Page 64 of A Virgin for the Duke of Scars
Theresa considered for a moment, but it was not a hard question to answer. “Yes. Because of him, I met Margaret and Sister Edith, who were like family to me. I don’t know where I would be if I were raised here in the city.”
“And me?” Aaron asked.
She thought she heard disappointment in his tone.
“I do not know you well enough, husband.”
“You knew me well enough to moan my name in someone else’s garden.”
He was teasing her, and she knew it. There was no question about the lightness in his voice now. She blushed at the memory of climaxing on his tongue.
“That was different,” she huffed.
“So you have not changed your mind about my… nightly visit?” His voice was still light, but she could feel his gaze boring into her.
She twisted in the saddle to meet his stare. “Will you kiss me without your mask on?”
“No.”
“Then no,” she answered. “It is a rule I will abide by.”
They rode in silence until they reached the main thoroughfare and then urged their horses faster. The speed was not conducive to their conversation.
Theresa took the opportunity to mull over her thoughts and the evening they had spent together.
Too soon, the ride was over, and they arrived at the manor. She slid down from her horse in one smooth motion and passed the reins to the stable hand.
“I suppose this is where I bid you goodnight if you are to stick to your rules, dear husband.”
“Goodnight, Theresa,” Aaron said, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand.
She wished he would kiss her goodnight, but she supposed she had had more than her fair share of kissing that evening.
She turned around and headed upstairs to her bedroom, a lonely chamber in a manor that was too big for her taste. She felt alone here in a way that she never had before, and she found herself wishing that her husband would ditch his strict rules.
What would it take to convince him that she could handle whatever it was he was hiding behind his mask?
CHAPTER 20
Aaron had instructed the servants to ready Midnight for a long ride. They had packed him refreshments in case he wanted to spend the entire day away from Blackwell Manor. They knew too well that he often spent entire days away from home for no apparent reason.
Today, he would return to the spot where he had first met his wife.
When he had seen her that day, her beauty struck him. Made all the more alluring by the drab garments she wore, he knew that the image of her amid the trees would haunt him for the rest of his life.
He found that he did not mind so much, now that she was his wife.
He enjoyed the solitary ride away from the city. He had not had much peace and quiet since he married Theresa. Once, his towerhad been a haven. No one dared to set foot in his private quarters when he wished to be alone.
Juliette and his grandmother had learned over the years to respect his wish to be alone. They overlooked his vices in a way Theresa did not seem inclined to do. She even wanted to ride with him rather than in the carriage with the other ladies.
Admittedly, Aaron preferred having a wife who flouted conventions, as he always had done.
He did not know what thetonthought of her yet, but he knew what they thought of him.
When he arrived at the lake, he set up the easel that he had tucked into his saddlebag. This was his favorite place to create because he never had to worry about someone interfering with the process.
For a while, he sat in front of the easel and did nothing but look out over the water. He had packed his usual palette of reds and blacks, but the paint did not call to him the way it always had. He had no interest in the violence of war anymore.
