A flash of hazel eyes appeared in her mind. She jolted upright before laughing the thought away. She would listen to Anna’s warning and stay away from such a man. Vibrations or not.
“That was just a symptom of distress,” she said to herself.
“What was?”
She knew that voice. She remembered how it felt against her skin the first time she heard it. Theodora turned her head to see the gladiator in question standing in the doorway of the library and leaning in a ridiculously nonchalant way.
“Do you have some sort of ailment that does not allow you to stand upright?” She inquired.
A slow, wide grin spread across the man’s face and it made her chest tighten unexpectantly. Theodora chastised herself for making him smile, which, of course, was an absurd sentiment. The man stood tall and walked into the room as she turned back to the desk. She could hear his long and confident strides approach her. She snorted to herself. Only she could analyze someone’s gait and determine their characteristics. Ever the woman of science, she was.
“Your sense of humor has returned,” he remarked as though he knew her all his life.
“As you can see, I am in good health. A perfect specimen some would say.” Although she no longer saw him, she could hear the playful tone to his voice and hated that she let a smile show.
It was at that moment Theodora wished her mask covered her entire face to hide the blush that was inevitably on display for his amusement.
Oh well, I just will not turn to him. Perhaps he will get the hint and leave me alone.
“You did not answer my question.” He came up behind her chair. She yelped when he pulled it back away from the desk and turned it to face him. He rested a naked arm on each side of her as he leaned over her.
“What is a symptom of distress?” His voice was low, deep, and once again she felt a fiery sensation rush through her veins.
Distress is what I’m feeling right now.
Theodora licked her lips and his gaze dropped to catch her tongue in action. She felt nervous in his presence, and she leaned back against the chair. It was no use. The man was so large he took up the entire sight of her vision. There was no escaping him.
She cleared her throat. “For one, a strange man coming into a room unannounced and unexpected is quite distressful, especially when a woman is occupying the room by herself.”
He remained silent. This close to him, she could see tiny specks of gold that glittered within the hazel of his eyes.
The man dipped his chin. “Agreed. Especially since the strange man then closed the door with said woman in the room.”
Theodora’s breath caught as her eyes flew to the closed door. Slowly her gaze returned to his. She braced herself for the feeling of dread or unease, like she felt when she had leaned toward the Duc d’Orlèans. Only, there was no disgust with this man.
If she were honest with herself, she was quite intrigued. Perhaps it was the age-old philosophical conundrum of why people do things they are explicitly told not to. The girls made this man seem awful and unruly, yet there was something about him that made her want to lean into him and dissect his brain.
“Come now, sorceress, what secrets are you writing in your spell book there?”
“I told you before, I am an alchemist. And why are you so interested in my experiment anyway?” She wanted to sound intimidating, but her voice was a mere whisper.
“Hmm, what can I say? Alchemy, science, and magic intrigue me.”
Theodora scoffed. “I am certain that you do not even know how to explain alchemy or tell the difference betweenthatand magic.”
“Alchemy is an ancient practice that sought to turn metal into gold. Sounds a lot like sorcery to me.” His mouth quirked up in a smirk.
Theodora ignored the sudden burst of annoyance and… interest in him. She hated to admit it, but it was refreshing to converse with someone who spoke her language.
“I still do not believe that you truly know anything about the matter,” she said stubbornly as she stood up.
The Duke hesitantly backed away. Theodora turned to her book, closing it and tucking it back into her satchel. She did not need him to get his hands on it again.
“I acknowledge that alchemy’s beginnings lent itself to the mystical side of life but that is only because the practitioners did not know any better.” She turned to him. “They needed explanations for things they did not understand. Through discovery, they gained knowledge that led them away from the mystical and into the realm of reality. Which is where I reside. This costume is simply an homage to how far the people of science have come.”
The Duke of Hawthorne tucked his hands behind his back. “And what is it that you wish to discover?”
“I wish to study the art of falling in love.”
