He should have called out the bastard.
Thrusting Kate into the coach, Grayson took a seat across from her, to avoid the temptation of sitting too close.It did little good, because he still wanted her, now more than ever.
The ceaseless need grated in him, feeding his ire, and he wanted to lash out at something to protest his helplessness.He glanced over at the subject of his obsession.She looked out the darkened window with perfect poise, and he longed to shatter that composure, to make her into the same helpless slave to passion that he had become.
Didn’t she feel it, too?Muttering a curse, he fixed her with a glare that denied his longing.“I do not want my wife’s name bandied about.Whether you desired it or not, you have a position to uphold,” he snapped.
Her bright eyes met his fearlessly, as always.“Whatever are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about letting other men fondle you in public.”Ignoring her outraged gasp, Grayson went on, desiring only to punish her for his own lack of constraint.“I won’t have it.Nor will I have a breath of scandal attached to your name.The rogues who flatter and fawn over you do so because you are my wife.To them you are nothing but a trophy to be won and flaunted for your name.Do you understand?”
The brief flicker of pain that passed across her face pricked him, and Grayson looked away, unwilling to see the results of his handiwork.He blew out a long, low breath that bespoke his rapidly falling opinion of himself.
“Yes, I understand my role perfectly, but what of you, Grayson?Do you intend to honor the vows you forced me to take back at Hargate?”
Grayson’s gaze swiveled back to her, annoyed at her insinuation.“Do you doubt my word, poppet?”
“No, but this world is vastly different from my own, and I have discovered that in it few men are faithful.Will you follow the fashion and take someone else’s wife to your bed?”
The question was absurd.Every drop of blood in his body burned for her and only her, but Grayson would not submit meekly to her power over him.“You wound me, Kate, when you cast me in with the rest of the rabble,” he said coolly.“I have never had any desire to be fashionable.”
She lifted her chin in the show of strength he had come to know so well.“What of a mistress, then?Will you have one?The dowagers whisper of men’s needs, as if such behavior is inevitable.”
Needs.The word touched a nerve, and Grayson drew in a harsh, angry breath, unwilling to admit where his weakness lay.“Are you afraid you cannot satisfy me, poppet?”he drawled.
The mocking question hit its mark, for he could see her flush, even in the dimness of the coach.And although Grayson knew he was being unreasonable, he continued, driven to get a little of his own back, however he could.“I have no mistress,” he said baldly.“Nor is my life ordered by the whims of my cock.”
Once his claim would have been the truth, for nothing except his powerful intellect had ever ruled him—until he met Kate.She had made a liar of him, but she did not know it.He saw her flinch at the taunt, so he went on like a man possessed.
“Let us be clear on something, poppet.I don’tneedanything.”The vehement denial gave him perverse pleasure, as if just repeating the falsehood would lend it substance.Perhaps if he convinced her of his invincibility, he would regain it.
Fixing her with a fierce and certain gaze, the kind that shattered his opponents and affirmed his power, Grayson spoke the lie that kept her from binding him to her.
“I haveneverneeded anything.Or anyone.”
Chapter Seventeen
Kate feigned a smile as she watched the dancing.A small gathering, Grayson had promised, but after admonishing her to behave, he had left her, once more, to her own devices.No doubt he soon would be back, glaring at her as if he rued her very existence.
Surreptitiously, Kate lifted a hand and pressed her fingers to throbbing temples.Her head ached from the effort to try to understand her husband.Although he stayed close to her most of the day, he acted as though he begrudged her presence.Yet, whenever he let her out of his sight, he returned surlier than ever.
If it were not for his attentions in bed, Kate would have denounced the marriage as a complete failure.Yet after what she had heard at the Coxburys’, she was not sure whether to read too much into those cherished moments.What she perceived as heartrending lovemaking might only be a means to an heir for Grayson.
He had made it perfectly clear during that dreadful trip home last night that he did not need her.Did he suspect her efforts to win him?Kate shuddered in humiliation.Why else would he make such a point of denying any feelings for her in that hateful tone?
It was daunting, even for an optimist like herself.As much as Kate hoped for the best, she had begun to wonder if Grayson would ever care for her.Indeed, since the wedding, he seemed to be growing more moody and cold, and each day in London became more discouraging than the last.
She was miserable and lonely for Hargate and Cyclops and Lucy and Tom, who, although in London, was never to be seen.One day she had wandered to the stables in search of him, but a startled groom had looked so shocked at her query that she returned to the house.The next morning she had sought out Meg, only to be shooed from the kitchen as it was not a proper place for a marchioness.
She even missed Grayson.Only at night did Kate catch glimpses of the man she had known.She was not a quitter, but even the best players knew when to cut their losses—a small tidbit Grayson had taught her when discussing his love of gambling.Her mouth tightened at the memory of his face when he had spoken of it, reminding her of her inability to stir him.
Now she was jealous of a deck of cards.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Kate released a weary sigh.Then she blinked, suddenly conscious of eyes upon her.She had become accustomed to curious stares, but this was different.She shivered as the back of her neck tingled oddly.Who was watching her?
Looking around the room, she saw the usual clusters of dowagers and daughters and dandies.Her gaze flitted past each and came to rest on a blond woman standing close by, who returned her notice.Instead of hiding her interest, the woman approached in a friendly fashion that told Kate she could not have been responsible for that odd sensation of wariness.
“I hope you will forgive my forwardness, but I so wanted to meet you, Lady Wroth, and when I saw you alone, I thought I might introduce myself.”The lovely blonde wore a cautious expression, for this just wasn’t done, but Kate found her candor refreshing.
