Page 52 of Taken By the Duke of Stone

"You cannot say such things," he gritted out. "Not here, in the middle of a stuffy ballroom with you looking like..." he trailed off, jaw clenched tight.

Hope soared inside of her, and she smiled. "Will you kiss me again, Victor?"

He stared at her for several breathless seconds where it felt like he was going to whisk her away and have his wicked way with her, but then his eyes shifted away from her and ice replaced the scorching flames.

"I know that this must be hard for you," he finally said. "You are most probably curious about such experiences and are eager to explore."

Only with you,she thought.

His mouth pulled up at the sides, it was far too stiff to even be considered a smile. "I am under no delusions that you will remain chaste and untouched for the duration of this marriage."

Lavinia suddenly felt cold.

"You may have your discreet dalliances, of course."

"Discreet dalliances," she repeated, eyes searching his.

"Yes," he said, "the discretion is necessary because of our position in society and-"

"And what about you?" she spat. "Have you been having these discreet dalliances?"

He sighed, "you do not want the answer to that, Miss Proctor."

"I would not have asked if I did not want the answer," she snapped, suddenly wanting to be as far from him as possible, but knowing that she couldn't just storm off in the middle of a dance. She tried to rein in her fury and most importantly, the feeling in her chest that felt like a blade had been driven through her heart.

"You mean that I may request a kiss from any man here tonight and you would not care?"

"What do you want from me?" he gritted out. "I told you that this would not be that sort of marriage, and you agreed to it. It is unfair of you to suddenly decide my rules were forced upon you. Or that you had no prior knowledge about them."

"I thought-" she swallowed back the pathetic words about how she had thought things had changed.

"You thought what?" he pressed.

"I want you to say that I may kiss any man in this room and you would not care."

"I would never be so cruel as to force you to live the rest of your life without knowing pleasure."

Thankfully, at that moment, the musicians struck the last chord of the waltz. Lavinia dropped into a curtsy, and kept her gaze to the ground as she was led off the floor and to her aunt's side.

How dare he? How dare he act like he was doing her a favor by giving her the freedom of an affair? Why could he touch other women but not her?

She could just envision the years stretched before her. Years of perfect civility between her and the Duke, knowing that he was going straight from the dinner table to his mistress' house.

Civility indeed.

She would absolutely loathe him.

What had she signed herself up for? Had she perhaps been too hasty in agreeing to this arrangement? Because she could only now see that it was not going to be anything other than what he had termed it. A cold, black and white arrangement.

"Are you alright?" Her aunt looked over at her. "You look like you are plotting."

Oh she was.

Lavinia stared at the broad back of her soon-to-be husband and decided that since he was so nonchalant about her having an affair, she would give him exactly what he wanted.

"Perhaps," she finally replied to her aunt.

"Oh dear."

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