The Duke, however, looked surprised by them, and he blinked and took a step back. “I am not furious at you,” he said, his brow knitting together.
She spread her hands wide. “Then why are you so intent on making me miserable? I have been forced to conclude that you hate me for what I did to you!”
“I do not hate you,” the Duke said, and for a moment, it looked as if he were going to say something else--something actually kind. His lips parted, and a pained expression passed over his face. She held her breath, hoping, waiting, that he was about to tell her something that might actually clear up the doubts and fears inside of her. “I could never hate you,” he added, after a moment, and she felt something crack inside of her--maybe the ice that had started to accumulate around her heart. He sounded so vulnerable in that moment.
“Then why--” she began, but his expression changed at once, becoming hard and cold once more.
“Because this is the way things have to be! I am not interested in having a family, and you are. Which means that we need to spend as much time apart as possible and lead our separate lives.”
“But that’s another thing,” she cried desperately. “You knew how important it was to me to have a family! We discussed it, that night in the kitchen when you made me eggs. Why would you marry me if you knew that you didn’t want children?”
“Would you rather have had children with Lord Dubois?” he countered, and she scoffed.
“That is not the point,” she snapped. “The point is that you didn’t have to offer for me when you knew you were condemning me to a life without children!”
“Yes I did!” He shouted, so loudly that the candelabra on the closest end table rattled dangerously and almost fell. She glanced at it in alarm. It was lit. The last thing she needed was the Duke burning down his castle in anger.
She turned back to him. “No, you didn’t,” she said, with forced calm. “You could have let me become a spinster. You could have let me battle Lord Dubois. I am sure that I could have convincedsomeoneto eventually marry me--someone who could have at least given me a family. But I was not your problem, as I made clear again and again.”
The Duke’s expression was frozen, and for a moment, she thought he had once more become the icy, distant person he had been for the last few days.
But then something seemed to break inside of him--or to melt--and his eyes blazed. Then he seized the sides of her arms with both his hands, drawing her closer to him. For one wild moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. Instead, he glared down into her eyes, and she saw a wildness in them that she had never seen before.
“I spoke to Lord Dubois,” he said, his voice low and deadly. It sent shivers through her.
“What?” she whispered. “When?”
“The night I came to your room. He showed up at my club and threatened the men there, including Lord Eaton. He told themthat you were his and that he would fight anyone who tried to take you from him.”
“What?” S he gazed at him in horror. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”
“Because there was nothing you could do about it,” he said, snorting derisively. His fingers were still digging into her arms, but she didn’t feel any pain. Not when he was this close to her, his lips just inches from hers, his eyes boring into hers as if he could see all the way through to her soul.
“I still had a right to know,” she murmured.
The Duke didn’t seem to be listening. “I followed him,” he said, a faraway look in his eyes. “I followed him to a drinking den, where I was able to convince him I was on his side. The things he said about you, Leah…”
It was the first time had used her first name without the title, and she shivered again. The way he said her name made it sound like a whispered promise, or a vow.
“That man would have done anything to make you his wife,” he continued, anger flashing in his eyes. “He is a sick, twisted man. I couldn’t let him anywhere near you. I couldn’t let him try and--”
He broke off, and at the same time, released her suddenly. She fell back, nearly losing her balance without him holding herupright anymore, but was able to steady herself. Now that his hands were gone, she felt the pain in her arms where he’d been gripping her. She hugged herself, rubbing the spots in her skin where he had held her.
The Duke, meanwhile, was breathing heavily, his back slightly turned to her, as if he were trying to calm himself. When he looked back at her, the darkness in his eyes was enough to scare her.
“You and your brother underestimated him,” he said in a low growl. “But after I spoke to him, I realized he was not to be underestimated. And that’s why I did what I had to do. No matter the consequences of my marrying you, it was better than the alternative. He could not have you. I could not let him.”
“Why?” Leah whispered. “Why did it have to be you?”
The darkness glowed in his eyes, and he took a step toward her. Even though she knew he would never hurt her, she still shrank back. There was such an intense force coming off of him that it frightened her.
“Because you’re mine,” he snarled, and all the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. “Even in this sham of a marriage, you are still mine to protect! And I will not let any other man claim you, especially one as unworthy as Lord Dubois.”
Leah felt as if someone had doused her in cold water--and not the cold water she had just been swimming in. Every hair on her body had stood up. Her heart was hammering. There wasa tightness in her stomach that felt strangely forbidden and mysterious.
He called me his. He said I am his to protect.
Why did that make her want to throw herself at him, surrender to him, and feel his strong arms around her? Why, when she was still so angry at him?
