Page 29 of Wedded to the Forbidden Duke
There was no denying Ian’s prowess as an athlete. Every movement conveyed strength and agility; his movements were smooth, and practiced, while also showing off ferocity. He had already disarmed his instructor twice in the short time since they had begun their sparring, and he somehow had yet to have been disarmed himself.
As they continued fighting, his shirt clung to him, damp with exertion and with the heat of the pounding sun overhead. Eventually, he held up his hand. The two men paused in their sparring. Ian began to unbutton his shirt.
Though at first she had looked only reluctantly, Cecilia now found herself unable to look away as, button by button, the strong planes of his chest were exposed. When he reached the bottom of the row of buttons, he shrugged the shirt off, revealing his equally muscular arms, ripping with each movement.
“Cecilia!”
Cecilia came to. “Hm?”
She looked over at Nancy, who had her hand in the air, as though she had just been waving at her. “Are you all right? Whatever are you looking at?”
“Nothing!” Cecilia said, too quickly, before clearing her throat. “Nothing at all. Just—enjoying the view of the gardens.”
Nancy followed her gaze and giggled. “Ah,” she said coyly, raising an eyebrow at Cecilia. “Yes. The gardens. Nothing else?”
“Nothing else.” Cecilia turned bodily away from the window, reluctant as she was to stop looking at the beautiful view. All of those muscles moved even more spectacularly when he was once again sparring. “Forgive my distraction. How are things betweenyou and Zachary? Has he made any more progress in courting you?”
Nancy’s smile fell from her face. “I am afraid not,” she said quietly. “Apart from our brief encounter in the park. It seems his attention has been much diverted—understandably so, of course, given all of the excitement with the wedding and all. I certainly would not expect anything else. Perhaps you overestimated his affection for me, Cecilia.”
“Nonsense.”
Nancy shrugged. Seeing that her friend was still a bit downtrodden, Cecilia clasped her hands together gently. “Nancy. Would you do me a favor?”
Nancy looked up. “Anything, Celie.”
“Would you play a bit of pianoforte for me? As I said, I have been neglecting it terribly, and I would hate for the poor thing to go out of tune or collect dust.”
Immediately Nancy’s face brightened. “Oh, that is no favor at all! I would absolutely love to.”
As she went over to the pianoforte and began playing, Cecilia could not help but steal just one more glance at the window. As before, Ian moved strikingly, every movement purposeful and stunning as though he were some majestic cat on the prowl. Thesun glinted off the sweat on his shoulders, highlighting further the contours of his well-developed muscles.
Nancy’s beautiful music continued in the background, providing accompaniment to this display of strength and grace. As her thoughts continued to return, again and again, to the events of last night—to the heat of his touch; the size of him, the form; how desperately she had wanted him to do anything and everything he wanted to her—Cecilia was frustrated by how she simply could not shake the duke from her mind.
She needed a project. Something to take her mind off such inconvenient places.
As the music came to a stop, Cecilia sat up straighter in her seat. “Nancy! That was wonderful, and even better, I have an idea!”
Nancy swiveled on the piano stool to face her. “What is it?”
“I am going to host a musical evening. Here, at the estate.” She stood up and crossed the room to Nancy. “And you must agree to play.”
“Play for an audience, you mean?” Nancy’s cheeks reddened at once. “Oh, Cecilia…I do not know.”
“It will be a most intimate crowd. Friends and family. An evening to socialize and relax. And, most importantly, if you play the pianoforte, Zachary will have no choice but to bring his attention back to you! It is a most perfect and brilliant plan.”
“What if I embarrass myself!” Nancy cried. Cecilia took her hands.
“You will not,” she said certainly. “I have never heard you sound anything but beautiful on the pianoforte. If you do not wish for Zachary to come, fine; I shall not invite him. But it would mean a great deal to me for you to lend your musical talents to the night. It will be the first event I host as the new duchess, after all. I so dearly wish for it to be a success.”
Finally, Nancy smiled. “I would love to contribute to your first event as a duchess,” she gushed, squeezing Cecilia’s hands back. “And of course, you must invite your brother. But do not have your hopes up that he will pay any sort of attention to me, Cecilia.”
“Don’t you worry about that,” Cecilia spun around, pleased with herself. “I shall take care of everything. Do you think next week is too soon? I need to draw up a guest list, send out invitations, plan decorations and food…”
“Oh, yes!” Nancy said, growing animated at the prospect of such an event. She continued, “You know, Mother hosted a musicale just last season—perhaps I shall ask her to write you with advice?”
Cecilia walked Nancy to the door, as the two of them continued to chatter excitedly about the evening in store.
After she waved goodbye to Nancy, she turned around—and nearly walked into her husband.
