“There is a lot you do not know about me,” he said with a coy smile that she was starting to enjoy; once she had loathed it, now her pulse quickened to see it used on her.
“I suspect that is true,” she said, stepping in closer so their bodies touched. “But…” She forced herself to meet his eyes now, unblinking and true. “But I hope to learn.”
“Is that right?” his smile grew.
“Well…” She shrugged as if it was nothing. “Seeing as we have the rest of our lives. I wonder what else I might learn.”
He laughed. “I suppose the same could be said of you, Margot. What secrets are you keeping from me?”
“Me?” she fluttered her eyes innocently. “None. I am not the rake, remember.”
“Ha!” he laughed. “True, you are just an innocent flower, and I am a lustful bee that has caught your scent.”
“Have you?” she asked, her voice dropping low. “Caught my scent, I mean.” It was a stupid thing to say, she felt. Suggestive. Cryptic but in a way that she suspected the duke might like…
He tilted his head as he studied her. Eyes narrowed, he looked down at her, with a sense that he was seeing her for the first time. That he was beginning to see past the argumentative, guarded wife that she had been since they first met. That she was open now to getting to know him in ways that just a few days ago she never would have considered.
A smile tugged at his lips. He opened his mouth to answer. She held her breath, certain he was going to say something flirtatious and push the boundaries of their relationship. Only then did the music start, and he pulled her into him and started to lead.
They swept across the floor together. There were a dozen couples dancing with them, but Margot did not take notice. For all she knew, it was herself and the duke only, and they owned that floor, the world fading around them as their bodies moved as one.
They did not speak as they danced. But it was not awkward. Rather, they held one another’s stare the entire time, the look they gave the other speaking louder than any words could.
How is this happening? And why am I excited for it?Those were the thoughts that ran through Margot’s head as they moved together. She felt his hand on her waist. She felt his heart beating in his chest. She felt his body on her own, and it did not feel so wrong or so strange. Rather, it felt right like nothing else could.
There was a moment when Margot was forced to wonder if this was all for show. If, when they returned home, away from prying eyes, things would revert to how they had been. But she dismissed that quickly. After all, she had been the one so careful around him before this. And now that she was more open and willing and trusting of him, she smiled to think where it might lead.
I did not want this marriage. I did not want the duke. But I have him now; nothing is to be done about it. So why not give in and accept the situation? Better than that, why not enjoy it…
And if the way the duke danced with her was any indication, Margot sensed that there would be plenty more enjoyment tocome. That thought especially… her legs tingled, and her thighs quivered at the idea.
Fourteen
“Just the one drink,” Sebastian promised Margot. He left her by the door as he strode across the drawing room and toward the liquor cabinet. There, he produced two glasses and a bottle of whiskey. “And then it’s off to bed, I promise you.” He poured the whiskey.
“I will hold you to that,” Margot joked as she slowly entered the room. “You say one, but I sense that you’re not exactly known for your self-control.”
Sebastian could not keep himself from grinning. “I thought by now you would have realized that you can’t believe everything you hear.” He finished pouring the whiskey, picked up both glasses, and walked back across the room, where he met Margot in the middle. He handed her one glass, she took it gratefully, and he held his out to clink them together. “What should we toast to?”
“Is that what we’re doing?”
“Anything to justify the excuse to have a drink?” he joked.
She laughed softly and shook her head. “Perhaps… to people not appearing as they seem.” She offered up her glass, raising an eyebrow at Sebastian.
“Or second chances,” Sebastian added as he clinked his glass against Margot’s. She rolled her eyes, but her smile told him how she truly felt. And then, still smiling, they took a sip of their whiskey.
“It’s good,” Margot said.
“Good enough that it will be hard to stop at one.”
“I did not say that.”
“You did not have to,” he said with a wink. “You are my wife, remember. And dare I say that I know you better than you know yourself.”
She snorted. “After a whole week? That’s quite the talent.”
“As you said…” He winked again, watching her over the lip of his glass as he took a sip. She shied away from his probing stare, her cheeks flushed light pink, but she tried her best to hold his gaze, and Sebastian felt the tension mount between them. “Not everyone is as they seem. I’m rather perceptive like that.”
