Page 44 of Her Duke By Accident
Lucy’s smile widened. “You’re a good teacher!”
As the music ended, Matthew spun his sister around, and the look of ease that overtook him brought an airy feeling to Alicia’s chest.
The pair bowed to each other.
Lucy clapped, jumping up and down in excitement.
“Now,” Alicia said, “that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“I thinkyouneed a little practice, Alicia,” Lucy teased, hands behind her back. There was a playful glint in her eyes. “Have you ever danced together before?”
Alicia gulped and glanced in the duke’s direction. “Well, no,” she replied with an embarrassed laugh, “but the circumstances?—”
“The circumstances prevented it,” Matthew interrupted. He avoided meeting her gaze.
“There aren’t any silly circumstances now,” Lucy said. “Have a dance!”
Alicia laughed nervously. “Don’t be silly, Lucy.”
“How is that silly?”
Matthew cleared his throat. “I was actually on my way to… ”
“To what?” Lucy snapped. “Boring duke things?”
He pressed his lips together, but remained silent.
Lucy held her hands up in a pleading way. “Please,” she begged. “I want to see arealdance.”
Alicia stepped forward. “If the duke does not?—”
“Fine,” Matthew interrupted again.
Shooting a look over at him, Alicia gaped, her heart pounding. “Your Grace.”
Matthew extended his hand. “Your Grace.”
The silence that overtook the room was one unlike before, one that was not bred from unease or anger. The seriousness in the duke’s gaze brought a heat to Alicia’s face, a blush that crawled up her neck and chin. She swallowed and surprised herself as she took his hand.
Miss Ayles, her lips parted in shock, slowly turned back to the pianoforte, her eyebrows bunched together in a furrow as she began to play the waltz.
Matthew pulled Alicia gently till she was closer to him, placing a firm hand on the small of her back while the other gripped her palm. She lifted her skirts on one side as he began to lead her around the room, her feet just gliding across the floor. And while Alicia had never considered herself to be a good dancer, none of it seemed to matter. Matthew led the way, and for the first time since their wedding, she felt as though she could trust his path, trust the strength that lay within his arms.
The music filled the room, and the world faded, leaving only them. Alicia’s head angled upwards towards the duke, her lips parting as she breathed unsteadily. He met her gaze, her dark eyes filled with a fiery intensity as he looked down at her.
At first, Matthew seemed to try and read her, his eyes traveling around her face inquisitively. But then his guard began to lower; his shoulders losing the tense arch they normally held. He licked his lips, and looked her in the face once more.
Alicia let herself smile at him, trying to give him the impression that everything was well. Not that he would be afraid, but rather that she was afraid of the moment ending and it all returning to what it had been. She did not want his ease to leave.
The duke tightened his grip around her waist, almost pulling her closer into his chest. Alicia trembled, her breath hitching in her throat at the tight embrace. She stared at his chest for a moment, unable to bring herself to lift her chin and see where his heavy gaze landed. But there was a curiosity, a need to know if he had the same intensity brewing within him as she did at his touch.
Alicia lifted her gaze, and Matthew flicked his eyes to her lips, his gaze lingering there for a moment longer than she anticipated. Warmth flooded her system, a burning blush climbing up her neck and chin.
They spun once more, and Alicia imagined there was not even a floor below them, but rather the sky, and they danced on nothing but air. Nothing else mattered, no anger or fear from before. Alicia even believed it would be like this for the rest of time until the music came to a stop.
The duke did not let go at first, even in the silence of the room. She could only hear their breathing, heavy and aligned, both of their chests rising and falling.
Licking her lips, Alicia never broke her stare, not wanting to go back to before. “I—” she tried, but there was nothing she could say, nothing she could do to keep them there like that.
