Page 38 of Wedded to the Forbidden Duke
“I merely came bearing an invitation.”
“An invitation?” He raised a brow. “From whom?”
“From me.” She swept further into the study with delicate steps, slowly approaching his desk. “If you are done with your work for the evening, there is something I would rather like for you to see.”
Seeing her standing above him like that, he wanted nothing more than to pull her into his lap and have his way with her right then and there. Based on the flush in her cheeks, and the way she kept drifting closer to him, he suspected she felt much the same. But he kept the thought to himself, at least until he heard what her invitation was, and merely raised an eyebrow, taking her in.
“Is that so?”
“It is.” She folded her arms, and raised her brow as well, though the playful light never left her expression. “And before you decline,” she said, affecting a lofty tone of voice, “I will have you know that I spoke with Mr. Ainsworth earlier today, and he informed me that all of the paperwork for the estate looks to beperfectly in order. He also told me how you like to fuss over the estate, worrying yourself over nothing. So, as your wife and lady of the house, if you will not put down your work willingly, then I will have no choice but to order you to be done.”
A smile leaped to his lips at that, at the sound of her familiar bossy tone. “You remain as meddlesome as ever, I see,” he said teasingly. She smiled back at him.
“Well?” she asked, tilting her head and taking another step closer, so close that he could easily put a hand on her waist and pull her down. “What shall it be? Do you come willingly?”
God, she was distracting. How sweet it would be, he thought, to seat her on the desk before him, and spread her legs so that he could pleasure her as he had the night before…
He shook his head, bringing himself back to the present moment, and cleared his throat. “Well. If the lady of the house so wishes it, it sounds as though I have no choice but to obey.”
She clapped her hands together, the faux bossiness immediately replaced by simple glee. “Excellent.” She held out a hand to him. “Shall we?”
He took her hand and could not help but rub a thumb across the back of her hand, relishing in the catch of her breath when he did so.
“May I ask,” he began, “what invitation it is which I have unknowingly accepted?”
“A picnic,” she replied, as she led him out of his study.
He glanced at the window. “I do not know if you have noticed, but the sun is nearly about to set,” he pointed out.
Cecilia chuckled. “All the better,” she replied sweetly. “We can dine under the stars.”
Chapter Sixteen
They exited the house, and into the garden, where Ian found them greeted with a lovely candlelit picnic. Cecilia had set out a blanket, and a basket of food. She led him to the blanket, and they both took their seats.
“This is quite the event,” he remarked as she began to unpack the basket, revealing a plethora of delicious-looking food. “What, might I ask, is the occasion?”
“Must I need an excuse to have dinner with my husband?” she asked, handing him a plate. When she caught his eye, she let out a small laugh, and a slight blush rose to her cheeks. “I wish for us to get to know each other better,” she confessed. “Truly know each other. We are married, for heaven’s sake. We have barely talked outside of arguing. I should like very much for that to change.”
“We have not only argued,” he said playfully. “In fact, I can recall one specific occasion only a few nights ago where we did not argue at all.”
She rolled her eyes but smiled. “I mean really talk,” she said. “Properly. There is so much about you I do not know.”
“That is funny to hear. After all, I thought you had quite figured out everything about me upon our first meeting. I am a rake and a libertine, with little else to my character.”
“I did not have very much else to go off of.”
She rolled her eyes. “Would you prefer I continue to think that about you?”
He did not respond.
After a moment of staring at each other, she pulled away and continued busying herself with the food.
“Well,” Ian said, as they began to eat. “What is it you would like to know?”
She looked up at him, surprised. “I may ask anything at all?”
“That is a dangerous question,” he said, narrowing his eyes playfully, before giving her a decisive nod. “But yes. Anything at all.”
