“I want you to,” he said.
She tensed up and clawed at his back. Her body shivered and unleashed.
Charlotte felt Victor tense up as his groans echoed off the walls. Then he removed himself from her and spilled his seed on the bed.
She stared at him.
Was that supposed to happen?
CHAPTER 22
“You are staring again, Your Grace,” Charlotte murmured as she adjusted her napkin upon her lap.
“I am your husband now,” Victor replied lazily, “I believe I have earned the privilege.”
The heat that rushed into her cheeks only seemed to amuse him further.
The candlelight glowed warmly across the long dining table, turning the silver and crystal into glittering pools of gold. Tall arrangements of pale roses and greenery sat between polished candelabras, while footmen moved silently around the room carrying steaming platters beneath silver covers. Charlotte still could not quite believe that this grand dining room belonged to her now, nor that she sat beside the Duke of Mulford as his wife.
Victor looked entirely too handsome for her peace of mind in his dark evening coat, his green eyes fixed upon her with shameless interest as a servant poured wine into their glasses.
“Sometimes I do forget,” Charlotte said.
“That you are my wife? Well then, perhaps I will remind you tonight,” he teased.
Charlotte felt the heat rush to her cheeks.
The first course arrived, delicate white flavoured with almonds and cream, served with fresh rolls still warm from the kitchens.
Charlotte lifted her spoon carefully while Victor rested one arm along the back of her chair as though he could not bear an inch of distance between them.
“You appear nervous,” he observed quietly. “I am attempting to dine properly whilst being watched like prey by my own husband,” she whispered back.
Victor’s mouth curved wickedly. “And here I thought I was being restrained.”
Charlotte tried very hard to focus on her soup and not on the large warm hand that had settled against the back of her waist beneath the tablecloth. His thumb stroked slowly over the silk of her gown in lazy circles that sent sparks dancing beneath her skin.
“Victor,” she hissed softly.
“Mm?” he answered innocently while sipping his wine.
“You are distracting me on purpose.”
He leaned slightly closer. “Yes, Duchess, I am.”
Charlotte could not focus at all. Since their wedding, the entire manor house had become a place of stolen kisses and intimate pleasures where they could be caught at any moment.
It's thrilling and makes me so nervous all at once.
The second course followed soon after, roasted pheasant with buttered potatoes and an herb sauce. Charlotte barely tasted any of it because Victor kept brushing against her every few moments as though compelled to touch her.
She reached for her wine; his fingers closed lightly around her wrist first, making her breath catch.
“You tremble whenever I touch you,” he murmured.
“That is because you behave scandalously at supper,” she whispered back.
“We are married now,” he replied smoothly. “I intend to behave scandalously everywhere and in every room of this house.”
