Page 51 of The Duchess He Couldn’t Resist

He frowned. That woman was bad news, and he really wanted her out of Marigold’s life.

“What did she want? Though I can guess.”

“I don’t know what to do, Your Grace.”

“First of all, I think we are past honorifics at this point. I even believe it is considered good taste to switch to first names when one has cleaned the other’s blood repeatedly in one night.”

A smile escaped her lips, and it was the best sound he had heard all day. It was one thing to promise that he would never make her worry again, but it was completely another to strive to make her feel exactly like she did this moment, relaxed and unguarded.

“I was not aware of such a rule,” Marigold played along. “What a gap in my education.”

“So tell me. What did your mother say?”

“She wants money.” Marigold looked down, twisting her nightgown between her fingers. “She says that now that Charlie is coming back from the colonies, she needs to establish herself.”

Marigold seemed to hesitate. She looked down, almost tears in her eyes. It still flabbergasted him how this woman could stay unwavering in her true self before all of life’s difficulties.

“I am sorry to say this about your mother, but I know she didn’t ask nicely.”

Marigold snorted and then felt instantly ashamed of herself.

“Tell me, Marigold. What did she say?”

“She threatened to spread rumors about me.”

Brandon growled in anger.

“It is what she does. She always threatens me.” Marigold looked down at her hands. “I thought about lying to you and asking for the money for myself. But I don’t want to lie to you. It would be hypocritical of me to chastise you for making me worry and then hide things from you too.”

Brandon felt all the bad feelings inside him, the pain, the anger, the anguish, and the shame, evaporate. Just because his wife chose him, even if it were to share the unbearable burden of an evil, absent parent.

“I don’t know what to do.” Her voice cracked. “If I give her money, I know that she will come back again and again for more. But if I don’t give it to her, she will make good on her threats because that is who she is.”

“And who would care?”

“Truthfully, I don’t mind about myself. I don’t care. I am used to rumors. But now, they will affect you too.”

Brandon knew that he was going to remember this day for the rest of his life. He had been alone for so many years. He had no one worrying about him, and he certainly didn’t worry about himself. And now, this girl came, who had been through hell over and over, and she still found it in her to worry about him.

“Look at me, Marigold.”

She obeyed. And just in time, another feeling came over him, a need, a desire, a deep-seated hunger that only she seemed to sate.

“We will deal with it together,” he said decisively.

Marigold’s face transformed. The worry lines on her forehead softened, the tension in her face relaxed. All the fear and uncertainty melted away. She, too, had been alone in her life, but now, she had him, and he was determined not to disappoint her.

CHAPTER 16

HEALING PROCESS

Hearing the Duke say that they would deal with this together somehow made Marigold’s heart unsteady. She knew that he would support her, but it was different to see him do so with a look in his eyes that she had never seen.

“Thank you,” she said.

The tension of her fear and her anguish somehow washed away. She still had echoes of the intense feelings that they had inflicted upon her, but other feelings came over her, more urgent and insistent.

She became aware she was sitting too close to him, shirtless as he was. Her clinical look shifted, and now, she looked upon the Duke in a very different way. Her hands were still displayed over his chest, not examining anymore if he had broken something, but feeling the velvet steel of his muscles and soft skin.