Page 62 of The Duke of Fire
He looked shocked at himself. But his words could mean different things. It could mean he missed her, or it could mean he missed the game.
Amelia’s lips parted. The truth threatened to spill out of them. She had missed him so badly that her chest ached. However, she also had to deal with Octavia and Finch. Her torture was absolute. While she scrubbed shoes for Octavia until her palms turned red, what was the duke really doing?
Drinking? Looking for other women?
She could not tell him that, even when her body ached from all the hard work, she still thought of his voice and his hands on her. It was a sad affair, but it was what it was.
“You will not answer?” he growled. “I will find a way to make you break down and tell me all that you should be telling me.”
He stepped back slightly, and Amelia exhaled audibly. Was he giving up? No. He was not. He used the distance to look her up and down. And with a low, dangerous voice, he said, “On your knees.”
She must have heard him wrong.
“E-excuse me?” she asked, feeling paralyzed all of a sudden.
“Get on your hands and knees,” he repeated, each syllable drawn out. “On the floor. Right now.”
Even though Octavia ordered her like a servant, nobody had ever told her to act like this. She should refuse.But she heard something else in his tone. Desperation coated his voice, and she would do anything to soothe it.
I must be losing my mind.
It made her obey. Trembling while she slowly lowered herself to the floor, she could hear her pulse in her ears, too. Finally, she was on her hands and knees on the thick carpet. Her body naturally arched in her middle, her hips jutting upward. She felt exposed even though he had not approached her. He had not touched her yet, and it was making her body tremble with anticipation.
The duke then circled her. Even though she was not looking, she could feel his eyes on her as he assessed the woman he felt had broken the arrangement.
“You defied me,” he declared softly. “Do you think you can provoke me and then disappear?”
“I did not think you would care,” she murmured, even as her body flushed. Yes, her whole body flushed from the exposed pose and the way he was talking to her, as if caressing her with his voice, even though what he was saying should be considered contemptuous.
Amelia should be either angry or rolling in lust, or both, but she could not pretend to be indifferent.
“You are wrong.”
She shivered when she felt his breath on her nape. Her body felt like it would tremble violently when she realized he was now behind her. Desire pooled in her lower belly, but her pride reinedher in. So, she bit her lip to stifle a moan.
“I want you to understand that you can never disappear like that again,” he continued, his breath on her ear as his hand descended on her neck.
Amelia wondered why she did not feel any shame or fear. It might look that way, with her breathing hard as his large hand closed around her slender neck. His hand did not stay there. It lifted and hovered just above her waist. She wondered if he ever truly wanted to touch her, or if he just happened to have great restraint.
“Tell me, Miss Warton. Why did you stay away? Why did you let me feel like this? So undone?”
Her breath hitched. She no longer held it back. After all, she heard the raw edge and vulnerability of his words and actions.
“I-I did not want to want you,” she admitted, the confession sounding like both defeat and victory. “Not this much, or even at all. After what happened… It was all falling apart, and I knew I had to stay away. I believed that by staying away, the feeling would subside.”
“Did it?” Sebastian asked, as he exhaled. “Did staying away from me make this feeling subside?”
“No,” she groaned, as she shook her head. “It only made everything worse.”
There was silence. Heavy silence. He must have heard the same need from her. He circled her again until he was standing in front of her. Then, he kneeled on one knee, tilting her chin up so that she would meet his eyes.
“Good girl,” he said in that deep, low voice that made her shiver. “It took you too long, but you finally admitted it. However… you know that this is not over, right?”
Chapter 23
What was not over?
Her cheeks heated as she asked, “What do you mean it is not over?” A pause. Then, “Your Grace?”
