It entered his eyes so suddenly and intensely that heat rushed through her entire body.
“Ah,” Victor murmured.
The way he said that one simple word nearly undid her entirely.
“I began to think,” Charlotte continued nervously, “that perhaps you were avoiding me.”
Victor exhaled quietly and dragged a hand through his hair. “I suppose I have been guilty of that.”
The honesty startled her.
“Why?” she asked before she could stop herself.
He gave a low, humourless laugh. “Because you are dangerous to my peace of mind, Duchess.”
Charlotte stared at him helplessly.
Then Victor stepped forward, took her face gently in his hands, and kissed her.
The ache of missing him hit her all at once.
My God.
Charlotte melted against him immediately, her fingers clutching at the front of his loose shirt as his mouth moved slowly over hers. Every kiss felt hungry yet restrained at the same time, asthough he were trying very hard not to lose himself entirely. She had missed this, missed him more than she had allowed herself to admit.
Victor kissed her again more deeply, and Charlotte shivered beneath the warmth of his touch.
“There is my wife,” he murmured against her lips.
Her heart squeezed painfully.
He guided her toward the bed, his hands lingering at her waist possessively as though reacquainting himself with her body after days apart. Charlotte’s breath caught each time his fingers brushed her. She realized with alarming clarity just how deeply she desired him now.
I want all of him.
Victor tilted her chin upward gently. “Forgive my negligence regarding nightly husbandly duties.”
His wicked smile made her cheeks burn instantly. “You are impossible.”
“And yet you came searching for me.”
“That was clearly a moment of poor judgement.”
Victor laughed softly, then kissed her forehead. “Liar.”
Charlotte smiled despite herself as he drew her onto the bed beside him. The intimacy of simply sitting there together in the candlelight made her chest ache strangely. His hand stroked slowly along her back while she rested against him, warm and safe.
The realization struck her again with frightening force.
Victor brushed his lips against her temple. “You are quiet tonight.”
Charlotte hesitated before speaking softly. “Elizabeth mentioned children today.”
The moment the words left her mouth, everything changed.
Victor’s entire body stiffened beside her.
Charlotte slowly pulled back enough to look at him properly. The warmth vanished from his expression almost instantly, replaced by that familiar guardedness she hated. It was as though a wall had slammed into place between them.
