Page 40 of A Virgin for the Duke of Scars
“You are my wife,” Aaron said simply. “You must look the part.”
Before he could stop her, she threw her arms around him, pressing her body against his in an almost indecent way. He wrapped his arms around her without a second thought, hoping that she could not feel the effect her hug had on his cock.
When she pulled away, a chill seeped into every place they no longer touched.
He would do anything for her if it meant more of her enthusiastic appreciation.
“Thank you, husband.”
“Of course.”
The dressmaker cleared her throat at the display of affection, surely because she could not fathom a woman who wouldwantto be with a beast like him.
Aaron glared at her until she turned back to the dresses she was sewing when they had first arrived. Seeing the fortune he was spending here, he would embrace his wife as he wished.
It was then that he noticed the blush on Theresa’s cheeks.
Was she embarrassed that someone else had seen her embrace him so fiercely?
“It is time for us to take our leave,” Aaron announced, refusing to ponder that thought.
CHAPTER 13
Theresa was crammed into the back of the carriage with a mountain of boxes, all the dresses Aaron had insisted she needed. It felt like she could wear a new dress every day of the month and still have clothing to spare.
Deep down, she felt guilty about her spending. The nuns had taught her that she would not want for anything because the Lord would provide what she needed. Now, she had a husband who wanted to be her provider.
It was a fine line between piety and gluttony.
She tried to push the thought to the back of her mind and pay closer attention to where they were going.
She wasn’t very adept at navigating the streets of London, but she could tell they were not heading back to Blackwell Manor. She poked her head out of the carriage window to address Aaron, who rode elegantly alongside her.
“Where are we headed if not back to the manor? Surely, we have no room for more shopping.”
“I thought we would take a small detour. I had the kitchen maids put together a picnic basket for us. We will stop in Hyde Park for a little while, unless you have somewhere else to be?” His lips quirked up beneath his mask.
“A picnic,” Theresa breathed in wonder. “I must admit that I have never had a picnic before.”
“You have never had a meal in a park?”
Theresa blushed at her innocence again. She had lived such a sheltered life in the convent. There seemed to be no end to the things that she had never done, considering the things her husband expected her to be familiar with.
There’s nothing sinful about having a meal outside with my husband.
There could be nothing sinful about having a meal outside.
“We ate all of our meals at the table together. Always together.”
“Today, it shall be just you and me,” Aaron said.
Theresa sat back in the carriage and tried to breathe slowly. She was not doing anything wrong, and she was permitted to havefun. As her sister-in-law said, she had more freedoms here in the city and even more as a woman married to a powerful duke.
They rounded the corner into Hyde Park, and Aaron signaled for the carriage to stop. The driver handed him a wooden picnic basket after he jumped down from his horse and went to retrieve his wife. He offered her his arm, which she gratefully accepted.
Theresa was elated just to be in the park. She had never seen anything like it before. The grounds were perfectly manicured and boasted groves of tall elms and powerful oaks. The flowers were in full bloom, the air filled with their fragrance.
But to be here with herhusbandand have a picnic… it was too much. What would Sister Edith and Margaret say if they could see her now, having arrived in a carriage full of dresses, with a handsome husband?
