His curt denial had her defenses instantly up. “You cannot dictate to me what I do, Riverdale.”
“Yes, I can. I’m your husband, madam, and I’ll be damned if I allow you to carry on cavorting with other gentlemen.”
His hypocritical behavior was enough to make her long to punch him in the nose.
She pulled her elbow from his grasp. “In that case, will you also excuse yourself from the remainder of the house party?”
“Of course not.”
He stated it as if it were an impossibility she asked of him.
“Why not?” she countered.
“Because I’m one of the hosts.”
“There are several other hosts,” Sybil pointed out, moving past him, toward the window that overlooked the gardens. “Surely Whitby, Kingham, or Richford might take up your duties if you cannot perform them.”
“Whitby is sniffing after the skirts of the cookery school owner he brought here, and Richford has conveniently disappeared.”
“Then what about Kingham?” she suggested, unmoved.
“Speaking of Kingham, how dare you tell him we are married?” Riverdale demanded.
“I can tell him whatever I like. How dareyoukeep me a secret as if I am some shameful regret?”
“Perhaps youarea shameful regret,” he bit out loudly.
They both froze. His words had the power of a lash, so vicious and unforgiving that she swore she felt them biting into her skin. Tears burned her eyes, but Sybil was too prideful to allow them to fall.
She tipped her chin up. “The same might be said of you, Your Grace, for I most assuredly rue the day I ever consented to be your wife. I must have entirely taken leave of my senses. Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to join in the merriment your guests have invited me to partake of.”
She moved to sweep past him, but he caught her elbow again, whirling her to face him.
His expression was one of steely determination, his jaw hard, his sensual lips thinned into a harsh line. “No, you bloody well won’t.”
“Then you will have to force me,” she warned him, fury surging past any desire she felt in his presence. “You’ll have to throw me over your shoulder and carry me out of this salon, kicking and screaming and telling everyone what a heartless wretch you are.”
“Don’t tempt me, madam.”
“You berate me for confiding in the Duke of Kingham that I am your wife, and yet you expect me to believe that you would cause such an undignified scene?” She scoffed. “I doubt that even you would stoop so low. Besides, I would shout to the rafters that I am your duchess. Perhaps then, all your chums and your scandalous guests could see your despicable treatment of me for themselves. I should think that would make a divorce quite easy for me to obtain.”
For the second time, she tore herself away from his grasp and moved toward the door. But Riverdale was faster and stronger,and she was no match for his muscled build as he braced his hands on either side of the door and pinned her between his massive body and the paneled mahogany.
“Damn you, woman,” he growled in her ear, his breath falling hotly over the bare skin of her throat. “You push me too far.”
Sybil was about to tell him that he did the same to her when something astonishing happened. Riverdale buried his face in her throat, inhaling deeply as he pressed his lips to her.
He waskissingher neck.
And her body’s response was instant. Her knees went weak as a surge of awareness pulsed to life between her thighs. Suddenly, she was thinking about how his raw, powerful strength had felt poised above her. How it had felt to have him inside her, stretching her, claiming her.
Her own hands were pressed to the cool, sleek wood too, as if she were poised for escape. But fleeing was the last thing on her mind when he opened his mouth and sucked on the side of her neck as if she were honey and he needed to consume every drop of her.
A sound fell from her lips. Her forehead tipped toward the door, resting there as she tried in vain to gather her wits. To muster resistance. Kisses on her throat in the middle of the morning were decidedly not part of the bargain. Particularly not after he so arrogantly suggested that she would be cavorting with other gentlemen, when he was the only one between them who had been unfaithful.
This house party and his entire secret club were a testament to that. And still, she couldn’t summon the desire to pull away from him. Instead, she remained where she was, soaking in his heat and strength. Tilting her head to the side to give his traveling mouth access to more of her throat, lips parting on a sigh.
“Why do you smell so bloody good?” he asked as if it were an accusation, his lips grazing her ear as he inhaled again.
