Page 10

T hey watched the buzzard together for a few minutes. Seth expected Alicia to grow bored quickly, but she seemed just as engrossed in its flight as he was.

As they watched, he heard the telltale hammering of a woodpecker and turned to locate it.

“Would you care for a walk through the woods?” he asked.

He was unsure why he was asking her; she likely wished to be free of his company. But she did not hesitate to walk alongside him.

It was good to be alone together and not see the anger and resentment in her eyes.

Perhaps Lucas is right; it is easier to have one’s wife as a friend instead of an enemy.

Before he knew where he was taking her, they had reached a familiar path down to the den he had used as a child.

Seth frowned. He had never brought anyone here before, and his instinct screamed at him to turn back.

He hesitated for long enough that Alicia caught up with him, glancing down into the gloom ahead of them with some trepidation.

“Where are we headed?” she asked, her tone shifting from light interest to suspicion in an instant.

Seth’s jaw tightened. “Do not fear, Duchess. Did I not tell you that I would never harm you? My days of murdering those closest to me are over.”

He could not hide the anger that raged beneath the surface, and she fell silent. He cursed himself, knowing that she did not deserve his wrath. But he was unable to prevent it from rising all the same.

It was how he had felt all his life, his inability to save Gordon a constant weight on his mind—a reminder of his failures. Even after all these years—all his endless research and investigations—he still had not found out what happened to him.

The slope down to the clearing was steep, and he held out a hand for Alicia, but she seemed disinclined to take it now, the tension between them mounting as they descended.

If she breaks her neck, that will be the final straw for those who accused me.

Seth made sure to walk in front of her, determined to act as a barrier and prevent her from tumbling to the bottom should she fall.

Even his father had not known of this secret hideaway. Preferring to tour the estate on horseback, the late Duke had never wandered so far on foot.

But Seth had come here often as a boy, the moss-covered roots of the trees curling downwards and over the banks all around them like a fairy grotto.

In the summer, tiny white mushrooms would sprout all over the edges of the woods like little lights in the dark.

He loved it here. It was everything he wished he could cultivate in life—beauty, nature, and silence.

Alicia’s footsteps were more careful now as she held onto the trees as they made their way further down.

Although it was dark between the trees, the sun sent shafts of sunlight through the canopy, and a green hue covered everything.

At Alicia’s gasp of wonder, Seth stopped, and she collided with him. His arm came up on instinct, steadying her, but she pulled away, her cheeks flushed.

“Look there,” she whispered, and he followed her gaze.

In the clearing ahead, at the bottom of the little valley of tree roots, was a baby fawn.

The tiny animal was dwarfed on all sides by the huge trunks of the trees, and Seth went still, not wishing to frighten it.

Slowly, from beneath the undergrowth to its right, another fawn appeared with its mother. After chewing on some of the moss around them, they wandered away into the trees.

“I have never seen a deer before,” Alicia breathed.

“Never?” Seth asked, turning to her.

She shook her head. “Perhaps in a distant field, silhouetted against the horizon, but never so close. They are much smaller than I imagined.”

The excitement in her eyes made him feel strange and off balance as they finally reached the bottom of the little valley.

“I came here often as a boy,” he muttered, suddenly embarrassed to have made her come all the way down to this special place.

She probably thought it would be something spectacular, when all it really is, is damp cobwebs and moss-covered trees.

Alicia skirted the compacted leaves on the ground, tracing a hand over the bark. “You came here alone?” she asked.

“Often. I like my own company. Sometimes I came with my friends, when we were young.”

She did not ask any more questions, for which he was grateful. He was certain she would be desperate to learn what had happened in his past—what trial it was that he had been forced to attend, who had died. But she had not asked him yet.

Perhaps she never will.

Watching her walk among the trees made an ache throb in his chest. She looked like a tree nymph moving between her subjects.

He found himself drawn repeatedly to the curve of her neck, the line of it allowing him to run his eye over her shoulders and down to her slim waist.

“How many people have you brought here?” she asked, turning in place and cocking her head as she looked at him.

“In recent years, none. Very few know of this place; it was my little hideaway.”

“That seems to be a habit,” she said, her voice soft in the dense trees.

“What do you mean?”

“You hid for much of yesterday,” she pointed out, her eyes hardening. “I did not see you until the end, but then you barely spoke to me. I heard your friends saying that you were hiding in your study.”

“I was not hiding,” he grumbled.

“Then what were you doing?” she asked, walking toward him, making it impossible for him not to look her over.

Her dress suited her perfectly. He much preferred her in rich fabrics over the pale muslins he had seen her in before.

The attraction that flooded him made his anger spike, and he grimaced, turning away.

“I do not have to explain myself to you,” he said irritably, heading back up the slope.

He scowled as a high-pitched laugh followed him.

“It is hardly a crime to want some time alone, Your Grace.”

He turned back, glowering at her. “My name is Seth.”

“And mine is Alicia, but you have called me ‘Duchess’ since we wed.”

“I can call you what I like.”

“Then I shall do you the same courtesy.”

Seth continued up the slope, his anger growing as he pulled himself up root by root. He had forgotten how difficult it was to climb the steep sides of the valley, and he had not taken into account Alicia’s shoes.

As he reached the top, he turned around, watching her follow him. Suddenly, her foot snagged on a tree root, and his heart stuttered in his chest.

Her arms flailed wildly as she lost her balance and fell back, rolling gracelessly down to the bottom of the slope.

Leaping from root to root, Seth jumped down as quickly as he could, landing with a thump beside her.

A lock of her hair had come loose, and there was dirt on her cheek, but she was unharmed. She looked up at him with such contempt that he had to hold back a laugh at the sight.

Seth offered her his hand, which she ignored, pushing herself to her feet.

“I suppose you are too stubborn to accept my help?” he asked her as she turned to tackle the hill once more.

Alicia held back the curse hanging on the tip of her tongue.

She had never been so humiliated. It might have been her intention to have the Duke think her a simpleton, but not to fall on her face and slide several meters down a muddy hill.

Her dress was utterly ruined, covered in mud, as were her hands. The grainy, sharp points of little stones pricked her skin, and she rubbed her hands together to dislodge them.

“At least let me go first,” Seth insisted, coming up beside her, his huge body only annoying her further.

“Why did you bring me here in the first place? It is not safe,” she said sternly.

He twisted around to look back at her, his face impossibly handsome as he shrugged. “I thought you might like to see the estate. Forgive me for assuming you might hold some interest in your new home.”

“That is a fine statement from a man who told me that I was convenient only yesterday.”

“I would not call you convenient now,” he said wryly.

Alicia had to hold back the urge to kick him hard in the shins.

He made the climb look incredibly easy, hopping from one side to the other, instructing her where to put her feet so that she would not fall again.

By the time they were halfway up the slope, she had lost all patience with him, and by two-thirds of the way, she stopped, putting her hands on her hips in fury.

“You do not need to show me every handhold. I am not an idiot,” she bit out. “I am quite capable of climbing to the top without you. I simply lost my footing earlier.”

He turned back, one eyebrow raised in query. “Are you sure? You are half my size, and this slope is steep.”

“I am not half your size. I am small; there is a difference.”

She scowled at him as the same little smile flitted over his face.

He stepped to the side, leaning against a tree trunk, throwing one arm out wide to indicate that the path was clear. “Have at it, then,” he said smugly.

Alicia would have advanced on him if she had been more sure of her footing.

Now that he was not showing her the way, her stubborn anger faltered. The slope was steep, and she could not see a clear way up, but she was not one to easily back down.

Pulling her ruined skirts up a little, she continued the climb, the silken soles of her shoes utterly useless against the moving earth beneath them.

She could hear him following her and was determined not to fall, but it was difficult to find purchase on the slippery moss, and she stumbled several times.

Every time she did, his hand found her waist. By the time she reached the top of the hill, she was flustered, a dark heat forming that she had come to know well. His body was only inches from hers as she made it to the last tree, clutching at the branches and pulling herself up.

The trees thinned out ahead, the ground more even, and she pushed her hair out of her face, walking as quickly as she could toward the manor.

What will the servants think when they see me in this state?

“Alicia.”

To her utter mortification, it took a single word from the Duke to stop her in her tracks.

She turned around, crossing her arms over her chest and frowning at him. “What?” she asked indignantly.

“I merely wished to check if you were hurt.”

“No, I am not hurt. Only my pride,” she said as he reached her.

They were just on the edge of the woods now, a few feet from where the lawn met the tree line.

“Pride often comes before a fall.”

“Are you trying to infuriate me?”

“No, but you are too stubborn for your own good.”

Alicia threw her hands up as she turned away from him, aiming for the house, before she felt a vice-like grip on her arm as he pulled her back.

She rounded on him, her dark eyes filled with heat as his hand came up and brushed against her cheek.

“You have mud on your face,” he said, an amused glint in his eyes.

She lost her temper.

He had dragged her here, reminded her of the convenience of their marriage, all but laughed at her for taking a tumble, and emphasized his endless arrogance in his insistence that she prove herself.

She shoved him hard in the chest, her jaw tensing as she ground her teeth. Suddenly, his eyes hardened, and he moved toward her with dark purpose.

Alicia gave a cry of surprise as his hands gripped her wrists, pushing her backward until her shoulder blades hit the trunk of a tree.

His gaze was smoldering now, and the desire in it undid her.

“You may be a convenience, wife, but do not lay a hand on me if you think it will not be returned.”

“Are you going to shove me back down the slope then?” she snapped. “Is that what you did before?”

Letting out a snarl of rage, the Duke pinned her hands above her head, his long fingers and wide palm easily enveloping both her wrists as he shoved her hard against the tree.

A branch jabbed into her back, and something wet touched her neck, but she could not see or feel anything but the heat of him against her.

“You know nothing about me,” he growled, a sense of danger radiating from him in waves as she tried to catch her breath.

His body was pressed against hers, and it was making her throb with need. This was different from the moment in her bedchamber before the wedding. There had been fear back then, and uncertainty.

Now, the only thing she was sure of was the desire in his gaze.

As his other hand found her waist and slid around her back, pulling her roughly against him, she could do nothing but melt into his arms.

“Perhaps I should teach my wife a lesson,” he murmured, just as a moan tore from her throat.

He released her wrists, and his right hand moved to her waist and further down, gripping her skirts, bunching them in his fist, and pulling them up. He shoved his other hand beneath the many layers of fabric.

Alicia gasped in shock as his fingers brushed her inner thigh.

“Is that what you want, Duchess? For me to show you what is expected of you?”

She shuddered as his hand moved higher, searching for the juncture between her thighs but stopping just short of it.

“I could ruin you,” he breathed. “I could own you, body and soul, so that you never think of another man again.”

His fingers probed deeper, nudging her heated flesh, and her head fell back against the tree.

“Tell me you want me,” he growled. “Beg me to touch you, Duchess. Beg me to pleasure you.”

“Ah!”

She felt his fingers skim over her sensitive nub through the thin fabric of her chemise and wished there was no layer between them.

“Say it,” he commanded.

Alicia stared deep into those gold-flecked eyes. “Never.”

With a snarl, he crushed his lips to hers, his fingers rubbing against that sensitive spot.

His tongue thrust into her mouth, and he groaned against her, his hips and hard length grinding against her thigh as she came undone for him.

Alicia had never felt pleasure like it. His tongue licked into her mouth, his teeth scraping over her lips as he ravaged her ruthlessly, engulfing her body until she could think of nothing but him.

The world faded around them, the chirps of the birds disappearing, and it was just his hot fingers against her, his tongue exploring with desperate abandon until she felt she might lose herself completely.

The crack of a twig had the Duke pulling back abruptly, his fingers and mouth leaving her just as quickly.

Trembling, Alicia tried to compose herself as she looked up to see a young maid approaching from the house.

“Your Grace,” the maid called. “The Marchioness of Riverton has arrived to see you.”

“Jane,” Alicia breathed, pushing away from the Duke and making her way swiftly across the lawn, trying to cool her pleasure-drunk body.

How could I have let that happen? I am trying to escape him, not beg for his touch.