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Carmen was vaguely aware when the back of her legs hit the bed and she toppled over. He followed her into the bed, his lips never leaving hers. He hitched her skirts upward, his fingers finding her bare thighs and stroking her skin. She moaned against his mouth. Her hands seemed to have a mind of its own as it travelled up to his neck before sinking into his thick hair. She didn’t want to stop touching him and he wasn’t stopping either as his fingers squeezed her breast firmly.
Carmen moaned again and the motion allowed him access into the cavern of her warm mouth. His tongue danced against hers, fighting for control, their bodies moving over each other. Even through all the layers of clothes, the friction sent a delicious warmth through her. His mouth moved from hers and pressed a wet trail down her neck, softly sucking on the sensitive skin at the base. Her fingers clutched at the silk of his under-shirt. His teeth nipped at her skin making her hiss and moan.
His wicked fingers rubbed over her thighs, inching upward till he cupped her warm core with his palm, making her back arch against the bed. Something deep inside her unfurled her craving more, more, more until her senses finally returned to her.
She shoved him off her and thankfully Arthur took the hint and rolled away. Carmen looked down at her scandalously rumpled skirt and her bodice with her obviously jutted nipples. She hid herself in shame. “I didn’t mean to do that,” she said. She didn’t know who had closed the distance, but she wanted him to touch her.
Arthur shook his head. His hair was a mess, and he raked a finger through it in frustration. “Neither of us meant it to happen.”
Carmen couldn’t meet his eyes. What must he be thinking of her? “I-I’m not that kind of a woman.” For some reason, she felt like she needed to tell him a part of her truth. “But I used to be, a long time ago. It was against my wishes.”
“What happened then?” When he spoke, she found no judgment or contempt in it for her. She finally looked up to meet his gaze. He was looking at her but not in pity. It was as if he was seeing her, the real Carmen, and not some broken and helpless woman at his mercy. She knew what other men saw when they looked at her, as an object or an inconvenience or sometimes both. But he saw her as a human being.
“I managed to get away,” she said. “And then I came here.”
“So that’s why you help all those women?” he asked.
She shook her head. “That’s only part of it. When I first came here, I was alone but for a friend. Without her, I never would have survived here. I don’t want that to happen to any other helpless women.”
Arthur nodded at her answer. “That’s a noble cause.”
“I just wanted to make it clear that I don’t partake in those kinds of favors anymore…” She trailed off.
His eyes widened and a faint blush crept up his cheeks. “It isn’t like that. I-I didn’t mean that you, well, that we—” he stammered. “It isn’t like that,” he said again as if settling on the four words.
She cleared her throat, knotting her fingers into the bedsheet. “I know it was just a mistake.”
At her words, he looked up at her sharply. She felt as if she had said something wrong, but she continued. “I mean we promised each other a truce and that also meant staying out of each other’s way.” Not falling into bed with the other. “And if you think it was my idea of seducing you—"
“Madam, I can assure you that thought didn’t occur to me,” Arthur said with a dry chuckle. “Because as I recall, I almost mauled you on my bed, with your clothes still on your body.” At his words, a wave of heat passed right down to her core and she had the strangest urge to squeeze her legs together. She could almost feel something wet pool between her legs and he wasn’t even touching her. Carmen was stunned at the power he seemed to have on her body, and he wasn’t even touching her. There was little she could do about it.
They sat in silence for a while before he spoke again. “I admit that I liked it.”
Carmen had liked it too. She craved his touch. She almost ached for him to reach out and take a nipple and, and—
“I feel less lonely when you’re around,” he said. When Carmen looked at him, she realized how vulnerable he looked confessing that to her. “Maybe that’s why I seek you and your music out.” The truth was that she had started to feel less lonely ever since the Duke and his daughter walked into her life. Even after she left the house and went about her chores, he was always at the back of her mind and she could do little to get him out of there.
“I feel the same way,” Carmen admitted. She hated her own vulnerability. She never let any other human being see that part of her, not when she knew that they might take advantage of her for this. But she felt her burden lessen when she spoke to him about it. In strange ways, they were kindred spirits. They had both faced terrible losses and she supposed he was the only one that could understand what she had lost. But she couldn’t make herself talk about her daughter yet.
“What does it mean then?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Carmen said. She also didn’t know why he was bringing it up again. “Can’t we just leave it at what it is?”
“And what might that be?”
“A series of unfortunate events,” Carmen said wincing. “Two to be more accurate.”
“Do you truly feel that way?” he asked, his head cocked at her. Carmen had the akin feeling that he saw right through her, sifting through the walls of ice that she had built around her and finding her truth.
Carmen settled her features in a mask of certainty. “Absolutely.” It was an easier answer than admitting the truth. The Duke was an attractive man, and his one touch lit her very soul on fire, drawing forth an enflamed passion that likes of which she had never felt but had read about in powerful ballets about lovers seeking each other in darkness. She didn’t know something like that could even exist till the Duke had touched her. And she was hungry for more of it. “What else can it mean?”
She wanted him to answer her question and was disappointed when he nodded. “You’re right,” he said more to himself than to her. “This means nothing.”
The words stung more than they should. Carmen should feel relieved, instead she felt a wave of disappointment. She nodded.
“Are you worried about the music hall?” he asked after a few moments.
“Pardon?” she asked, blinking.
“You said earlier that you were having nightmares. Is it because of what happened…” He trailed off, leaving the question hanging heavy in the air.Because of me.
“I told you already. I have many mouths to feed and it is something I worry about almost all the time.”
Arthur looked like he wasn’t convinced by her answer. “I see,” was all he said.
