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His tongue wet his lips as he faced her, his other hand coming up to encircle her arm.

“I love you, my Duchess. I am sorry to have kept you waiting all this time. I did not know how to be worthy of your light, and in my uncertainty, I have caused you pain.”

He stepped forward until their bodies were pressed against one another. Alicia’s fingers still clutched the bandages, and he looked down, removing them from her grip and discarding them on the table before pulling her against him.

His gaze was black as pitch in the candlelight, and there was such need in it that it made her heart stutter.

“I do not think I will ever be worthy of you. I do not think my darkness will ever be completely banished, but it can only be chased away by having you in my life. It does not matter if I deserve you or not—I have decided that you are mine either way.”

“I am yours?” she breathed, her heart soaring as a bubble of joy rose in her breast and burst.

“You are entirely mine, my Duchess. No one else will ever claim you as I will tonight.”

She shuddered as he pushed her against the bedpost, even as she tried to escape his arms.

“You are injured! You cannot claim me tonight—this is madness.”

Seth’s lips quirked up. “Do you really think that I will wait another second to feel you around me, Duchess? I have been driven mad with need, and I will not delay any longer.”

Alicia melted against the bedpost as he pushed his body against hers, and his arms came around her.

“Will you let me have you tonight?” he asked, his lips hovering over her neck. “I have dreamed of that night at the opera. But in the dream, I am thrusting into you, making you scream so loud that the entire world knows who you belong to.”

She trembled, his words setting her skin alight with need.

“Take me,” she whispered.

Seth pulled back and stared at her as he gripped her arms and pushed her down onto the bed.

CHAPTER 36

Alicia lay beneath him, his naked chest a glorious sight in the candlelight flickering beside him.

His eyes roamed over her before he leaned down and flipped her onto her stomach.

She let out a low moan as he ripped her dress off her shoulders, and she tried to turn back to scold him.

“My gown!” she cried, even as he tugged it down, revealing her undergarments and petticoats.

“I thought you were a seamstress, wife of mine. I look forward to seeing you create something with this gown another day, but now I have waited long enough.”

He tugged at the laces securing her corset, tearing it apart as she shivered beneath him.

Seth was wasting no time this evening, and in moments she was divested of her petticoats, corset, and drawers and lay naked beneath him. He stared at her, entranced.

“I am going to ruin you tonight, Duchess. I shall make you come apart for me, command you in every way, just as you command my heart.”

Her breathing was stertorous and rapid as he skimmed the back of his fingers over her stomach and up over the swell of her breasts. His dark eyes met hers as he planted a knee on the mattress beside her.

“You know, Duchess, I have been thinking of nothing but this since you first joined me in the gardens in that ridiculous dress.”

Alicia sucked in a breath as his hands rested above her shoulders, his body hovering over her.

“I could think of nothing but your figure that day. I was angry with you for making me lust after you so hard. I went to my chambers and jerked off, picturing you stripping down just like this. I wanted to take you right then and there.”

He lowered his hips, grinding them against her, and she shuddered as she felt the hard evidence of how much he wanted her between her legs.

“What will you allow me to do to you, Duchess?” he mused. “Perhaps when we were together in the theatre, you would have allowed me liberties.”