Page 25 of His Enemy Duchess

Of course, she did not want him hanging around her, where she might have to be alone withhim, but the thought of being abandoned in a strange house was far worse than her fear of him and his intentions at that moment.

“Afterward, yes,” she said as defiantly as she could. “But you can’t just abandon me. I will not let you just throw me to the staff like I am an unwanted gift. Where isyourdecorum?”

He snorted. “Says you, wandering the entrance hall in your bare feet. Please, in the future, refrain from doing so. As for abandoning you, I am not. I am simply avoiding unnecessary interactions.”

“Talking to your wife, making her familiar with her new residence, is unnecessary? How am I to know where the best places to avoid you are if you do not show me?”

He moved closer, and her breath caught in her throat, his hand coming up as if he meant to touch her face. A frown creased hisbrow, and he lowered his hand again, folding his arms behind his back as if he did not trust them.

“On the contrary, it would be better if I didn’t know where you would go to avoid me,” he said. “You are now the lady of this house. You can walk around, order everyone around, and dowhateveryou want, as long as it doesn’t affect me or my reputation.That is all I ask. Don’t bother me, and I won’t bother you. Do you understand what all of this means?”

Sophia lowered her eyes, trying to hide her irritation. “It means that you are more despicable than I knew you to be. Discourteous, reprehensible, unfeeling, and?—”

His hand caught her under the chin, shock rippling through her as he pressed his lips against hers—the same soft lips that had teased her neck. She should have hit him, should have stomped on his foot, should have shoved him as hard as she could… but she did not want to.

Madness had clearly overwhelmed her mind, slowly closing her eyes to the burning touch of his lips on hers, making it feel… good.

His mouth caught hers again in a rougher kiss as if urging her to respond with the same passion she used to yell at him. For a dizzying moment, she considered it, her hands itching to touch his hard, muscular chest, the powerful shape of his arms.

She snapped out of her madness as swiftly as she had plummeted into it, wrenching away from him.

“How dare you,” she rasped, her lips still tingling.

“No,wife.How dareyou.” He brushed his thumb over his lips. “At your own house, surrounded by your ilk, you can say what you please about me. Inthishouse, I won’t tolerate it.”

She struggled to catch her breath, confused by the warmth that flooded her veins and fluttered in her stomach. Had that been a punishment? It hadn’t felt like one.

“When no one else is around, we donothave to interact,” he continued. “If we just both keep to ourselves, then this sham of a marriage might actually work.”

For the first time in a long while, Sophia was speechless. A few seconds passed, Thomas evidently waiting to see if she would rebel or put up a fight, but no such thing happened.

He exhaled and straightened his clothes. “Miss Wright, bring the lady those slippers I spoke of and show her to her chambers. Make sure she has everything and anything she needs.”

The maid nodded effusively, her face flushed, pretending she hadn’t heard or seen what had just happened, while Thomas stalked off and left Sophia alone.

Sophia watched him walk away and felt her entire life crashing down on her. All of this just to be stuck in a house in the middle of nowhere with a man who ignored her and couldn’t care about her in the slightest. A man who kissed as punishment.No affection, no tender embrace for this disgruntled bride on a lonely afternoon. Only an empty bed, a grumpy husband, and a whirling confusion in her head and body.

She was no different than the paintings and statues in this estate, another decoration added to the pile to further the Duke’s status. This was her life now.

It can’t be… There has to be more.

But as she touched her lips, breathless, she could not decide if she wanted to know what ‘more’ entailed. Her body said yes, but her mind said never.

CHAPTER 9

Ishould not have done that. What on earth did I do that for?

Thomas cursed himself, standing no chance of getting anything done with Sophia swirling around in his head.

He had read the same entries in the estate ledgers a hundred times, his thoughts determined to wander to her soft lips, her sharp intake of breath, and the way her eyes had closed when he had kissed her. He had anticipated a slap or a punch, anger and fury, not her closing her eyes, her lips accepting his kiss. But the kiss had been as much of a surprise to him, spurred on by a side to him that had been restrained for so long that he had not been able to control it when it found itself unleashed.

She is dangerous. I pray she doesfind a wing or a room in the house where she chooses to remain, so we rarely cross paths.

After all, there was still a chance that all of this was an elaborate scheme by the Kendalls, and he might find her looming over him with a blade as he slept, ready to add another tally to her family’s success. A wedding night he would not soon forget.

He could not risk lowering his guard around her or setting that beast inside him loose again.

Sleep evaded Sophia, her stomach churning in complaint. Dinner had been offered, but eating alone had robbed her of her appetite. She was accustomed to noise and cheers and jibes across the table, not stony silence peppered solely by the scrape of a knife on a plate.

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