At that very moment, she began to shiver, and she wrapped her arms around herself as she continued to glare at him.
“Well?” she demanded. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“You’re cold,” he grunted. “We need to get you inside or you will catch a cold.”
“I will not be ordered around by you!” she snapped. “You cannot have it both ways! You cannot tell me I am allowed to lead my own separate life andalsoorder me about when it pleases you! I will make my own decisions, and right now--”
“Right now you are going to die of hypothermia or pneumonia if you don’t get inside!” Dorian snarled. He didn’t care if he was being ridiculous or demanding, if he was being overbearing and controlling. All he knew was that he needed to get her warmed up before she grew deathly ill. Already, her lips were beginning to grow blue, and she was starting to shiver more violently.
“This isn’t up for discussion!” He snapped, and then, before she could do anything to stop him, he seized her once again around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder.
“Put me down!” She screamed, her arms and legs flailing wildly as she attempted to get him to release her. “Unhand me at once! I can walk myself back to the house! You have completely lost your mind!”
Dorian ignored her. Hoisting her higher, so that he had a better grip, he began to march back across the lawn toward the house, barely even hearing her as she screamed at him to let her down. She could be angry at him all she wanted later, once he was sure that she wasn’t going to die. For now, he was single-minded. He had to get her warm.
It did occur to him, as he entered the entrance hall, his wife still trying to kick him in the face, that she had, at last, succeeded in getting his attention.
Be careful what you wish for,he thought dryly.Be very careful what you wish for.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“There you go,” the Duke said as he plopped Leah down in an armchair right in front of the fire. Even though the warmth of the fire felt amazing, she still glared up at him, not ready to forgive the way he had seized her so unceremoniously and carried her back to the house.
Not ready to forgive anything, actually.
“You’re to stay here,” the Duke ordered, straightening up and giving her a stern look that made her feel like a child. “I don’t want you moving again until you’re warm. I’ll have the Cook bring some warm food for you as well.”
“You can’t order me around like this!” Leah said, standing up from the armchair and crossing her arms. She was completely drenched, and even though she wanted to move closer to the fire, she thought it was more important to make her point with the Duke. “Nor can you treat me like this!”
“Treat you like what?” he snarled, his face darkening at once. “I just saved your life!”
“I wasn’t drowning!” She shouted. “For the second time, I was swimming.”
And suddenly, she could hold back all her anger and grief no longer. Without thinking, she slammed her fists into the Duke’s chest, beating against it with all her might.
“You can’t treat me like this!” She shouted, her voice catching in her throat as tears burned in her eyes. “You ignore me for days, refusing to talk to me or answer my questions! You don’t speak to me before the wedding, going behind my back to propose to me through mybrother! And then, as if that weren’t enough, you ignore my wishes, drag me out of the river, and throw me over your shoulder like a barbarian!”
To her consternation, the Duke didn’t look remotely bothered by the fact she was hitting him as hard as she could across the chest. He calmly reached up, grabbed her by the wrists, and held her hands in mid-air between them. He was so strong that he had complete control over her; she couldn’t move her arms. It scared her a little, while at the same time, it made her heart race with a strange desire she’d never felt before.
“Let go of me!” She snarled, trying desperately to pull her hands away and failing.
His eyes glittered. “Not until you promise to stop hitting me.”
“Fine,” she spat. “I’ll stop hitting you. But only if you start speaking to me.”
The Duke’s eyes narrowed. For a moment, they glared at each other, neither willing to give an inch. At last, she let go of her wrists, and she slowly lowered them.
“You have been behaving like a scoundrel,” she said, tilting her chin up defiantly. “Ever since you showed up in my room that night before the wedding, you haven’t been yourself!”
“Or that is exactly myself,” he countered. “Didn’t everyone warn you that I am a rake?”
“A rake, not a cold, indifferent, cruel man! You remind me of my brother— how he used to be, before Emery changed him. That is not who you are!”
Darkness momentarily crossed the Duke’s face, and he scowled. “It is quite possible that you also do not know the real me,” he said.
“And it is also quite possible that you have changed your personality because you are so furious at me for entrapping you in this marriage!”
Leah’s voice broke on the words, but she knew she had to say them.
