“Just look into my eyes,” he said. “And trust me. A good partner will lead confidently enough that you won’t have to count your steps.”
She tilted her head to the side. “So what happens when I’m partnered with someone not as confident as you?”
“You could always refuse to dance with anyone else.” He smiled slyly at her. “You’re my wife, after all, and I’m terribly in love with you, remember? A possessive, protective husband like me surely wouldn’t want his wife dancing with anyone else. That can be your excuse.”
She laughed, and her dancing became fluid again. “Perhaps I want to dance with another gentleman,” she said after a moment. “What then?”
He glanced down at her, shocked and embarrassed by the flash of jealousy that had overcome him at her words, only to see that she was smiling wickedly up at him, her eyes glittering.She’s teasing me!
He laughed throatily and then, quite unexpectedly, dipped her low, so that she cried out in surprise and delight as her head and torso went back. But he was strong, and he held her steady as he brought his lips closer to her ears.
“Take it back,” he demanded. “Or I won’t let you up.”
“I take it back!” she said at once, her laughter filling the empty ballroom, her cheeks pink and her eyes alight with excitement. “You’re the only one I ever want to dance with!”
He grinned, then scooped her back up and into his arms and held her close. “Why would you want to dance with other gentlemen when they can’t do that?” he murmured, and she laughed again, her fingers digging into him a little harder than was strictly necessary.
It sent a jolt of electric energy through him, to feel her clinging to him like that, as if just a little bit afraid but also knowing she could always rely on him to catch her; to keep her safe.
“I didn’t actually scare you, did I?” he asked, holding her away at arm’s length to peruse her face. “I’m sorry if I did.”
“No, it’s alright,” she said, still breathless. “It was nice.” She was gazing at him more softly now, her lips parted, her long black hair a mess around her. She had never looked so beautiful or so happy, so full of joy and life, and for a wild, inexplicable moment, Lucien wanted to kiss her.
Both of them stilled, and the room became quiet, except for the sounds of their ragged breathing. She was no longer smiling. Instead, an intense, serious expression had come over her, and her gaze had become hard, almost blazing.
Lucien felt as if something deep inside of him was settling down, as if it were deciding to rest after years of weariness. Looking at her, he felt as if all the burdens that he had shouldered for so long could maybe be put down, even for a moment, and that he could just enjoy his life and her presence in it.
That was the feeling she gave him: of contentment. And why shouldn’t he act on that? Why shouldn’t he kiss her? It would certainly make relations between them easier if they had a normal, affectionate marriage.
And that was to say nothing of her ethereal, nymph-life beauty tonight, of these feelings that had been building inside of him for weeks, feelings that he didn’t fully understand but which seemed important, necessary even, and urgent.
He leaned toward her, and she closed her eyes, as if expecting him to kiss her.
But seeing this, he stopped, and fear seized him.What am I doing? If I kiss her now, I will be behaving exactly how I always say I shouldn’t: recklessly, foolishly, and selfishly.
I’d be kissing her for my own pleasure and enjoyment, risking our tentative friendship and the plans we’ve made to help Leah over something rash and not thought out, and all without taking her desires into consideration.
With great difficulty, he pulled back and released her. Her eyes blinked open again, and she gazed up at him curiously. He forced himself to smile and ask jovially, “Is there any other dance with which you’re having difficulty?”
Chapter Sixteen
Emery blinked, surprised by the sudden change. She felt disoriented and thrown, as if she didn’t fully understand what was happening. One second, it had seemed as if the Duke was about to kiss her, and then, he’d released her, adopted a strangely amused tone of voice, and asked her what other dances she needed help with.
It’s not as if he’s going to give me a full lesson right here, is it? It’s very late!
At that exact moment, the clock over the mantle struck noon, and both of them jumped.
“It’s late,” he said, looking down at her with the same intensity that she had seen in his eyes when he’d come into her room and told her they needed to spend more time together during the Season--and then could live apart. She hadn’t understood his look then, and she wasn’t sure she understood it now, either.
“Y-yes,” she stammered. “Too late to keep dancing?”
He shrugged, and from the way his eyes lingered on her, she felt as if he didn’t want the night to end just yet. “I want you to feel confident for tomorrow,” he said at last.
“We won’t be dancing tomorrow though, will we?”
“No. But there won’t be much time to practice in London. Our schedule is already very busy. Henry’s rumors must be working, because we are receiving more invitations than I have ever received. Thetonis eager to meet you.”
She laughed, a little dazed at the thought. “They wouldn’t if they’d met. Maybe I should thank my parents for hiding me away: it made me a bit of a mystery.”
