Page 19 of A Duke's Scandalous Obsession
She had been caught in this trap, so cleverly set up, and she had to comply. Otherwise, her brother might lose everything, his family, his hopes and dreams, his reputation. She couldn’tallow that to happen. Not when she could make it all go away just by marrying the man standing before her. However, that was a sacrifice beyond any she believed she would ever need to undertake.
Without thinking, she rushed after him and grabbed him by the hand.
“Stop!” she gasped breathlessly, as if she had been running. “Stop… I’ll marry you…”
***
At first, Dominic didn’t think he heard her right. He wanted to have her say it again, but he knew that would be ungentlemanly. So were a few other things he had done along the way, but finally, he obtained his goal.
Lady Catherine had agreed to be his wife. Whatever the means for it were, he would make sure that she would fall in love with him… eventually. There was no room for any mistakes there. He would be successful in making her his in every way possible.
Fueled by the intensity of their confrontation and the passion he had been keeping subdued, he found himself unable to resist the magnetic pull drawing him towards the woman who was standing before him, with her hand on his arm. The touch was thrilling. Her fingers were digging into his skin, almost as if sherefused to let him go. It awakened fervent desire in him, and he felt that he was seeing her in a new light.
In a moment of unbridled fervor, he seized her shoulders with a firm grip, pulling her close to him. Instantly, their lips collided, and their kiss ignited like a tempest, a collision of opposing forces merging into a singular, flowing, fiery connection. At first, she did not respond. Her lips remained soft and motionless while his commanded and asserted dominance over her.
A moment later, her fingers curled around his face, down his neck and raking through his hair. Despite her initial anger, he felt her melting into their kiss, both of them becoming entangled in this storm of conflicting emotions. He knew that she wanted this kiss as much as he did. Although it was born out of a turbulent moment, it became a fusion of raw, unspoken emotions and deep longing.
He kept her even close, feeling the outline of her body underneath his palms and fingers. She emanated heat, warming him up, creating friction inside of his skin he could not control. Everything about her was tantalizing, the way she smelled, the way she tasted, the way she melted into his arms as if she had not just refused him moments ago.
Unexpectedly, Catherine ripped her lips away from his, breaking the magic of the moment. It was as if she regained control of her senses, refusing to be swept away by him. The thought amused him. He would need to try much harder than that, but he counted this as one of his won battles. She had kissed him back.She could not deny that no matter how hard she would most certainly try.
Undeterred by her forceful resistance, he met her gaze with a calm, yet enigmatic smile. His confidence spoke of a man who understood the intricacies of courtship and pursuit, so he was not swayed in his determination to make her fall for him. He thought she would say something, but what was there to say, that the kiss had not already said?
“I knew you would eventually see reason, my dear,” he said, loving how her nostrils flared up at being referred to in such a manner. He made a mental note to come up with more pet names for her, just to see that flush of redness on her cheek, which seemed to make her even more lovely, even more desirable.
“I see no reason,” she fumed, her cheeks blossoming into a poppy red. “Only a madman I am supposed to marry.”
“A madman who will make your everyday a parade, trust me,” he teased her. “Now, as for our marriage, you may arrange everything to your liking. I have no preferences either way. My only condition is to have it within a month.”
“A month?” she gasped.
“Yes, a month,” he confirmed calmly.
Now that he knew she had to comply, he wanted the whole arrangement to be brought to a satisfactory end as soon as possible. He would be officially married, and to a fine lady, nonetheless.
He added quickly. “Everything else is up to you, the flower arrangements, the guest list, the time, whatever satisfies you.”
“No marriage would satisfy me the most,” she pouted. “But seeing that is not an option, you may arrange everything yourself then. And don’t expect me to wear a pretty gown either. I do not wish to be pretty for you.”
He had to chuckle out loud. That was so sweet that he felt a desire to pinch her pink cheeks. She was like a naughty child, being rebellious when it knew that nothing it said would make any change, but it still believed it would.
“You can wear whatever you want, my dear,” he said as he headed towards the door. His hand lingered on the doorknob. As he exited, he added only a few words more. “You would look ravishing in a beggar’s rags.”
Chapter 10
“What happened? Is everything alright?” Reginald appeared the very moment the duke left, and Catherine was still under theimpression of everything that had happened. She barely heard his voice as it found its way to her through the heavy mist of her own shock and suspicions.
Her mind raced with the implications of her upcoming marriage that was to take place in only a single month, but the kiss was her true source of concern. She couldn’t believe that she had given into him so easily. Ugh, that smug man made her so furious! But she was even more furious with herself. Had she no shame? Had she no dignity? Kissing hat scoundrel like that, goodness!
“The duke knows everything, Reginald,” she said quietly, her voice down to a whisper as she closed the drawing-room door. They trusted their loyal staff completely, but she felt safer with the doors closed, although the idea seemed preposterous at that moment. The one secret they had to keep hidden from the rest of the world had found its way out and no amount of closed doors would change that.
“Everything?” Reginald echoed, with tiny bits of hope still hanging by a thread.
“Your relationship with Annabel, your daughter Rose, the fact that you are seeing a married woman—”
“Who has been trying to find that scoundrel of a husband so she can divorce him!” he interrupted and instantly, she could hear rage inside of his voice erupt. She knew how sensitive this topicwas for him, that he had done everything in his power to find Annabel’s husband and sort everything out, but to no avail.
“That wretch knows that I will break every bone in his body for leaving her destitute and without a penny to her name, while he ran off with that other woman he found!”
