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Duncan shook his head at the comment but even he could not help but smile, as he recognized the voice immediately. Having been caught eyeing his wife across the ball room, he turned around and put his back purposefully to her. If for no other reason than to try and keep her from the fore of his thoughts for a few peaceful minutes.

“Richard,” he greeted his good friend, Lord Deveraux. “I was wondering where you had gotten to.”

“Just basking in the glory of this most beautiful day,” Richard said simply, no sense that he was joking or even exaggerating.

Duncan groaned. “I had wondered whether to invite you, Richard. Now, I am beginning to think that I made a tragic mistake.”

“The only mistake that I can see is that you are not with your gorgeous wife right now, arm in arm, refusing to be parted for even a moment because such an experience might kill you both.”

And for a second time in as many moments, Duncan groaned.

Richard was an old friend of his, perhaps one of his closest friends to boot. A tad too serious at times, little humor in the man, he was kind where Duncan wasn’t, understanding and compassionate, and existing of infinite patience. Really, he was the perfect foil to Duncan’s more hostile and short-tempered sensibilities.

He was also recently married and, from what Duncan had been told time and time again, loving every minute of it.

“Which begs the question,” Richard continued. “Why are you not with that dear thing right now?” He indicated over Duncan’s shoulder. “She has not been able to stop looking at you all day.”

Maybe she is hoping that if she glares at me for long enough, I might just catch fire.

“There is no rush,” Duncan assured him. “We have the rest of our lives to spend together.”

“It sounds like a long time, but far from it...” Richard’s eyes turned dreamy. “And I can guarantee that in years to come you are going to regret not having spent as much time as possible with the woman you hold so dear. For example...” He pumped his eyebrows again and indicated for a second time over Duncan’s shoulder.

If the circumstances were different, Duncan might have taken his friend’s cue and gone to stand with his wife. At the very least, the sake of appearances demanded it! But things simply weren’t that easy.

And you have only yourself to blame.

Duncan had made a grave mistake the last time the two had been alone together. He had let his emotions get the better of him, succumbing to urges which now bubbled beneath the surface whenever he thought of or even looked at his wife.

He dared a glance over his shoulder and their eyes met. In them, he could see the hate that she bore for him, the rebellion! It had his pulse quickening in a way that made him want to storm over there right now, take her by the arm, drag her upstairs and remind her that he was not to be looked at like that again!

If only things were so easy as that.

Duncan loved dominating his sexual partners in such a way. And he loved it when they fought against him, stoked his anger, letting him then bear it upon them. But he only enjoyed it if they wanted it to. If they took the same pleasure in being controlled as he took in controlling them.

He did not want to force himself on his wife. He did not want her to be scared of him. And for that reason, he thought it best to avoid her until he could figure out what he was going to do about his insatiable appetite.

Perhaps I will get lucky, and she will not do anything too rambunctious that she knows will bring me to anger. Although that seems unlikely...

"Let me ask you a question,” Duncan began as his mind worked toward a way to solve this problem. “You and your wife, was it always so easy?”

Richard frowned. “How do you mean?”

“I have seen the two of you together, Richard, and I cannot think of a single time where you have so much as raised your voice at her. Or where she might have warranted such a thing.”

He chuckled. “Such is the way of my marriage. I confess, that woman has me wrapped around her finger.”

“And what if she was to...” He clicked his tongue. “How do you manage to keep her so sedated? So calm and content? Surely, there are times that the two of you fight.”

Richard’s brow furrowed. “There have been times where she has been annoyed by me, if that is your meaning. But that is only natural! All part of marriage.”

“Yes, but how do you diffuse the tension?” He dared another glance at his wife, still glaring at him. “How do you bring her to calm if she is being particularly bothersome?”

“Oh, that is easy,” Richard shrugged. “Women are not so complex, you know? Even if we pretend otherwise. The best method I find for calming a woman’s anger is a simple compliment.”

“A compliment...” Duncan repeated the word as if hearing it for the first time.”

“Tell her how gorgeous she is. How entrancing. In fact, as strange as it might sound, many women prefer compliments not to do with just their physical appearance. Something as obvious as admitting that she is right or telling her that she is funny will go a long way.”