Chapter 13 #2
“And if anyone can tame me…” He looked down at Margot, smiling for her in a way that felt almost possessive. He met her eyes and held them, looking through her as if needing her to hear the words he was about to speak. “Well, let’s just say I’ve found the right set of hands for the job.”
Margot’s pulse was positively racing. She could feel her body flush.
She could feel it shake. Likely, he was just speaking the words he thought he must for Lord Marlow’s sake – confirming the lie they were here to impose.
Only, it felt different. More than words.
Again, that sense that this marriage was taking a shape that Margot had not wanted or expected, but was now wondering where it might go next.
“That is… I am happy for you.” Lord Marlow looked confused and unsure as his eyes flicked between the two of them.
“Not as happy as we are, I assure you,” Sebastian said, squeezing her waist. “Now, if you will excuse us, I believe my wife and I are overdue for a dance. Isn’t that right?” he asked her.
“Oh…” She blinked, forcing herself to focus. “Ah… yes?”
“Wonderful.” Sebastian kept his hand tight around her waist as he led her away from Lord Marlow and toward the dance floor.
Margot thought to ask him about what just happened.
To confirm that he was only saying what he thought he must. But still his hand was about her waist, still he held her close, and for that reason Margot decided not to say anything.
The truth is, I hope he was not speaking out of turn.
Dammit, am I starting to fall for my husband?
The sun was just beginning to set as Sebastian led her onto the dance floor.
The sky, painted in dark purples and deep reds, watched over them as they reached where the other couples stood waiting for the music to begin.
Margot could feel the eyes of the guests upon her and Sebastian, but she did not care to notice them.
Sebastian stood before her, one hand on her waist, the other taking her hand, his blue eyes gazing deeply at her, and all she could think about was him.
“I… I did not know you could dance,” she said for no other reason than she needed to break the silence. She was staring at him, glancing away as she felt her cheeks flush pink.
“There is a lot you do not know about me,” he said with a coy smile that she was starting to enjoy; once she had loathed it, now her pulse quickened to see it used on her.
“I suspect that is true,” she said, stepping in closer so their bodies touched. “But…” She forced herself to meet his eyes now, unblinking and true. “But I hope to learn.”
“Is that right?” his smile grew.
“Well…” She shrugged as if it was nothing. “Seeing as we have the rest of our lives. I wonder what else I might learn.”
He laughed. “I suppose the same could be said of you, Margot. What secrets are you keeping from me?”
“Me?” she fluttered her eyes innocently. “None. I am not the rake, remember.”
“Ha!” he laughed. “True, you are just an innocent flower, and I am a lustful bee that has caught your scent.”
“Have you?” she asked, her voice dropping low. “Caught my scent, I mean.” It was a stupid thing to say, she felt. Suggestive. Cryptic but in a way that she suspected the duke might like…
He tilted his head as he studied her. Eyes narrowed, he looked down at her, with a sense that he was seeing her for the first time.
That he was beginning to see past the argumentative, guarded wife that she had been since they first met.
That she was open now to getting to know him in ways that just a few days ago she never would have considered.
A smile tugged at his lips. He opened his mouth to answer. She held her breath, certain he was going to say something flirtatious and push the boundaries of their relationship. Only then did the music start, and he pulled her into him and started to lead.
They swept across the floor together. There were a dozen couples dancing with them, but Margot did not take notice. For all she knew, it was herself and the duke only, and they owned that floor, the world fading around them as their bodies moved as one.
They did not speak as they danced. But it was not awkward. Rather, they held one another’s stare the entire time, the look they gave the other speaking louder than any words could.
How is this happening? And why am I excited for it?
Those were the thoughts that ran through Margot’s head as they moved together.
She felt his hand on her waist. She felt his heart beating in his chest. She felt his body on her own, and it did not feel so wrong or so strange.
Rather, it felt right like nothing else could.
There was a moment when Margot was forced to wonder if this was all for show.
If, when they returned home, away from prying eyes, things would revert to how they had been.
But she dismissed that quickly. After all, she had been the one so careful around him before this.
And now that she was more open and willing and trusting of him, she smiled to think where it might lead.
I did not want this marriage. I did not want the duke. But I have him now; nothing is to be done about it. So why not give in and accept the situation? Better than that, why not enjoy it…
And if the way the duke danced with her was any indication, Margot sensed that there would be plenty more enjoyment to come. That thought especially… her legs tingled, and her thighs quivered at the idea.