Page 78 of A Virgin for the Duke of Depravity
That hewantedher.
But that did not explain why he did not come to her last night. It did not explain his coldness today, just one day after their wedding. It did not explain why he did not kiss her at their wedding—the one tradition Margaret had been looking forward to.
“You did not kiss me at our wedding,” she said bluntly.
“Because I knew that if I touched you then, I would not be able to stop myself.” The words came out in a rush, and he finally looked at her.
When their eyes met, Margaret could feel him reaching for her without him lifting so much as a finger. There was a thread between them, connecting them without the need for touch. She did not know what it was or how it happened.
She leaned toward him, his pull drawing her in without telling her what to do. Her shoulder brushed his, and he started at the touch. She noticed that he did not pull away from her, though.
“Stop torturing me, wife.”
There was that word again, the one that she could not get enough of hearing from his lips.
At the thought of his lips, she looked down at his mouth, before her gaze flicked back to his. But his eyes were trained on her mouth, his face angled toward hers.
Margaret knew he wanted her, but would he let himself have her?
She leaned in further until there was only a hair’s breadth between them. She paused, allowing him to decide what to do. A bark of laughter escaped him, and she felt it against her lips.
“I hate that I cannot stay away from you,” he said, still not pulling back from her.
“Why would you want to?”
Margaret lifted her hand to his face. She stroked his cheek and felt his strong jaw. The muscle twitched where she touched him, but she noticed that he closed his eyes and melted into her touch.
For a moment, she gave him the space to speak as she traced his features. She ran her fingertips over his closed eyes, down the bridge of his nose, around the full lips that she was desperate to kiss.
“What happened to you?” She finally asked the one question that had been burning in her mind since their wedding. Maybe even long before that.
There had to be a reason that he could not give himself to her, could not let himself love her, could not let their marriage be as it should have been.
Leo opened his eyes. Margaret let her hands drop to her lap so that he could focus on what he wanted to say, but the word was simple on his lips. It took her by surprise when he said it.
“Love.”
CHAPTER 17
Margaret immediately withdrew her hand, and Leo instantly regretted his choice of words. She would think that he was in love with someone else, when nothing could be further from the truth.
He took a deep breath, knowing that he had to explain himself to her.
Leo had never told his story to anyone, never explained why he had gone to war. Instead, he allowed everyone to believe that it was his valiant honor that he wanted to uphold in combat.
Something painful pricked him in the chest as he readied a fuller explanation.
“I was not in love with anyone,” he clarified.
“And so you remain not in love,” Margaret said carefully. “This is not news to me. You have made it clear to me from the start.”
He did not fail to notice the crack in her voice. Oh, how badly he wanted to reach out and comfort her, knowing that it was not right.
But how could he possibly comfort her when he was the one thing she needed to be protected from?
“The girls’ mother…” He sighed, remembering the day when Augusta had barged into his chambers. “She tried to seduce me, but I rejected her advances. When I did, she told my brother thatIhad tried to seduce her.”
“She lied,” Margaret whispered.
