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God knew that he wanted to.

He wanted to do more than kiss her. He wanted to yank up her skirt and taste her and mark her with his teeth so she would no longer forget who she belonged to.

He went back to the refreshments table and poured himself some punch, even though he wanted something stronger to quell the lust roaring in his blood.

Damn. His wife was wrecking his carefully constructed self-control, and he didn’t like it one bit.

“Who would have thought that you would still move so well after being away for as long as you have,” a familiar voice said next to him.

He looked up to see an old schoolmate.

Victor Bradbury, the Duke of Heathonton, smiled as he walked up to him. He had his usual cronies around him, and frankly, Percival was in no mood for subtly barbed conversation.

“He had always been the best at dancing, don’t you remember, Victor?” Meryn Heathers, the Baron Winten, commented.

“I do remember.” Victor laughed. “It was how he nearly stole all the ladies from us.”

They laughed, drawing more attention to them.

The smell of varying colognes and hair products permeated the air, and all at once, Percival found it hard to breathe.

“You have found a perfect match in your wife,” David Stanton, the Viscount Keaton, piped up. “She moves just as well as you do.”

“I might invite you to tea at my manor the day after tomorrow,” Lord Winten added.

“I wanted to invite them to the opera house tomorrow,” Heathonton rebuffed. “You know I have the best seats.”

“You are so snobbish.” Lord Keaton laughed.

They were all having a jolly good time, unaware that Percival was struggling to draw breath. He wished Eli was with him to at least divert their attention elsewhere, but alas, the man was probably off mingling somewhere.

Just as the edges of his vision began to blur, he smelled the familiar scent of roses that dragged him back from the abyss.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” Louisa greeted.

“Good evening, Duchess,” Heathonton, ever the rake, greeted with a wolfish smile. “It is a pleasure to meet you. We were just talking about you. It’s a shame we had not been introduced before, or I would have married you.”

Louisa, ever graceful, dipped her head with a polite smile. “Indeed?” she asked. “I guess I’ll keep you as an option if my husband misbehaves.”

The men laughed, and Heathonton gave Percival an approving look.

Percival looked at his wife in a new light, wondering when she had become so confident.

“I’ll keep that as an option.” Heathonton grinned, winking at her.

She smiled back and nodded. “Would you mind if I borrowed my husband, gentlemen?”

“Not at all, Duchess.”

She took Percival’s arm and smiled at the men again before pulling him away to another end of the room.

“I’ve already bid my family and the hosts goodnight if you want to leave now,” she whispered.

He gave her a grateful look and a nod.

She smiled up at him, and they made for the door.

Percival waved to Eli when he caught his eye from across the room but hurried his steps, needing to be far away from the crowd as quickly as possible.