Page 27 of The Darkness Within Us

“I am a lady. We always need pampering. If you had any sense, you would visit the tailor. Speaking of which, where are your things?”

“What things?”

“Your clothes? Personal belongings? Last I checked, the master suite was still as I left it. Since you made such a fuss over my vacating it, I assumed you’d wish to move in immediately.”

He puts his glasses back on and resumes reading whatever he had been. “I already did.”

“In the time I walked up to the study?”

“Just before lunch. You missed the cedar chest on the opposite side of the bed.”

“You—you have only a single chest?”

Eryx sighs. “Again, I’m not a peacock. A man needs naught but a single coat, five shirts, and two pairs of pants.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. “I cannot tell if you are joking.”

“I’m quite serious. You can wear one pair while the other is being washed.”

I cannot speak for a full five seconds. “That’s it! I could abide everything else, but this justprovesmy point all the more. There’s no way you’re a nobleman! You haven’t the manners nor the style nor anything else to suggest good breeding. Where did Vander find you? A gutter somewhere?”

“Duchess, I have spent the last five years in the king’s army, killing and conquering in the name of Naxos, out on the front lines. The fact that I’m still alive should tell you several things. First of which, that I’m a damned good soldier, and second, I don’t give a damn what you think. Third, I’m sick of killing and quite eager to take up a quiet life at this country estate.

“Now,” he continues, returning his attention to the papers before him, “what about these expenses? Men’s clothing. Expensive colognes. Male jewelry. What the hell is all this? Do you parade about as a man half the time?”

He is such an idiot. I just stare at him.

He blinks once. Then a look of surprise crosses his features. “Am I to understand that you have a lover you’re financing?”

“Who did you think the man in my bedroom you so rudely knocked unconscious was?”

His mouth pops open. “I thought he was a servant. When he refused to leave, I had to use force. You mean to tell me that was your—”

“It’s none of your business, really.”

He looks back down at the paper before him. “Why are you paying for so much? These expenses are ridiculous. Has the lord no—”

“He’s no lord. He’s… my mistress.” Or was about to be. I hadn’t actually gotten around to asking him.

I appear to have finally shocked Eryx into silence. Then: “You’repayinghim for—for favors?”

“For sex,” I clarify, since Eryx seems rattled by the whole discussion.

“Why?” he asks, clearly dumbfounded. “Have you seen yourself? A woman like you doesn’t need to pay for such things.”

I let a smile grace my lips. “Is that your way of offering?”

His eyes dart down to my mouth at the same time he barks out a vehement “No!”

I said it to rattle him. I have more interest in being around a wild boar than I do this man. I laugh and flick a lock of hair off my shoulder. “Then I shall continue to spend my money as I see fit.”

Eryx finally manages to collect himself. “Except, none of this was your money. You’ve been spendingmyfortune.”

A feeling of dread settles low in my stomach as he prattles on.

“I’m halting all the renovations to the manor. Your role as duchess permits you to rearrange furniture, not decimate this historic home. As for all of your personal purchases, I shall take them out of your stipend, which means you shall receive your first one in approximately…” He pauses to do some quick math. “One year’s time.”

Eryx’s form shifts in front of me, and it takes me far too long to realize thatI’mthe one shaking.

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