Page 105 of Bound By the Duke
She wanted to scream. To tell him to open his goddamn eyes. To remember how he had treated her, how he had worshipped herwith his mouth, how he had kissed her until she wept with need, only to shut her out again.
Couldn’t he read her? Couldn’t he see she was breaking?
But she said none of that. Instead, with a quivering chin and steady voice, she delivered only the truth. “Because I need to stay away from you.”
The words struck like arrows loosed in the silence.
They hung there, heavy and unmovable.
Percival didn’t move, and neither did she. They only stared at each other. Like two storms clashing in silence.
Her chest kept rising and falling with ragged breaths. His gaze narrowed, questioning and confused. Yet, beneath it all was something that made her knees weak.
Without a word, he took a step closer.
His boots clicked against the polished floor until he stood mere breaths from her. His height, his heat, his scent, caged her. They made her dizzy with want and fury.
“Stay away from me?” he echoed.
Aurelia’s mouth opened. For a heartbeat, nothing came out. She could barely breathe with him so close.
But then, with a shaky exhale, she gave the smallest nod.
She regretted it instantly. Because he knew what his nearness did to her. He saw the way her body quivered, the way her eyes betrayed the longing she tried so desperately to hide. His scent intoxicated her. His presence titillated her.
And that was what made her hate him. She hated the way she craved him, even when he pushed her away. She hated that he put her on edge. She hated that he left her yearning, starving.
She sucked in a breath, desperate to shield her thoughts. “I will be going now.”
Her words were final. Yet, when her eyes met his, she sent out a silent prayer.
Tell me to stay. Beg me. Anything. Don’t let me leave.
The words burned in her throat, but she swallowed them back.
The silence thickened, wrapping around them like suffocating smoke.
Aurelia’s courage faltered. She could only look into his piercing blue eyes, wishing, yearning, aching for him to do what he had never allowed himself to do—claim her.
But he didn’t.
Her breath came in shallow bursts, and her fists clenched at her sides.
And then he spoke, his voice low, quiet, rougher than she had ever heard it. “You need to stay away from me?”
He threw her words back at her, softer this time.
Her heart clenched. There was something different about his tone this time. It was less of a demand and more of a… plea.
But no, she wouldn’t let herself be fooled again.
“Yes.” Her voice trembled, yet she held her head high. “I do.”
For a heartbeat, she thought she saw something flicker in his eyes. Something raw. Something vulnerable. His hands twitched at his sides, as though he longed to reach for her, pull her against him, and crush his lips to hers.
But he stayed still.
His restraint was infuriating, and nothing was more torturous than his silence.
