Chapter 6
“Why did you do that?” Caroline asked, looking up at Damien as they walked to Mrs. Parks’ shop.
By the time she and Miss Willa had the other twelve children up, dressed, and helped them make their small beds, Jasper and the boys had returned with most of the supplies.
Damien was breaking bread into chunks and putting them on plates; Jasper was frying up several dozen eggs in a large pan and slabs of meat in another; Thomas was bringing in a bucket of water to boil for the oats.
It was loud and chaotic as they all worked together to feed the children, but Caroline’s heart swelled when she saw how excited they all were to have such a big breakfast.
Damien turned to look at her now, his brow raised as if he believed the answer was pretty obvious.
“I told you I would provide you with whatever you wanted,” he replied, shrugging his massive shoulders. “You obviously care for that place; you wanted better for them. I provided better for them.”
Caroline studied his face with narrowed eyes, then shook her head.
“Another half-truth,” she retorted.
To her surprise, Damien’s lips twitched toward a smile as his amber eyes glittered with something like mischief.
“You caught me,” he admitted. “I will admit that I also did it because I wanted to show you how much more you could accomplish if you became my duchess. From such a station, it would be you who could help places such as that orphanage. You could do so much more for those in need.”
Damien stopped walking and caught her hand, urging her to stop and face him. Though she wanted to disobey and walk away just for the sake of proving he could not boss her around, Caroline decided that she wanted to hear what else he had to say.
“Everything you have done for that place since you left Mayfair, I have no doubt that it was greatly appreciated,” Damien affirmed.
“However, that place needed more funding. Something that, as my wife, you would have an excess of. You could provide more than just your goodwill and kind spirit. You could make a real change.”
Caroline hated how logical he was. Even more, she hated how correct he was. The children, all orphaned children, needed more than just kindness. They needed food, clothing, soap, and so much more. All things that required money. The amount of which her wages for the whole year would not cover.
“I see your point,” she begrudgingly agreed. “Marriage to you would definitely benefit someone, I suppose.”
A moment of silence passed between them as other townspeople made their way around them, heading to their work as they usually did.
Caroline did not miss the strange glances that Damien drew, or the way some of them even paused in their walking to flick their curious gazes from him to her, as if wondering what such a man would want with her.
Of course, she supposed they had every right to wonder such a thing.
Damien was not dressed in the most formal of ways as he would be in London, but his black shirt, trousers, and boots were all of obviously higher quality than anything that could be purchased in the town.
Then, of course, there was his sheer size.
A mountain of muscles that he somehow seemed to carry with pride and grace. Not at all like the other men in town.
“What is it?” Damien asked, his deep, rumbling voice breaking through the quiet morning.
She did not have to ask what he meant. She just had to be brave enough to speak her truth, just as she had been demanding from him since the night before. She drew in a deep breath, steadying her suddenly trembling nerves, and called on her courage in silence.
“I know of your reputation, Your Grace,” she said, her words coming out whisper soft as she looked up into his searching amber eyes.
“What you just did for the orphanage is a good thing, but… I know the violence you are capable of. I grew up around my cousins. I have heard from others what you have done. Your rage is… feared by so many.”
She waited for Damien to bristle. To sneer and demand she stop speaking of such lies.
Instead, he stepped closer to her, his calm expression smoothing the rigid planes of his usually brooding, handsome face, and he reached a hand for her.
Caroline quivered as she watched it come closer, then a breath expelled from her lips as his fingertips so very softly caressed over her jawline and cupped the side of her neck.
“There are many that should be afraid of me, little mouse,” he said matter-of-factly, massaging his fingers at the back of her neck, sending pleasure through the achingly taut tendons there. “You are not one of them.”
The rare sound of gentleness in his deep voice, the soothing way his fingers dissolved the tension at the back of her neck, the way he called her little mouse as if it were a term of endearment, it all furrowed into her heart and nestled right beside the promise he had just made her about being able to better help children, and it was then she decided.
“I will accept your proposal, Your Grace,” Caroline told him, looking sternly up into his amber eyes.
“In title only. Last night you offered such a thing, with no rules of a conventional marriage. That is what I accept. However, if you ever make me feel unsafe, if I do not like your attitude, I will leave. No matter what the crown or the ton might say after.”
Again, she expected to see some sort of offense appear on Damien’s face, but instead, a low, rumbling hum of approval rose from his throat as he kept his hand on her neck and wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her into him until their chests pressed tightly together.
Caroline willed her lashes not to flutter as the pleasure of being so close to him took her by surprise.
“I will be good to you,” he whispered, his tone reverent as he tilted her chin up with the simple press of his thumb, bringing her lips closer to his. His amber eyes locked with hers, sparkling with something she could not identify. “I will be really good to you, Caroline.”
Butterflies erupted wildly in Caroline’s stomach as she not only took in his promise, but also watched as his gaze dipped to her lips.
She watched him, heart beating faster as the amber in his eyes was eaten away by the blackness of his pupils, and his chiseled lips parted as if he were about to say something else. Then he kissed her.
At first, Caroline froze, taken aback by such a public claim.
They were on the street for all to see, for goodness sake!
She brought her hands between them, wanting to push him away, but then she realized just how soft his lips were.
How warm his hands felt wrapped around her.
How her blood seemed to whoosh and even sing in joy at the kiss.
A whimper left her lips, causing them to part slightly.
The moment they did, Damien’s large hand cupped the back of her head, and he deepened the kiss.
Sparks shot along her lips and tongue as she discovered just how much she liked his taste, and her knees began to wobble as if her entire body wanted to simply melt away.
Then a low rumbling sound of pleasure emerged from Damien’s chest, and hummed on her lips, and her body did melt.
The rest of the world fell away. Her mind went blank. Then her hands smoothed their way up the hard muscles of his pectorals and up to his neck on their own volition, and she let Damien hold her as she parted her lips again, and kissed him back.
“Caroline? Is that you, girl?”
Caroline’s eyes snapped open as Tolbert’s widow’s voice broke through the spell Damien had cast over her, and with all her strength, she pushed herself out of Damien’s arms and away from his hypnotic kiss.
She pressed the back of her hand to her still-tingling lips and felt a blush creep up her neck and into her cheeks as she turned to see the elderly woman looking at her with wide eyes.
Something like a growl rumbled from Damien’s chest, and she looked up to see that his expression was once again that of an angry devil. His glare was settled squarely on the woman that interrupted them, appearing as if he was ready to strangle her for the offense.
“Good... good morning, Mrs. Tolbert,” Caroline nervously greeted.
On wobbly legs, she stepped between them. She knew she was nowhere near tall enough to block Damien’s enraged expression, but she hoped her forced smile would at least draw the widow’s gaze away from it.
“H-how goes your morning?” she asked, desperately trying to recall how to have a conversation.
Mrs. Tolbert’s light brown eyes flicked up and down, as if looking between Damien and Caroline.
“Not as good as yours, it would seem,” the older woman remarked, and to Caroline’s great surprise, she heard a wry chuckle erupt from the man behind her.
“This, um,” Caroline stammered, hitching her thumb over her shoulder. “Oh, it is not what this looks like… this is…”
“Her betrothed,” Damien answered for her.
Caroline spun around with a glare, but his expression had already smoothed into a handsome, charming smile as he dipped his head toward Mrs. Tolbert.
“I am the Duke of Ravenshaw, madam,” Damien went on, giving a startlingly polite nod to the older woman.
Mrs. Tolbert’s eyes widened at the new information, and she quickly offered him a curtsy.
“What a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace,” she replied hurriedly. “And how wonderful it is that you are taking our dear Caroline as a wife! She has not been here long, but she has offered a great kindness. She assists the orphanage, you know.”
Caroline’s blush deepened at the widow’s praises and felt uncomfortably stuck between wanting to scurry off and watch the conversation between Mrs. Tolbert and Damien unfold.
“I am well aware,” Damien replied. “She actually just purchased the orphanage. Many positive changes will be coming.”
Caroline’s neck threatened to snap with how quickly she turned her head to look back at Damien.
He was giving me the credit?