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His eyes lingered on her lips, and the hunger she saw in them had her wanting to lean forward, had her hands itching to reach out and grab him and pull him to her… But he was the predator, and she was the prey, and she knew that the next move was his to make.

Their anger brought out a burning passion in both of them. That was what Selina was starting to realize. Oh, she might hate him, and he might hate her, but it was in that hate, that antipathy, that they had found something else.

And that something else… it was felt in their stare… it was felt in the way their bodies shook… it was felt in the way their moist lips inched closer and closer until Selina was forced to hold her breath because she knew exactly what was about to?—

The carriage came to a sudden halt, sending Benedict tumbling back onto his seat.

“We’re here!” the footman called from the driver’s seat. “Your Grace! We have arrived!”

And just like that, the tension was broken, and not a moment too soon. Although seeing as they were staying at an inn for the night, in the middle of nowhere, on their wedding night, Selina got the distinct impression that what had started just now in the carriage was a long way from being over.

It promised to be a very long night, indeed.

Chapter Four

“This will be our room for the night,” the Duke said with a simple hand gesture. “I hope it will suffice.”

Selina hesitated as she looked the room over, registering Benedict’s words and what they meant. Her gaze shifted from the modestly sized room to her husband, who stood by the open door.

“Our room?”

“That is what I said.”

“I did not think—I mean, I expected that we might…” She felt herself flush. “I assumed that we would be sleeping separately.”

Benedict studied her, his expression vacillating between amusement and confusion. No doubt he could see how uncomfortable she was. “That would not be proper. Although this marriage is far from normal, certain expectations come with it.”

She swallowed, her mind now racing… the implication of that word.“Expectations?”

“I expressed earlier my desire to avoid a scandal or to give anyone a reason to gossip about our marriage beyond the usual. If it was found out that we did not share a room on our wedding night, I do not doubt that word would spread, and this marriage would be for naught.”

“Oh…” Still, her body ran hot, and she could feel the color reaching her face. “So, we are just to share the room? That is what you meant?”

“What else would I mean?”

Was he toying with her? Was he purposefully trying to make her feel uncomfortable?He must be. No doubt Benedict was aware of the implication of sharing a room, and yet he was either too slow to pick up her meaning or he was having far too much fun with it.

“Nothing,” she said dismissively. “I am just making sure.”

They stood in the doorway, and she could feel his eyes on her. Studying her. Watching her closely. He was just so big, his presence making the room beyond look miniature by comparison. And as he stood over her, she could not help but remember that moment they had just shared in the carriage.

It should have terrified her. It should have made her demand a room of her own. But her eyes flicked to the bed, and she wondered how it would feel if those powerful arms of his lifted her, tossed her onto the mattress, and then had their way with her.

“I have arranged supper,” he continued as if he could not see how undone she had become. “It will be served shortly downstairs.” He turned to leave.

“Where are you going?”

“To see to its preparation,” he replied as if it was obvious. “And to confirm that we will have a separate room to dine in. It would be inappropriate if we were forced to dine with the other customers.”

“R-Right. Yes. I will be down short—” She did not even have time to finish what she was saying before he strode away.

Selina watched him go, struggling to reckon with how she felt about him.

On the one hand, she was committed to her desire to hate him, because certainly he had earned it. Rude, temperamental, hostile—there was nothing good about him, and it only confirmed how horrid this marriage promised to be.

Yet, on the other hand, she felt a tingling in her thighs that worked its way up her body whenever she chose to remember that moment in the carriage. It should have terrified her. It should have made her scream for help. But for reasons that she could not fathom, she wanted to experience it again.

A quick glance at their room for the night, the knowledge that they would be sharing a bed, and Selina got the sense that she might experience it again sooner rather than later. And when that thought struck her, she worked to suppress her smile as she hurried to ready herself for supper.