Page 57 of A Bride for the Cruel Duke

ChapterNineteen

“You look beautiful, by the way,” Anthony said from across the carriage.

The comment caught Caroline by surprise. “Is that so?”

“It is.”

Caroline blushed furiously, not surprised by the compliment, as it was becoming commonplace now, but taken by it nonetheless.

She took a moment to study her husband. He was sitting across from her, dressed in a dark suit, shrouded in shadow so that she could make out only the breadth of his large frame and the glimmer of his dark eyes. In them, she saw beyond the dispassion and coldness that she once did. More than the rude, short-tempered duke who she had married a week ago. If she didn’t know any better, she might have said he was someone else entirely to the person whom she had been forced to marry.

But he is not different, nor is he pretending to be. He is that same man, only now I know the real him.

“Thank you,” she said sheepishly, looking away as she felt her cheeks flush. “As do you.”

“Pretty?”

She snorted. “No...” Again, she looked at him. Glad for how hard he was to make out in the darkness, as it would have made this carriage ride that much more difficult to sit through. Being alone with him like this, the tension existing as it did every time that they were together, it was all she could do to keep her mind on what mattered. Not giving in. “You look handsome.”

“Ah, yes.” He chuckled lightly. “Thank you. Handsome is what I was going for.”

“Consider it achieved.”

The conversation was not so much awkward as it was tense. They had not spoken of what had happened between them two nights ago, and there was no sense they meant to. Caroline was confused by this, as she was certain that Anthony would have wished to bring it up again, if for no other reason than to try for her a second time.

In a way, she supposed she was glad that he didn’t. If the conversation went down that road, with them alone in the carriage as they were, she doubted they would make it to where they were headed. She doubted that she would want to.

“I am looking forward to this evening,” Caroline said, simply because she thought she must.

“I am glad,” he responded. “I had hoped you might be excited.”

“I am. It is very kind of you. And generous.”

“I thought it might do for us to get out of the manor,” he said simply. “At the very least, so people do not begin to gossip. If you were hidden away for too long, the worst might be assumed.”

She laughed softly. “I did not think you would care what people thought.”

“I do not,” he said. “So, maybe I am lying. Maybe I just want you to have an enjoyable evening.”

“Maybe that’s the lie,” she shot back.

“I’ll leave you to decide that for yourself.”

Caroline no longer distrusted Anthony. She was well past that by now. The confusion she felt was entirely internal, afraid to admit how she felt and how much she wanted him, while desperate to do so at the same time. It was her stubborn nature that did it, a lifetime of convincing herself that sexual attraction was bad and not to be pursued.

What she needed was for Anthony to take over and force it from her, giving her no choice in the matter. If he did that, she knew that she would not be able to say no.Nor would I want to.

“I have a surprise for you after, too,” Anthony said.

“Oh?” She felt a ripple spread across her body, wondering what that surprise might be. Hoping... “And this surprise is?”

His smile was coy. “I said it was a surprise, didn’t I? It would not be much of one if I spoiled it.”

“Anything I need to be on my guard over?” She raised an eyebrow at him “You’re not going to try and find a way to trick me into undressing again, are you?”

“Perhaps if you were a better chess player than you claimed, that wouldn’t have been a problem.”

“I am an excellent chess player,” she said. “And I would have won, if we had continued.”

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