Page 7 of A Duchess to Reclaim (The Devil’s Masquerade #2)

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Y ou thought I would not find out?” Dominic asked.

Before him Mr. Morbate, Mrs. Morbate, Ada, and Eve stood silent, heads bowed, hands behind their back. The tension in the house had been thick since he’d arrived the night before with Amelia. Their eyes had grown as wide as saucers as they saw him stride back through the doors of Ellsworth manor; their faces growing several shades of white as he walked silently past all of them.

Trouble. They knew they were in trouble.

“How did she get to you?” Dominic asked, looking at each of their faces as he walked down the line.

“Was it money? Because her money is my money. Was it coercion? Because I taught you better than that. I have trained you all personally and know what you can withstand. Your wills are adamant because I have made them so. So tell me. How did she get you to betray me?”

Mrs. Morbate lifted her chin up high, letting out a sigh as she shook her head and made a signal with her hands.

“You most certainly did betray me, Mrs. Morbate,” Dominic retorted. He didn’t need Ada to translate. He knew the woman better than she ever would.

“If we did so it was not intentional, Your Grace,” Ada spoke, raising her head now too. “The Duchess in many ways is much like you. Her will is iron. She spoke so surely that we assumed you’d known.”

Dominic narrowed his eyes. Amelia? Like him? Hardly.

“You were fooled,” he stated. “All of you. And in being so have made me vulnerable. I have worked diligently to keep the name of this house clean despite my double life and have been successful for nigh on a decade. Thanks to your silence that is all now in jeopardy. Word is spreading that my wife has been spotted with nefarious company; making me out to look as a cuckold.”

“She does not treat you as a cuckold, Your Grace,” Eve spoke boldly, surprising him.

“Her Grace speaks of you with great reverence to the estate’s lawyers and accountants, always. Any dignitaries she has hosted have heard nothing but tales of glory regarding you, I assure you.”

“If we were concerned about her behaviors we would have let you know immediately,” Ada spoke up, “But she has handled her- your reputation with utmost care. We knew about the parties, yes, but she has everything proper to keep her identity secret.”

Their words took Dominic aback. Relations had stayed strong with his local associates while he’d been away. He had assumed that Amelia did have something to do with that. But if she was not the one making mistakes, how had she been discovered at the parties?

Had she let her guard down with one of her paramours? Had she let her heart grow a little too fond of a sensual stranger and let something slip?

His mood darkened at the thought, and again, that black wisp of jealousy he wasn’t used to curled around him like smoke.

“Now that I am back there will be no choosing of favorites,” he grit out. “You will obey my commands and mine only. I am the Master of this house. Do you understand?”

The four of them nodded, bowing to him.

“Go,” he said, waving a dismissive hand. “Get back to work. Except for you, Mr. Morbate. You stay.”

The three women left in a hurry without a word as the butler remained in place.

“You really didn’t think to tell me of my wife’s dealings?” He asked when they were alone.

Mr. Morbate bowed his head respectfully.

“She truly is a fierce woman, Your Grace. We truly did not know that she was acting without your permission.”

Dominic let out a long breath through his nostrils, rubbed his temples.

“I want you to send Parker, Billy, and Felix into London tonight. Find out what else is being said about my wife. The usual places. White’s. The salons. I want names.”

And vengeance.

“Of course, Your Grace,” Mr. Morbate replied, bowing deeply.

Dominic waved his hand in dismissal and Mr. Morbate headed toward the office door. Just as he was about to leave he turned back to Dominic.

“If I may say, Your Grace. It is good to have you home again.”

Dominic flicked a glance toward the butler, and his temper dampened as he saw the utter devotion in the man’s eyes. Suddenly it was very clear that his loyal servants truly hadn’t meant to disappoint him.

“Thank you, Mr. Morbate,” he sighed.

Left alone, Dominic began to look over the papers his accountants had sent him. After seeing Amelia in that black dress last night, he’d expected to see large expenses from the local dressmakers and jewelers. He spotted a few, but what drew his attention more was to money spent on builders, their supplies, and new furniture. And… statues?

A sum here for an architect. Another for a designer. Several for builders and quite a bit for construction supplies. He’d been so angry when he’d gotten home last night, he hadn’t glanced at the house.

Another secret kept from me, he fumed silently.

Deciding he needed to see what sort of changes had been going on in his own house, Dominic left his office and went to go investigate. At first he noted nothing. The halls and most rooms appearing the same. But as he stepped into the foyer; his brows flew up in surprise.

“What in heaven’s name?” He muttered, slowly circling around the vast room. How did I not notice this last night? Because his rage and arousal had clouded his vision, that’s why. By the time he’d left the carriage and Amelia with her scintillating new appearance; his arousal had intertwined with his rage and had left him in a most frustrating state.

Several large, artfully carved marble statues now stood in the foyer; all of which depicted the beautiful form of the naked human body. None debaucherous or crude, but instead in elegant, slightly sensual poses. And the eyes. The stone eyes conveyed so much it caused something to stir within him. There was longing. Ache. A need to be understood.

He walked slowly around each one, wondering how the delegates that had visited his house while he was gone had felt about them. He noticed the windows next. Large, delicate and transparent light purple curtains had been hung upon the open portals; creating a strange yet somehow fitting contract between them and the dark grey stone walls.

He walked into the parlor next and found more of the same. The space was by no means cluttered and had still had that bare, organized look he liked so much. But some of the black chairs and couches had been replaced with the purple couches in the same shade as the curtains in the foyer and adjoining halls; bringing light into the otherwise dark rooms.

On and on he went through the house, finding similar changes in the library, the ballroom, and second parlor. His dark fixtures had all remained, but now they were stained with a splash of that purple light.

Just as he was about to leave the second parlor and head back to his office, he heard a racket of noise from outside the terrace doors, followed by Amelia’s voice. Not taking a moment to think, Dominic opened the doors and stepped outside. He was confronted by the sight of a large, bare, octagonal structure that no doubt stretched from the second parlor’s terrace to the one that led off the library.

Several men were pounding away at the tall beams of the structure, following Amelia’s instructions as if they were law. Dominic noticed the look of hunger in their eyes as they took glimpses of her; as if even an angry shout sated some desire in him.

The edges of his vision grew red as he focused his gaze on his wife, and strode toward her. She was out of that scintillating black dress from the night before, but the light purple one she wore now still showed off the spectacular curves and assets of her feature. Her dark brown hair was down, curling and brushing against her lower back as a gentle breeze flowed through it.

“And what in God’s name is this monstrosity?” He demanded, walking right up to her.

Her honey-brown eyes turned from the workers to him, and she looked him up and down with amusement; only serving to further frustrate him.

“It is not a monstrosity,” she sweetly. “It is an aviary.”

He flexed his jaw.

“A what?”

“It is a giant birdcage.”

“I know what an aviary is, Amelia,” he growled back, “What I don’t know is why you’re building such a thing.”

Amelia let loose a sigh, as if unfazed by the hardness in his voice.

“I have grown a fondness for birds. Lady Violet Walldrake brings her macaw with her when she and her husband come to do business and it is the most colorful, wonderful thing. So I decided I shall have my own.”

He waved a hand around the large structure.

“All this for one bird?” He barked.

She laughed. Laughed at him.

“Oh goodness no,” she replied, turning her eyes back to the structure forming around them. “I shall have a dozen at least. Several different sorts of macaws. Perhaps some African Greys. And it must be large for I have no intention of clipping their wings.”

“You’ve gone insane,” he stated, shaking his head. “I thought leaving you to your devices would sprout some sort of shopping addiction or perhaps turn you into a hermit. But this is by far more outrageous.”

“What is insane about a wild, beautiful thing given the space to spread their wings, My Lord?” She asked, batting her long lashes at him.

“You are provoking me,” he warned.

“And what are you going to do about it? She asked haughtily, “Leave me again?”

As if his body had a will of its own, Dominic’s arms shot out before Amelia had a chance to determine what was happening, hauled her close, and kissed her.

* * *

The world blurred as Dominic’s lips came crashing down possessively on hers; startling her. His one arm drew tight around her lower back as the other fisted in her hair; preventing any chance she had of pushing him away. Not that she could anyway. His sculpted lips were hot and demanding, forcing her own apart so he could lay claim with his teeth; his tongue. For a moment, all her fury and loneliness came to a sudden stop, and she felt nothing but the heavy mantle of arousal spread down through her entire body.

Heat burst through her, consuming her in a liquid fire as as Dominic’s teeth captured her bottom lip and bit down. It was only when the pain burst through her lips that she truly realized what had happened. Embarrassment and anger colored her cheeks as her eyes flew open, and balled her hands into fists to attempted to push them between her and Dominic.

Like the statues she’d put in the foyer, his body was rock solid and unmoving. In fact her attempt to fight away from him only seemed to make his build grow harder, and she felt as if she were fighting stone.

“Let go,” she fumed against his mouth. But even as she said it her body betrayed her. The tighter he held her to him the hotter her fever grew. With another swipe of his tongue, her legs began to tremble and a sluicing of sudden moisture trickled down her thighs. His teeth then nipped her lips again, softer this time, and she couldn’t help the moan that slipped from her lips as her nipples hardened to the point of pain.

As if knowing what he was doing to her, Dominic’s hand smoothed from her waist up to her ribcage and cupped her left breast, his thumb grazing over her nipple so hard that she could feel it even through the layers of her dress and camisole. The moment she felt it her lower abdomen quivered and tightened, and another gush of moisture splashed against her inner thighs.

Her fury seemed to leave her body with that heated liquid between her legs, and she sagged against him; moaning into his mouth; giving in to him.

And then suddenly he stopped. The world tilted as his arms and lips left her to sway on her own feet; her head swimming with clashing thoughts of fury and need. Amelia drew in a grounding breath, as she opened her eyes; trying to make sense of what had just happened to her.

She saw Dominic first, standing a pace away. He hard, unreadable look on his face but it was clear that he was fighting for his breath just as much as she was. Then she noticed that the clamor of work had ceased. Even the chirping of the wild birds and hum of insects had seemed to stop. She looked up, and saw every worker had seemed to be frozen in place, staring down at them.

“Leave us!” She yelled, her rage returning as quicker than it had left her.

All at once the workers began to move; abandoning their tools and work until the area was vacant save for her and Dominic. Then she grit her teeth, stepped forward, and slapped him. His head barely moved as a painful stinging sensation exploded through her entire hand, only serving to make her angrier.

“What in the bloody hell was that?” She demanded.

“A reminder,” Dominic snapped back. “To them and you that you are my wife.”

“You didn’t care about that before,” she shot back.

“You weren’t being so flagrant with our reputation before,” he retorted.

Amelia sneered as she drew her hand back to slap him again, but Dominic caught her wrist and dragged her to him.

“Let go!” She yelled, hating how quickly her body responded to him again.

“What’s the matter?” He snarled. “The hands of a masked stranger are good enough to touch you but your husband’s aren’t?”

Amelia narrowed her eyes at him. He’d never once acted as if he’d wanted her, but now he was jealous? She could hear it in his voice; see it in those silver eyes that now made her core quake with feeling.

“I thought you said you had no interest in unwilling paramours?” She shot back.

Something like hurt flickered through those silver eyes, and Dominic released her so quickly that she stumbled.

Aroused, angry, and confused, Amelia righted herself and smoothed her hands down the front of her dress.

“Just so we are clear, husband, I have not allowed any stranger to touch me.”

Dominic gave her a suspicious look, but said nothing.

“Those parties provide me with a particular sense of freedom, yes. But not one that involves my body.”

Dominic’s nostrils flared.

“But you were looking, weren’t you? You would have been open to the opportunity if it had presented itself.”

A fleeting shred of guilt passed through her as she was called out.

“Yes,” she admitted begrudgingly. “ If the opportunity had presented itself. But might I remind you that that is only because you made it so clear on our wedding day that you did not want me.”

Dominic stared at her for a long, hard moment, and she shivered at how deep his eyes seemed to penetrate her very soul. It was as if he could see everything she’d ever tried to hide. From the ton. From the family. From herself.

“Chaos has erupted in London,” he said at last, taking his eyes off of her.

“Rumors and your friends are running wild. Theo and Tristan’s mother is in failing health. And Seraphina’s father has passed. His title is being handed down to the man next in line. One Allistair Harleigh. He hasn’t been spotted yet but I need to sink my claws in the moment he is.”

“Sounds like you will be busy,” Amelia replied, a sense of bitterness overcoming her. “Off you go again.”

Dominic turned back to her with a devilish smile so handsome it made her shiver.

“Oh no, dear wife,” he said, sliding his hands into his pockets. “You are coming with me.”

Amelia’s eyes widened as a sense of true fear- her first in nearly a year, crept over her body.

“Dominic, no,” she whispered, dropping her haughty air. “I can’t go back there. To them.”

“You had no issue visiting the city when attending the Devil’s Masquerade,” he pointed out. “Besides, were you not just telling me last night that you have changed? No longer the cowering woman I rescued or something like that?”

Amelia opened her mouth but quickly snapped it shut. Yes, she’d changed. Or least she thought she had. And she had no yearning to test that theory by going back to London.

“That was different,” she replied carefully, taking a step toward him. “It was a few hours at most, and I wasn’t with the ton. Please, Dominic, don’t make me go back to those horrid people.”

A fleeting look of sympathy passed through Dominic’s eyes.

“Believe it or not I am not thrilled over having you return to London either,” he replied, that sympathy coming through in his deep voice.

“We have to clean these rumors up now, though. Make the proper appearances. And I say again, Theo’s mother is in failing health. Surely you won’t turn your back on your friend’s needs at a time like this?”

Feeling defeated, Amelia’s shoulders sank. No. She certainly didn’t want to do that. It was why she’d offered to have Theo and even her mother come to Ellsworth. Though it was only Theo that ever appeared, and even then she spoke so briefly about her mother. She now wondered if she had been helping her friend by giving her a place to escape- or hurting her by giving her an opportunity to ignore the real world.

She also knew that if rumors truly were circulating about her being in the red rooms of the Devil’s Masquerade with strangers, then the only way to dissolve them was to appear in public by Dominic’s side looking happier and confident than ever.

“When do we leave?” She muttered in agonizing resignation.

“Tonight,” Dominic told her. “We’re going to organize a ball, invite everyone who’s of importance, and you, myself, and my little spies are going to get to find who’s responsible for this entire mess.”

“But…my aviary,” Amelia sighed, looking back at the partially finished cage. She hated how small and adolescent she sounded. But there wasn’t a single part of her that was ready or willing to go back to her old life in London. The life of stuck up parties, degrading rumors and pitying, condescending looks.

“You can have the workers continue their work if you like,” Dominic said to her surprise. “Perhaps they’ll have it finished by the time we come back.”