“You tried to break it. There’s a difference.” His hand traced lazy patterns on her stomach. “And you stopped when reminded. That’s what matters.”
“Will there be consequences anyway?”
“Would you like there to be?”
She hesitated, then smiled faintly. “Perhaps.”
“My bloodthirsty duchess,” he murmured, nipping her shoulder. “We’ll explore that. Among other things.”
“Other things?”
“So many other things. We have a lifetime, remember?”
A lifetime. The reality of it settled over her like a weight. She was married to this man, bound to him irrevocably. They’d known each other so briefly, been married less than a day, and now she lay naked in his arms, her body still humming from the pleasure he’d given and controlled.
“You’re thinking too loudly,” he teased softly.
“I’m trying to make sense of it all.”
“There’s little sense to be made,” he said. “You’re my wife. I’m your husband. And we’ve just consummated our marriage quite thoroughly.”
She turned in his arms to face him. “Is it always going to be like this? You commanding, me obeying?”
“In bed, yes—if you’ll allow it. Outside of bed...” He traced her cheek with his knuckle. “Outside of bed, you are my equal in all things. My duchess. I have no wish to rule your days, only your nights.”
She smiled faintly. “And if I decide to redecorate the entire house in pink?”
“Then I shall suffer heroically.” He traced her jaw.
“If I want to invite my friends to tea?”
“Then we’ll serve tea.”
“If I want to learn estate management?”
He studied her. “Do you?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps. I ran my father’s books sometimes. I am good with numbers.”
“Then my steward will teach you whatever you wish to learn.” He kissed her softly. “I told you, Marianne. I don’t want to cage you. I want to free you.”
“By controlling me?”
“By giving you a space where you don’t have to be in control. Where you can let go of that constant vigilance, that need to prove yourself.” His thumb brushed her lower lip. “Did you not feel it tonight? That freedom in surrender?”
She had felt it. That was what terrified her.
“It’s a lot to accept.”
“We have time.” He pulled her closer. “Sleep now. Tomorrow will bring its own battle.”
“What kind of battle?”
“The domestic sort,” he said with a sigh. “Meeting the staff. Surveying the house. And bracing for the arrival of my aunt, who will no doubt descend in a storm of outrage once she learns I’ve married without her blessing.”
“You didn’t tell your family?”
“What family?” His tone was wry, but she heard the loneliness beneath. “My parents are gone, my sister’s in Rome, and my aunt considers me beyond redemption.”
