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But still, she did not. He was rock hard in her grip, and she squeezed gently until he was forced to release her hand, too desperate to resist her touch any longer.

“Emmaline, you truly are a little minx,” he growled even as she clambered atop him, straddling him between her perfect milky thighs.

“Only for you, dear husband,” she whispered against his lips as she leaned down to kiss him, guiding slick, wet folds down onto the tip of his manhood.

“I should think so,” he growled through gritted teeth, loving the way her body opened up to him while remaining tight as the day he first took her.

She made love to him in such a way, moving her hips slowly back and forth and kissing the tension from his body, that for a while he forgot everything. For just a short time there was only her and all was well with the world.

He even managed to sleep a little with his wife rested upon his chest afterwards but the very next morning, the weight of the world returned to him in the form of a letter, one that he did not wish to share with anyone. But one that might well change the course of his life and the lives of everyone around him forever.

It was only three days after receiving said letter that Alex struggled to keep the cracks from showing. The strain within him was beginning to show upon his face, even he could see it past the horrendous scars he wore like a mask as he readied for the latest public engagement.

The annual ballroom bizarre hosted by the Earl and Countess of Tillington was not an event to be missed. Every businessman, gentleman and nobleman in the country would flock to see the extravaganza, using it to their benefit in order to secure further business for the coming year. And with the letter burning a hole in Alex’s pocket, he knew it was not an event he could afford to miss.

Lucky for him, Tillington was a most eccentric character, and the ball was to be masked. For once, he was able to hide his hideous self not with the devil’s mask but with a rather lovely teal and green peacock mask that Emmaline had gifted to him only days after receiving the invitation.

It was a plain and simple mask, but her own was far more elegant with peacock feather sticking out of the side, decorating her glossy hair in a way he could not keep his eyes off.

In fact, as he stood in the gardens of Tillington Place—where the main event was being held around an outdoor dancefloor with acrobats and a menage of wild animals all about—Alex’s eyes remained pinned to his wife, for she was the most beautiful and astounding creature in her blue and green silks, her hips swaying in time with the music, lost in the magical atmosphere of the evening.

And though they were surrounded by thetonAlex could not keep his hands off her. Whether it was the strong alcohol being supplied or simply the fact she cast such a spell on him, he could not be sure, but he did not care a fig what anyone else thought of him.

Everyone seemed far too preoccupied themselves anyway. Theirs was not the only scandalous dance to be taking place. The masks made others brave also and several couples danced much too close, hands wandering into places they ought not to.

The half-naked acrobats hanging from their elevated silks on metal constructs all about the dancefloor did not help. Nor did the dark walk, a maze of secret gardens created by a most expert gardener, only a few meters away. Alex had done more than a few scandalous things in that maze in his youth and by heavens, he would have loved to do so with Emmaline.

But she was lost to the music, dancing so carefree. It was such a sight to behold that he could not drag her away from it. And close by, his sister, wearing a pale gold mask and the whitest of white gowns, reminding him of a swan, seemed much the same.

Alex would have liked to have kept her from the ball but how could he deny his sister any happiness? He had carted her off to France at the first chance he had gotten. It was past time she entered society at almost twenty-one. An age his wife could not believe when he had told her for his sister did look so small, beautiful and fragile. He feared what London might do to her.

His only relief was that Sean had not left her side all evening. And as Emmaline finally tired of dancing, he knew his sister would be safe in his best friend’s care while he accompanied his wife inside for refreshments.

Having managed to speak little of business so far, he was anxious to do so. There was money to be made there that night, and yet, he felt unable to leave his wife’s side.

There was a growing shadow at his back, one he could not quite glean the identity of yet, but he would be damned if he allowed it to swallow any one of his family.

As he took two glasses of punch from the refreshments table and handed one to Emmaline, she looked at him curiously from behind her mask. It was an innocent enough expression and yet, it made him want to do terrible, sinful things to her.

Even weeks after their marriage, weeks after the rumors of their swift elopement had died down, he still felt the same blood boiling need to be inside her at every moment that he was with her. It was almost as maddening as the growing threats surrounding him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he demanded, slipping close to place his hand at the small of her back. He always felt better whenever he was touching her.

“Something is wrong,” Emmaline said.

Tensing, Alex guided her swiftly to the shadows at the edge of the room behind a large freestanding plant pot.

“What is it?” he demanded.

“You have been having far too much fun and not nearly enough business talk,” Emmaline said, sipping her drink yet looking at him over the rim of her glass. “What is the matter?”

Alex cringed. She knew him all too well it seemed.

“I do not like crowds,” Alex said, trying to come up with any excuse he could for his recent behavior.

“You are more masked than you have been in public,” Emmaline said gently, leaning forward to add ever more quietly, “for a long time without your devil. And yet, you are still anxious. Something is the matter and I demand that you tell me.”

Alex could not help himself. Some of the devil came out of him then. Gripping her forearm, he pulled her in close to the plant pot and pressed her back against it. Pinning her there with his body pressed against hers, he demanded, “Who are you to make demands of me, Lady Emmaline?”