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“M—me?” She moaned as his thighs tightened around her. “And what of you? You’re the one who?—”

“Careful now,” he continued, and she could feel him lean in closer, his lips brushing the back of her neck. “That sounds suspiciously like the beginnings of an argument.”

“You make it so easy to do…” Her body shook and she felt him poking into her buttocks. “Perhaps if you want…” More shaking. “… us to be more companionable, you ought to take a look at yourself.”

“And if I promise to treat you more kindly, will you do the same?” One hand on her waist, the other gripped her thigh now. “No more arguing. No more fighting. Peace and quiet.”

She did not answer. Her mind was in a dozen places. His breath and lips on her neck. His hand on her waist. His fingers digging into her thigh. Her body was quivering, and it was all she could do not to lean back as she so wanted, opening herself and letting him take her as he so clearly meant to do.

“Well?” he asked and his grip around her tightened further.

“I… I…” she moaned when the hand on her waist moved up and cupped around her breasts. His fingers pinched her nipple through the shift, sending a spark of pain right into her chest. Or was that pleasure? “I think I can…”

“Good girl,” the duke whispered, his lips finally finding her neck. And then, his hand moved from her breast to her throat once more. A soft grip, moving further up and finding her chin which he turned around so that she was facing him.

He did not speak after that. He did not need to. She could see in his eyes what he wanted, and despite what Caroline thought she knew about herself, in that moment, she wanted it too. He sat himself up and moved her face down to his lips, his mouth opening and then kissing her in ways that she had spent weeks dreaming about, a memory that had faded, now brought back to life in the most glorious of ways.

They kissed with passion. They kissed with fire. They kissed as if they were animals, a race to devour the other first. Lips mashed. Tongues lapped and wrestled. Caroline lost herself in that kiss, turning around more so that his other hand could find her breasts.

He did just that, taking it and squeezing it. He moaned and pulled back, she gasped, he then buried his head into her neck and began to suck roughly. The sensation drove her insane.

“Urgh...” she moaned as he licked and sucked at her neck. “What... what are we doing?” A final effort at protesting.

“I think you know.”

“I thought this was... a marriage of... convenience...”

“I…” He looked at her as if he didn’t understand what she said. “Of course it is.”

“Then what areyoudoing?”

Still, he looked confused. “You are my wife. I am your husband. It is our wedding night. I would have thought it was obvious?”

Until that moment, Caroline had been so close to giving in. How unexpected his sudden appearance had been. How quick he had been to take her. In her mind, it had almost been as if the moment had happened through pure lust and desire. The duke had been in his room thinking about her, unable to control himself,wantingher as she wanted him. They both knew it was wrong to do but they could not help it!

Perhaps it wasn’t the best of excuses, but Caroline had known how weak she felt around the duke, and for a few seconds there, she was almost able to believe that this was akin to some sort of accident…

But the spell cracked and shattered as soon as he spoke. Caroline remembered suddenly what she had been promised, what was expected, and what she told herself that she wanted. Certainly not this!

“No!” she cried out, pushing herself back with such force that she tumbled over and landed heavily on the floor. But she was quickly back to her feet, scurrying up and taking a hasty few steps backwards, expecting the duke to chase her.

He did no such thing.

He remained on the couch, a confused look on his face that suggested he had no idea what had gotten into her. As if he could not comprehend why she was behaving in this way.

“No,” she said again. Her body was flushed, her breathing wild and heavy, and her mind was still back in that chair. It was all she could do to keep herself calm. “I saidno.”

“And I heard you,” he said. “I just don’t understand what it means.”

“The word no?” she said. “You do not know what?—”

“I know what the word no means,” he spoke over her. “I just do not know why you are saying it. Or why you are behaving this way.”

“This is...” More heavy breathing. “This is not what was promised.”

“Promised?”

“A marriage of convenience!” she cried out, more to dispel the emotion that flooded her than anything else. “You promised that this would be a marriage of convenience!”