Page 25 of The Wayward Duke
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The clock ticked out the minutes as Julian waited at the foot of the grand staircase. He adjusted and readjusted the silver cufflinks at his wrists, focusing on the repetitive motion to calm the sudden restlessness that had taken hold. It had been hours since he’d posed naked for Caroline, but his body still hummed with nervous energy.
He could not forget her fixed focus as she’d sketched him. The way her eyes had lingered on him with such intense concentration, as if he were the only other person in existence. She’d looked at him like that when they were young and still learning each other’s bodies. When the press of skin on skin was art to them.
He shoved the memories away and focused on steadying his breaths. Listened for the telltale swish of silk that would herald Caroline’s approach.
When she appeared, it stole the air from his lungs. The muted light gilded her pale hair and her ice-blue silk gown made her glow. No jewels adorned her save the simple gold band of her wedding ring.
God, but you look breathtaking tonight. I can hardly breathe for wanting you.
Even with her face schooled into politeness, he could read the lingering tension in her slender frame. As she descended, her skirts sighed against the marble steps in a susurrus that scraped over Julian’s senses and left them raw. He thought of fisting those silken skirts in his hands, dragging them up to bare her legs, revealing whether she still wore stockings and garters beneath. Pleasuring her again until she gave him answers.
He wanted to peel back her armour.
Julian dragged his gaze upwards. “The carriage is waiting.”
Too brusque. Caroline’s resulting flinch behind her polished smile cut straight through his ribs.
Outside, he handed her into the carriage and tried again while the footmen secured the door.
“You look beautiful.” The words emerged rough around the edges.
Caroline blinked, her cheeks colouring. “As do you. The evening kit suits you.”
Soft words rotting like carrion on the ground at their feet. He’d thought her softening – after Lady Fairfax’s party, after their code-breaking – and he’d moved too fast.
And now he didn’t know how to reach through the walls she’d erected around her heart.
So he held his silence during the ride as rain-slicked streets blurred past fogged windows. Tried not to notice how she shivered whenever their knees accidentally brushed in the confines of the carriage. How she worried her bottom lip between her teeth. Until he had to curl his hands into fists to resist the urge to kiss away the sting.
The discordant chatter hit his ears as soon as the carriage rolled to a halt outside the theatre. Julian stepped down into the glittering crush and turned to offer her his hand.
“I can practically hear your teeth chattering,” he told Caroline in an undertone. “Relax, or they’ll scent blood.”
She slanted him a sly look, allowing him to help her down the steps. “What if I shatter a few champagne flutes out of spite?”
His mouth tilted up at one corner. “Be sure to let me know so I can position myself out of glass range.” As they crossed the threshold, Julian splayed his fingers at the small of her back, an unrepentantly possessive touch allowed by the performance she’d asked.
Only it wasn’t a performance for him.
“I’d heard they reconciled, but I didn’t believe it…”
“… heard he left her after the wedding and stayed away…”
Even here, he was attuned to her. To the stiffening of her spine as judgemental gazes crawled over them both, picking at old wounds. He longed to shelter her from their scrutiny, hide her away someplace only he could find her.
Instead, Julian nodded politely to acquaintances, ignoring their hushed speculation. He channelled arrogant disinterest as if he hadn’t spent the last eight years longing for this woman now on his arm.
“I’d hoped Lady Fairfax’s party would make this gossip stale.” Caroline kept her voice low, but he heard the bitter edge sharpening each word. “Didn’t their governesses teach them manners?”
His hand flexed against her back. “I think our appearance fuelled speculation on the precise nature of our estrangement.” Julian guided her up the grand staircase towards the private boxes. “We’re the most interesting gossip they’ve had in months, and it’s killing them not to have answers. Does it help if I glower at them?”
“Immensely.” A reluctant smile tugged at her lips. “Please scare Lord Ponsonby. I believe I heard him whisper earlier that you tried to ravish me during archery.”
Julian narrowed his eyes at the young lord until the man blanched and scurried away.
“Much better,” Caroline said in amusement. “Thank you.”
