Page 86 of Bound to the Heartless Duke
“If I take you to bed,” he continued, each word like smoke and fire, “I won’t be able to keep pretending this marriage is something I can control. And Ineedto control it, Lily.”
“Why?” she whispered, desperate for an answer.
“Because wanting you hurts more than it should.”
Lily moved without thinking. One step. Then another. Magnus didn’t back away this time. His jaw was clenched tight, his chest rising and falling hard.
“You kissed me like you meant it,” she pointed out.
“I did.”
“Then why deny it now?”
“Because I can’t afford to need you,” he said, his voice rough. “Not like this.”
“But I’m your wife,” she emphasised again, breathless.
He looked at her then—reallylooked at her—and for a moment, he wavered. For a moment, his defenses shook.
She could feel it in the way his body leaned toward her. In the way his gaze dropped to her mouth. In the way the air crackled.
Suddenly, he grabbed her arms, and her breath stuttered. His grip was light enough to hold her in place as his face hovered a mere inch from hers.
Their breaths mingled, and he pulled her close enough that her chest pressed against his, that her pulse fluttered under his thumb.
But like a dish shattering against marble, his words broke the tension.
“I will not take you to bed,” he said quietly, cruelly tender. “Not tonight. Not ever.”
Her lips parted in utmost disbelief. “You’ll regret that,” she whispered.
“I already do.”
She stared at him, fury and heartbreak warring in her chest.
And then, before she could stop herself, she turned sharply and stormed out of the study, not bothering to close the door behind her.
She didn’t look back, and neither did he.
CHAPTER 20
The next morning, Lily awoke with a single-minded purpose.
She would make Magnus Wyndham break every last rule he had set for their marriage. Every damn one.
The morning sunlight streamed through the wide windows of her chamber like the warmest gold. Her sheets have held her restless frame throughout the night as the sharp finality of his voice echoed in her mind.
“Not tonight. Not ever.”
A lie. It had to be.
He wanted her. She’d felt it, seen it in his eyes, tasted it in the tension that snapped between them like a lightning splitting the night sky.. If he thought a few cold words could push her away, then he didn’t know her at all.
Wrapping herself in her robe, Lily slipped out of her chamber, her heart beating with a quiet, expectant, hopeful rhythm.
She didn’t bother summoning her lady’s maid to assist her. No, she wanted to go to her husband disheveled, unguarded, like every woman was after waking up. She wanted him to see her like this, in this morning light.
But when she crossed the corridor to his room and reached the door, she paused.
