecorate my study.”
“Only a little!” She laughed at his expression. “I promise not to turn it into a drawing room. It will still be very much your space. I just want to…share it with you sometimes.”
The honesty of it, the simple desire to be included in his life, touched something deep in Raven’s chest. How many times over the past three months had he retreated to that study to avoid her? And now she was asking not for her own space, but for the right to share his.
“Do whatever you like,” he said gruffly. “The room is yours as much as mine.”
Ashley’s smile could have lit the entire house. She bent to kiss him, sweet and lingering, right there in the breakfast room where any servant might see.
“I’ll start this afternoon,” she promised against his lips. “We can choose fabrics and furniture together.”
“I have meetings—”
“Then I’ll gather the information and we can discuss it tomorrow.” She pulled back, her eyes sparkling. “Thank you, Raven. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
He was beginning to, actually. Beginning to understand that what Ashley wanted—what she’d always wanted—was a partnership. Not a provider who kept her at arm’s length, but a husband who shared his life with her. She wanted to be seen and valued.
It was terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure.
They spent the rest of the morning together, Raven dealing with correspondence while Ashley read in a chair she’d dragged near his desk. It was domestic and comfortable, and he found himself stealing glances at her, marveling at how natural it felt to have her there.
Around noon, she set aside her book and stretched. “I should go visit Tiffany. She’s been poorly with the pregnancy, and I’ve neglected her shamefully these past few days.”
“Give her my regards,” Raven said, signing the last letter with a flourish.
“I wonder if I have got with child. You do want children?” she asked.
“I do. More than anything. I didn’t know how much I wanted to be a father until you pushed me to face it. And it’s not just about having an heir. I want to be a good father. A father my children can come to for advice and help. A father who would never shun their own child—for any reason.”
“You’d make a wonderful father.”
“Thank you.” He kissed her then, slow and deep, pouring everything he couldn’t yet say into the gesture. She responded with equal fervor, her hands fisting in his shirt, her body molding to his.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Raven rested his forehead against hers.
“Go visit Tiffany,” he said. “I’ll see you at dinner. And Ashley?”
“Yes?”
“Tonight, if you’re amenable, I’d like to show you something. Another aspect of what we explored last night. If you’re interested.”
Color flooded her cheeks, but her eyes were bright with curiosity and something that looked like anticipation.
“I’m very interested,” she said. “Extremely interested, in fact.”
And with that promise hanging between them, she kissed him once more and left, leaving Raven alone with his thoughts and the letter from Lady Featherington that still sat on his desk like a coiled snake.
Soon he would face that particular viper and extract whatever information she had about Ashley’s scandal.
But tonight…tonight he would have his wife in his arms again.
Would continue exploring the passion that burned between them.
Would build this partnership they were creating, one intimate moment at a time.
It was enough. For now, it was everything.
*
The rest of the day passed in a pleasant blur.
Raven attended his meetings, made decisions about investments and properties, dealt with the thousand small matters that required a duke’s attention.
But through it all, part of his mind remained fixed on Ashley—the way she’d looked in his bed that morning, the trust in her eyes when she’d asked him to be careful, the heat that had flared between them in his study.
He was becoming obsessed with her. The realization should have worried him, but instead he found himself embracing it. For three months, he’d kept her at a distance, and it had made them both miserable. Now that he’d allowed her close, now that he’d tasted the possibility of real partnership…
There was no going back. He didn’t want to. What if something happened to her? What if he lost her too? He pushed the fear deeper.
By the time he returned home that evening, he found Ashley had made good on her promise to begin work on his study. She’d brought fabric samples and sketches of furniture, spreading them across his desk with the enthusiasm of a general planning a campaign.
“I was thinking this chair,” she said, pointing to a drawing of an overstuffed armchair in deep burgundy. “It’s comfortable enough for long reading sessions but still masculine enough not to clash with the rest of the room.”
Raven studied the sketch, pretending to consider it seriously. In truth, he would have agreed to pink damask and gilt if it made her happy. “It’s perfect.”
They spent an hour going through her plans, Ashley explaining her vision while Raven contributed the occasional suggestion. It was domestic and ordinary and utterly foreign to everything he’d experienced in a relationship before.
But then, he’d never been married before. Kitty only looked after him physically.
But Ashley… Ashley wanted to be part of everything. His work, his spaces, his life. And the more time Raven spent with her, the more he wanted to give her exactly that.
Dinner was a relaxed affair, just the two of them in the smaller dining room. They talked about everything and nothing—Ashley’s visit with Tiffany, Raven’s meetings, gossip from the clubs and drawing rooms. Easy conversation that felt natural, comfortable.
As the meal concluded and Henderson withdrew, leaving them with port and coffee, Raven caught Ashley’s eye across the table.
“Earlier today,” he said, his voice dropping to that low register he knew affected her, “I mentioned wanting to show you something tonight.”
Her breath caught audibly. “I remember.”
“Are you still interested?”
“Yes.” No hesitation. Just simple, direct honesty that made heat pool low in his belly.
Raven stood, offering his hand. “Then come with me.”
He led her upstairs, past her bedchamber and into his own.
The room was prepared exactly as he’d requested—candles lit, covers turned down, and on the bed, laid out with deliberate care, silk scarves in shades of deep green and gold, the blindfold made of the softest black silk, designed to block out all light while remaining gentle against delicate skin.
But beside them was something new. A paddle of some sort.
Ashley’s eyes widened as she took in the display. “You want to discipline me and …?”
“Only if you’re willing.” Raven came up behind her, his hands settling on her shoulders. “Remember what I said before? About control and trust?”
“I remember.”
“Last night, you’ll recall, removing your sight heightened your other senses. Made every touch more intense. Every sound sharper. It’s about surrendering to sensation, letting me guide you through pleasure you can feel but not see coming.”
He felt her shiver beneath his hands. “And you’ll bind me as well?”
“If you’ll allow it. But Ashley—” He turned her to face him, needing her to see the truth in his eyes. “We only do this if you’re completely comfortable. If at any point you want to stop, you say the word and we stop immediately. Understood?”
“What word?”
Raven thought for a moment. “What about ‘scandal’? If you say that word, I’ll know you’re genuinely uncomfortable and not just overwhelmed by pleasure.”
Ashley laughed, the sound surprised and genuine. “That’s perfect, actually. I’ve been known to be scandalous.”
“No. You’re my beautiful wife.” He brushed a kiss across her forehead. “So? What do you say? Will you trust me with this?”
She held his gaze for a long moment, and he could see the internal debate playing out behind her eyes. This was a different level of surrender than the silk scarves alone. A deeper trust.
Finally, she nodded. “Yes. I trust you, Raven. Show me.”