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“Excuse me?” There was a soft knock at the door. “Your Grace?”

Henry spun about just in time to see it open, Charlotte’s head poking around the edge as she pushed it further and stepped inside. It took her a moment to realize what she had done, her dark eyes running over his half-naked body, only for them to widen and her mouth to hang open slightly.

“Oh!” She half moved to leave, her eyes flicking from him to the room and back to him… his naked torso. “I’m so sorry, I should have… I did not realize… I thought to see if you were coming to supper.”

“Supper?” Henry asked, deciding not to cover himself.

Despite how childish it was, he enjoyed how uncomfortable she had become, the way she flushed whenever she caught sight of his half-naked body.

“Y-yes,” she stammered, still not looking at him. “You said…” She swallowed and forced herself to meet his eyes. “You said we’d eat together every night, remember? It was one of your rules,” she finished flatly.

“What are you—oh! Yes, of course.” He half moved as if to join her, only to remember that not only did he have no shirt on, but that he’d also retreated to his room because he meant to avoid her. “Although, I was thinking, for tonight at least, seeing as we’ve already eaten, perhaps we can skip it.”

“Skip it?” She blinked. “That’s… are you sure?”

“That’s what I said,” he snapped before he could help himself. She winced, and he sucked through his teeth. “You must be tired. There will be plenty of time to sup together, I assure you.”

“If you say so.” She nodded, almost looking disappointed. But surely, that couldn’t be it?

When Henry had decided that it would be in his best interest to wed, what he had imagined was a wife with whom he could live amicably. A friend, perhaps. Someone whom he got along with but had no intention of taking to bed. He had friends who had found themselves in similar circumstances, so why shouldn’t he have the same?

The carriage ride earlier had changed everything.

There was more to Charlotte than he had realized. While she wasn’t as outgoing and as independent as her sister was said to be, she wasn’t shy or afraid to speak her mind either. She had a temper, he could see, a stubbornness that he could see himself clashing with. What was more, although she agreed to his requests, he sensed that she wasn’t the type who would simply let him live the way he had grown accustomed to, and sooner or later, she was going to want to know where he was going and who he was seeing in his spare time.

He foresaw many an argument breaking out between them. Plenty of bickering. And although he might have been getting ahead of himself, being the type of man that he was, he was only too aware of where such things often led.

Even now, standing shirtless in his bedroom, he could sense the way she was eyeing him. A more timid creature might panic and leave the room, so he could change, yet there she stood, happy to gawk at his shirtless body… The slightest of smiles spread up the side of her face.

“Is there anything else?” he demanded hotly, feeling a need to assert himself suddenly.

That seemed to snap Charlotte back into the room. She tore her eyes off his naked torso, and her expression hardened. “Yes, actually. Concerning my room.”

“Did the staff not show you where you will be sleeping?”

“They did,” she said, her tone sharp. “Only…” She hesitated. Bit her lip. Looked away and seemed to have a silent argument with herself before finding her bravery. “You mentioned earlier in the carriage that… that as well as having supper each night, I would have to…” Her cheeks were bright red, and she could not have looked more nervous. “That I would have to perform my…” She swallowed. “Wifely duties,” she then finished, her tone soft.

Henry almost laughed, such was his shock. Again, she surprised him! Of all the things to bring up, she had mentioned that! He would never have expected it of her. Did she want him? Was that it? Or was she just being a good wife, as he had wanted in the first place?

She stood in the doorway, seemingly frozen to the spot. Forcing herself to meet his eyes, determined not to glance at his torso, she was as frightened as a lamb. But she didn’t retreat either, which made the situation all the more interesting. He supposed he couldn’t blame her for asking. He had been insistent on the fact. And in that, again feeling a need to remind himself of where he stood and where she stood, Henry decided to have some fun…

“Oh, yes, your wifely duties…” he growled deeply as he started toward her. “I nearly forgot.”

“We don’t have?—”

“No, no,” he said as he reached her, keeping his distance by just a few inches, getting close enough that he could smell her. That he could feel her breathing. “You brought it up.” He walked around her as if to observe her body. She stiffened as he ran a hand lightly over her waist, grazing it gently. “Which makes me assume that you’ve been thinking of it ever since I mentioned it.”

“I certainly have not!”

He stepped in front of her. She was taller than most women he knew but still only came as high as his chin. He was a giant before her, his wider frame dominating hers in a way that he liked a little too much. She tried to look away, so he rested a finger beneath her chin and forced her to look at him. The second he did, he knew he’d made a mistake.

She was stunning. That wasn’t a surprise, as he’d decided this about her the first time they’d met. But up this close, their bodies touching, their breathing as one, her dark eyes looking into his… she was nervous, he could see. But she was also excited. There was a fire behind her eyes, a sense of want as he matched her stare, his finger still held just beneath her chin. His other hand moved to her waist as if of its own accord, gripping it tightly, relishing the curves of her body in a way he knew was wrong.

He had no intention of sleeping with her. That wasn’t what Henry had meant by wifely duties. But now that they were this close, that he could feel her breath on his lips, Henry could barely keep himself from leaning in, hearing her breathing hitch as she prepared for his lips to meet hers. She licked them hungrily, waiting for him to close those final few inches…

And that was when Henry pulled away. He dropped his hands. He stepped back. He forced a cocky smirk on his face so that she would see that he was the one who had denied her. A silly thing, but… well, he needed to remind her who was in control here.

“I think there’s been a slight misunderstanding,” he said.