“I am sorry if I upset you…” She heard his footsteps coming toward her. “It was not my intent.”
“Then what was yourintent?” She hissed the word, despite her desire not to.
“To be honest…” He chuckled. “Exactly that.”
She frowned at the comment and then, not thinking, spun about.
He was standing just a few feet away. The night was moonless, casting the Duke in complete shadow. Behind him, the hustle and bustle of the drawing room could be heard, but his body smothered it like a cloak, and the size of his frame seemed to take up the entire world.
Sophia felt trapped… but not in a bad way. Despite how annoyed she was, how much she loathed the Duke’s words, there was an honesty about him that she was drawn to. Or was that jealousy? That he was able to speak so freely and without care. That he could do as he wanted, be who he wished, and people still respected him.
“I was only trying to… to cause a reaction in you,” he said. The humor was gone, and his voice was soft.
“Butwhy?” she asked desperately. “What do you want?”
He shrugged. “I’m curious about you. Your playing was beautiful yesterday, that was not a lie. And I suppose that I am the type that when I see great beauty, I want to ensure that it is real. That it’s not an illusion.”
“I am as I am,” she said. “I am not trying to… to trick you.”
“I did not say you were.”
“Then what? What do you want from me? Why are you so… so… so…” She stammered and stuttered, her body shaking.
“Easy.” The Duke stepped into her and took her hand. He enclosed it with both of his and held it tight. “Do not come undone.”
She froze when she felt his hand. Her eyes widened in shock. Her first thought was to pull away and tell him to leave at once. But another thought buried itself deep inside her of… the sensation that she enjoyed how his hand felt around her own.
It was dangerous… something she had never experienced… and it lit a fire inside of her that she did not know existed until right now.
“I am not undone.”
“But you were very close.”
“What do you expect?” she said sharply. “When I have been forced to defend myself from you all evening.”
“I am sure it is no more than what you are used to,” he said softly, still holding her hand. “A lifetime spent defending yourself. Forever trapped in a world you did not create but are forced to live in…” He raised a questioning eyebrow.
She started… she leaned back… she felt her resolve weaken because his words were like cannon balls battering into the side of a fortress. Sophia was strong. She had to be, the way she was raised. But there was a side of her that heard his words and knew their truth, even if she never wanted to admit them.
“You do not know me,” she said softly, her walls weakening against his barrage.
“I think I do.”
“My life… everything… I am happy.”
“I never said you were not.”
“You implied it…” She found herself looking at him with desperation, as if she expected him to believe her. Or to save her. Or to… she did not know! “I am happy. My parents… everything they have done… I do not need your help.”
“I am sorry for what I said.”
“And I am better than stale,” she said as if she needed him to believe it. “When I play, it is… it is with heart, despite what you think. You do not know anything.”
He was still holding her hand, and he looked right at her. Then he stepped close and his voice lowered. It was too dark to see his face clearly, but his amber eyes burned like two fires in the dead of night. “I guess I was wrong. Forgive me.”
“I will not.”
He smirked. “There it is.”
