Page 32 of A Duke for Stealing (The Devil’s Masquerade #4)

CHAPTER TWENTY

“ W hat do you think?” Rose asked Edie.

She looked in the mirror and turned around. Edie giggled.

“Well, I have certainly never seen a lady in trousers before, Your Grace. I am not sure what to think.”

Rose smiled and let out a laugh of her own. She wasn’t sure what to think either. However, her abdomen was still sore from the ferocious taking Everett had given her, and she hoped that the trousers would provide a little more comfort for her planned horseback riding with Everett that day.

In truth, she was hoping he would get a chuckle out of the way she looked, too.

She hoped to get anything out of him, actually.

It had been two days since they’d woken up curled around another in the London House, and from the moment she’d opened her eyes and found him staring quietly at the ceiling, she knew something was wrong.

She’d asked him, but he’d told her that it was nothing.

Their ride home was quiet, yet he hadn’t pulled away from her when she’d lifted his arm and curled up into his side.

Then, when they got back to Stapleton, it was as if he’d disappeared.

Just as he had been in the beginning, Everett seemed too busy for her.

There had been no more visits to her in the library, no more joining her for bedtime stories with the twins. No shared meals.

She had thought once they’d consummated their marriage that they would have gotten closer.

Instead, their intense act of pleasure had seemed to have driven them back apart.

Rose had allowed the distance at first, wanting to be patient for him to return, and then, as she woke up that morning, she’d decided she’d had enough.

She sent a message to the stables, ordering the stable boys to ready two horses for her and Everett, and she was going to take a ride with him and discover what was going on with him.

“Your Grace, are you quite sure you want to ride today?” Edie asked as she buckled Rose’s riding boots for her, “The weather is turning as we speak. It will rain.”

“That is alright,” Rose replied, fond memories filling her mind. “His Grace and I have been caught in the rain before. It is not so bad.”

As she smiled wistfully at the memories of her and Everett dancing in the rain, though, thunder struck mightily from above, shaking the estate. Rose turned to the windows quickly, and her shoulders drooped as she saw black clouds churning wildly in the sky. She’d thought she’d had more time!

“It is alright,” she stated, holding onto her hope. “It is possible that we could-”

A ragged flash of lightning lit up the sky as heavy rain fell in slanted sheets onto the windows, crushing her idea.

“Rats,” she grumbled.

Another loud crack of thunder boomed from above, and it was followed by the sounds of two high-pitched screams. Rose raced from her room, her disappointment melting in an instant, and she hurried to the nursery.

“Girls!” She called, thrusting open the door. She looked in and saw Diana and Leah huddled together in the space between their beds, their arms held around each other’s necks tightly.

“What is it? What happened? I heard them scream, I- what on earth are you wearing?” Everett’s worried voice shifted to amusement as Rose turned and saw him standing behind her.

Though happy to finally see him again, she gave him a perturbed glance. Before she could answer, another clash of thunder came, and the twins darted toward them. Diana flew into Rose’s arms as Leah ran into Everett’s.

“Easy now, girls, easy,” Everett said calmly, rubbing Leah’s back, “It is just a storm. Nothing to worry about. We are safe in here.”

“What if the lightning strikes the house?” Leah wailed. “What if it catches on fire?”

Rose watched Everett grow still, and he pulled Leah back so he could look at her face.

“Who told you that?” Everett asked, wiping the tears from Leah’s face.

“The Governess, Miss Holliday,” Leah sobbed. “She was teaching us about the weather yesterday.”

“Oh, heavens,” Everett muttered, pulling Leah back into his embrace. “Perhaps it was too soon to get you a governess.”

Rose couldn’t help but give Everett an I told you so smirk as she held Diana. He narrowed his eyes at her as if saying hush, and Rose nearly laughed. It felt good to interact with him again.

“Well, you do not have to worry,” Rose said, turning her attention back to the girls. “We are safe inside our house. Is that not correct, Uncle Everett?”

“Of course it is,” Everett agreed quickly.

“Please do not leave us,” Diana whimpered, “Even if we do not catch fire, I am afraid of the thunder.”

“Well then, we will just have to play a game to distract you from this fear, won’t we?” Rose asked, rubbing Diana’s back.

Both girls calmed down a little, and after a while, Everett and Rose put them to bed.

“Uncle Everett, you are going to play our game too, yes?” Diana asked.

Everett’s brows raised as he opened his mouth to speak.

“We have not seen you in so very long,” Leah added.

Everett’s shoulders sank as he closed his mouth. He spared a glance toward Rose, one that made her wary, and then nodded.

“Of course I am going to play,” Everett answered. “What shall it be?”

“Let us play charades!” Leah announced.

“Very well,” Everett said, and let the girls take his hands and lead him into their room.

Rose followed, and the game ensued. Charades turned into cards, and then those turned into playing with dolls. Time passed quickly, and though the heavy rain did not let up, the thunder and lightning seemed to cease.

“It is gone now,” Leah announced, abandoning her doll to look out the window. “Listen, Diana, no more thunder.”

Diana let out a sigh of relief and put her doll down, too.

“Well, now that you are feeling better, I should get back to my paperwork,” Everett stated, rising from the floor.

“No, no, not yet!” Leah insisted, “This means that we can finally play the game we want to play.”

“We were too scared before,” Diana piped up. “But not anymore.”

“And pray tell, what game is that?” Everett asked, bracing his hands on his hips as he looked down at his niblings.

“Hide and Seek.” The twins answered in unison.

Finally, Everett looked at Rose again. It was something they had both noticed and wondered about- how the twins knew what to say when they spoke in unison. It was as if they could somehow read another’s mind, and she knew that Everett found it just as fascinating as she did.

“You have not played with in days,” Leah stated, her tone flat and accusatory when she saw Everett looking as if he were about to say no.

He raised a single brow.

“Are you trying to make me feel guilty?” Everett asked.

“Yes,” the twins replied in unison, and Rose could not help but burst out in laughter.

“What?” Rose asked when Everett glared at her. “At least they were honest.”

Everett grunted, but by the look on his face, Rose knew he’d felt called out.

“We shall play hide and seek,” he said with a relenting sigh, “But just for another hour. I do have to finish my work.”

“Yayyyy!!!” The twins shouted in unison again as they joined hands.

“Very well, Uncle Everett. You and Lady Rose go hide. Diana and I shall count to one hundred, and we shall come find you.”

As the girls turned their eyes to the wall and began to count, Everett and Rose walked back out into the hall.

“Well, where shall we hide?” Rose asked, giving him a smile.

Everett’s returning smile was brief as he took a step away.

“Actually, I believe the twins would have more fun if we found separate hiding places. Why do you not go down that way, and I shall head down this hall.”

Rose’s smile faded, and she barely began to nod before Everett turned his back to her and went down the hall. Rose felt her heart sink as she watched him. She needed to get to the bottom of Everett’s issue- but for now, she needed to play the girls’ game and hide.

She wanted her hiding spot to be somewhere the girls would be able to find her, but not too obvious.

So she walked past her rooms and several others, then turned the corner to the next hall.

She slowed a little as she stepped into the space.

The house was vast, but her work and needs had kept her cloistered either downstairs or in the three familiar rooms that were her own, the twins’ nursery, or her library.

She hadn’t been in this particular hall since Everett had first brought her to Stapleton.

The memory of their first kiss that day flashed in her mind, and she shook her head to dispel it.

After a little more wandering, she picked a room in the middle of the hall and went inside.

Knowing she didn’t have much time left before the twins came to find her, Rose hurried to the closet and closed herself inside.

Just as she did so, she heard one of the twins shout, “Here we come!”

She backed away from the door, arms stretched behind her, and almost screamed when she felt hands wrap around her wrists.

“I thought we were going to hide separately,” Everett’s voice came by her ear. He then released her.

She breathed a sigh of relief at hearing his voice, then whirled around and thumped him on the chest.

“You frightened me!” She whispered vehemently. “I did not know you were in here. I thought you were going down the other hall?”

“Yes, but the other halls connect to this one, remember?” He whispered back, giving her an annoyed look.

She sighed and returned it.

“Well, we are here now,” she whispered back, “And the girls have started searching. It appears we are stuck.”

Everett’s eyes narrowed, and with a frustrated sigh, she turned away from him. This was not at all what she had been hoping for.

“So,” Everett whispered after a while, “Why are you wearing trousers?”

Rose rolled her eyes and then turned to face him.

“Why? Do I look foolish?”

His lips almost quirked into a smile.

“I did not say that,” he replied.

She glowered at him, then drew in a calming breath.

How had she forgotten how annoying he could be?

Then she realized that this could be her opportunity.

“I am wearing trousers because I have not seen you since we returned from the Masquerade,” she answered honestly. “I had hoped to convince you to go horseback riding with me.”

Everett almost looked guilty at her words, but he did not respond. Instead, his gaze simply dropped to the floor.

“You are avoiding me,” Rose realized aloud.

“I have work,” Everett quickly responded, his eyes flicking back up to hers.

“I know you well enough to know when you lie,” Rose countered. “Something is wrong.”

For a moment, Everett just stared at her, then he slowly nodded his head as his throat bobbed.

“Yes,” he admitted.

“Then talk to me,” she urged.

“You would not understand.”

If she were not trying so hard to keep quiet, Rose would have laughed.

“You do not know that I would not understand,” she replied, “I have been through much. You know this. As I know, you have also been through much. We are married, we are friends, we-”

Everett did laugh, and it was a cold sound that had her pausing.

“You think we are friends?” He asked.

Rose felt her heart clench. She crossed her arms over her chest, as if to nurse the sudden discomfort.

“After our wedding, after how I spoke out for you…you said we were,” she replied.

More hurt moved through her heart as Everett remained silent.

“Do you not believe that now?” She asked, and hated that her voice broke.

“If we were just friends, you would not melt under touch,” Everett replied, his voice raw with vehemency.

He stepped toward her, and Rose took a step back.

“If we were just friends, I would not know how you taste between your creamy thighs, and I would not crave it as a predator craves its prey,” he went on, his voice deepening as his eyes glittered with need.

“Everett,” she whispered.

Her body reacted instantly to his words. Suddenly, she was hot, uncomfortable in her clothes.

“Everett,” she said again, then licked her lips. “We can still be friends even if we-”

“If we were just friends, I would not react so strongly to the way you just licked your lips,” he gritted out.

His hands shot out then, gripping her arms.

“Driving me mad, haunting my dreams,” he muttered.

“Everett, I am sorr-”’

Her words were cut off as Everett pulled her to him, crushing his lips down on hers.

Rose instantly wrapped her arms around her neck; her body singing with joy as she felt his fervent kiss once again.

Their lips and teeth gnashed at one another in a desperate harshness, as if their bodies did not have the patience to reconnect slowly.

His hands moved from her arms and tore the hem of her shirt from her trousers, and he moaned into Rose’s mouth as his hands found her breasts.

Rose broke away from the kiss with a whimper and went for the buttons of his vest. Her fingers shook as she hurriedly parted the thing, and then she tugged the hem of his shirt from his trousers.

His body, the one she craved so very much, was just as hot as hers- and just as needy.

“Uncle Everett? Lady Rose?”

Rose and Everett froze as they heard Diana’s voice from the closet door.

“Leah, I believe I have found them,” Diana called. “There’s a noise coming from the closet!’

Everett roughly tucked the hem of Rose’s shirt back into her trousers and then stepped into the corner just as the closet door opened.

“Lady Rose, we found you!” Diana crowed happily, then frowned as she studied Rose.

“Is your fever back, Lady Rose?” She then asked. “You look awfully flushed.”

Rose wanted to die from embarrassment. Instead, she forced a smile and shook her head.

“It is this closet,” she replied, “it is so terribly hot in here.”

Diana gave her a dubious look, then shrugged.

“Have you seen Uncle Everett?” She then asked as Leah came into the room. “We have not found him yet.”

“I am right here, girls,” Everett said from the corner of the closet.

He stepped into the light, his vest buttoned and shirt properly tucked into his trousers just as it had been before.

“We win!” Leah exclaimed with glee. “Let us play again.”

“I am sorry, girls,” Everett said, walking out of the closet and past them. He stopped just long enough to take one last glance at Rose, and his pained eyes sent another bolt straight to her heart.

“I have to go.”