Page 42 of The Duke Who Claimed Her

“A moment…” Lord Carlisle held onto her. “What is the rush?”

“The dance is over,” she said as she eyed his hand, still around her waist. “And my husband…”

“Can wait a little longer,” he said with a sly grin. “What say we share another? I spoke so much that I feel I did not give you a chance?”

“Oh…” She looked from his hand to her husband. She wanted him to see that she was being kept. “I really should not…”

“It is fine,” Lord Carlisle purred. “Come now, Your Grace. I know the rumors. I know what your marriage really is. Why pretend otherwise?”

She did not know what to say. To lie and claim that she was in love? To agree with him, while saying that it did not matter? Arabella was caught in two minds, frozen to the spot, and most of all, she was in need of his help.

“Lord Carlisle.” From nowhere, Caspian appeared suddenly. Fury was found in his glare, and he bared his teeth as he took the man’s arm and pushed it away. “If you do not mind, I would ask that you unhand my wife.”

Lord Carlisle continued to grin. “I was simply asking her for another dance, Your Grace.”

“And I am saying no.”

“Why not let her decide?”

Caspian’s eyes widened. She saw the anger burst from him like a volcano. His hand curled into a fist. He stepped into Lord Carlisle as if to strike him. And all around them, the crowd watched on.

“My husband is correct…” She stepped between the two men, placing a hand on Caspian’s chest to calm him down. “He does not wish for me to dance, and I ought to obey his command…” She said that final word softly, and Caspian flinched.

“Come.” He took her by the arm, threw a final warning glare at Lord Carlisle, and led her away. “It is time we go.”

“Go where?” she asked, allowing him to lead her.

“Home,” he said. “We are done here.”

Oh, he was angry. Arabella could feel him trembling. But she knew too that the anger was not for her, just as she suspected that whatever he fought with, whatever it was that had him shaking, was sure to come out before the night was over.

As they headed home now, she wondered what might happen when they arrived. Her dream returned—about the night he had come to her and what had happened… the kiss.

Arabella swallowed back those thoughts, just as she allowed herself to be pulled away. Caspian had taken control of the evening, and of her, and she did not mind nearly as much as she thought that she would. In fact, she rather enjoyed it.

Chapter Fifteen

The carriage ride home was just as awkward as the one to the event, possibly even more so. While the ride to the event had been tense and heavy, because Arabella knew Caspian was trying to ignore her, the ride home carried a different kind of burden.

She sat across from Caspian, who watched her the entire trip. It was dark in the carriage, such that she could not make out his face at all. But his eyes stayed on her, like a predator in the night, almost warning her from looking away. She felt that stare in her chest, so her body was flushed. She felt trapped by it, almost scared to imagine what might happen if she did turn from him.

Something has changed… A realization made by Caspian, one he is fighting against with all the strength he has.

Arabella had spent so long now, determined to believe that she wanted nothing to do with Caspian. It felt like the right course to take, the only way that she might truly be free. But as he watched her, as she sensed his thoughts, she could not help but wonder if she had been wrong.

The dream she had… The moment on their wedding night… Was it so bad to be controlled? Was it really such a bad thing to want to be told what to do? In that moment, with how she felt, she was not so sure.

What she did know, however, was that whatever battle her husband fought against, she hoped that he would lose it.

With that realization, the warmth inside of her exploded so that it was all she could do to sit still and let him stare.

The carriage finally arrived at the estate, by which time Arabella was trembling with anticipation. It came to a grinding halt; she made sure to meet her husband’s glower in the dark because she wanted him to see what was on her mind. Dammit, she had stopped pretending!

Only then did Caspian throw open the carriage door, climb out, and storm toward the manor.

Arabella started in surprise as she watched him go. The tension in the carriage vanished, left her shivering, and Arabella gaped because she had no idea what had just happened.

Surely that is not it? This cannot be where the night ends?