Page 80 of A Duke Makes a Deal
For a fragile moment neither of them moved as her words sank in.
Silas’s finger dug into her arms as the meaning of her confession seemed to dawn on him.
“You think I would be unfaithful?” he grounded out in a guttural tone.
To Clara’s humiliation, tears formed in the corner of her eye. She tried to brush them away, but he held her.
“I don’t think you would mean to,” she tried. “But she has a power over you.”
“She does not.”
“She does, Silas,” Clara said. “And I am not asking for things you cannot give, but—”
“What word could that woman possibly give that could command me to do anything at all?” he said, his words angry. “She is nothing to me.”
If only that were true… but Clara knew it wasn’t. He had told her himself that he was incapable of loving her and Clara felt certain that it was because he still held Cynthia in his heart.
Pulling from him slowly, she put her hand to his chest.
“It’s all right,” she said through tears, cursing them. “I would just like it if you were careful.”
That didn’t seem to be the correct thing to say, as in the next moment, Silas pulled her fully against his hard body.
“Silas—”
But whatever she was going to say fell away as he kissed her. It was a rough, earnest sort of kiss, one that conveyed anger and need and desire all at once and Clara melted into his hold onher. She was surprised that a kiss could be so punishing and she wondered what she had done to deserve it.
Whatever she did, she found that she didn’t really care as she let herself fall in the familiar warmth that always enveloped her when he kissed her. Only a second later, he tore his mouth from hers and found her ear.
“There is no woman, no creature on this earth who could tempt me to be unfaithful to you,” he said. His hot, angry breath sent shivers down her shoulders.
Clara was desperate to believe his words, but for the two months that they had been married, she had seen how utterly consumed he still was by memories of his previous wife. She wanted to believe him and really, he had never shown any sort of signs that he would stoop to unfaithfulness, but having seen Cynthia and the reactions between the two, she just couldn’t help worrying. Clara had been accused of a lot of things: poor fashion, ill manners, a lack of respect for her betters, even reaching above her station. But she had never considered herself a fool. Would she be betraying her good sense by believing him?
She didn’t speak, unable to alleviate his anger because she wouldn’t lie to him. He seemed to read her feelings and his brow cinched together, forming a deeper set of vertical lines between his eyebrows.
“You don’t believe me?” he asked, half incredulous, half furious.
Clara opened her mouth to answer him, but Silas silenced her with his mouth. His kiss was filled with anger and determination and she felt herself break as he held her roughly, trying to convey his fury at her lack of faith.
Silas’s hands dug into her back as he lifted her body effortlessly and moved her back against the wardrobe door. Clara let out a huff of breath as he kissed her, consuming her with desperation. His mouth was all over her skin and she felthis hand tear at the front of her gown, breaking the fabric with ease.
“Silas!” she said, worried that he’d ruined her gown, but he would not be deterred.
Pulling the bodice of her gown down, Silas’s mouth covered her breasts with aggressive kisses, sucking and biting a path down to her nipple. Clara let out a painful cry, but much to her surprise, the hurt she felt wasn’t nearly as prominent as the ferocious pleasure that flooded her body.
Clara’s body shook and she felt herself become bold. She wanted to meet his desire in every respect. In an instant, her arms fought against the tight bands of steel of his arms and wrapped around his head as she held him tightly to her chest. Letting herself be taken by the basest of feelings, she clawed and tore at the fabric of his jacket as she kissed his forehead.
Encouraged by her reaction, Silas’s hands pushed at the fabric of her gown until it slipped past her hips, falling in a heap on the floor. Her chemise was torn, but that didn’t seem to register. One of his arms crushed around her waist, clutching her soft form to him while his other hand undid his ties.
Clara breathed in raggedly as his rough touch found the spot between her legs. She groaned as he moved his fingers within her, growling to discover that her body was wet and waiting. Shame might have filled Clara if she had given herself a moment to think, but in the next instant, Silas pushed her up and pulled her down on his hardness, impaling her against the wooden door of the wardrobe.
A curse tore from his mouth as he moved inside of her and Clara’s eyes closed as his mouth slid up her neck. She hissed as his tongue moved into her ear, causing a tremor to course through her body. He pushed his hardness deeper into her, far deeper than she believed he ever had and just as she was about to protest, he spoke.
“Take it.”
Clara’s heart slammed against her chest and her eyes flew open at his words. The biting tone of his command was amplified by his angry gaze and she kept her gaze intently on him, wordlessly accepting every bit of him.
A guttural sound came from him as he pumped into her, causing a ferocious feeling of pleasure to roll within her. Lord above, she wasn’t sure why his anger about the whole situation appealed to her so much, but she very much wanted to take in all the anger from his body. She was desperate to please him.
