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A licia was enjoying herself immensely. She had never received so many compliments on a gown in her life.

Bridget and Katie flanked her as they watched the dancing couples.

The number of different costumes was surprising. Usually, at least some of the ladies would have come in similar clothing, but tonight everyone appeared unique.

A court jester twirled in the center of the room with a young blonde, who was laughing melodically at everything he said. He was very handsome, tall and well-built, and Alicia watched him circle the room. She knew that he was a friend of Seth’s, but she could not recall his name.

Suddenly, Bridget and Katie stepped back from her, and she looked at them in surprise just as Seth appeared at her side, his hand outstretched.

There was a fire in his eyes—he looked furious.

“Dance with me, wife,” he barked.

Alicia barely had time to give her glass to Bridget before she was dragged into the melee.

The music was lively, and the dance was already in full swing, couples twirling about the floor.

In the effortless way he had done before, Seth seamlessly glided between them and pulled her against him as he fell into step as easily as breathing.

“If you must admire my friends, at least do not do it in my vicinity,” he growled.

Alicia glared at him. “I beg your pardon?”

“I am well aware of Oakley’s charms. I have watched him use them for over a decade.”

“Who is Oakley?” she asked, bewildered.

“The court jester you could not keep your eyes off.”

Alicia deliberately stomped on his foot, and he frowned at her.

“I was trying to recall his name—what has come over you?”

Seth’s jaw clenched, his eyes darting to the doorway. “Nothing,” he bit out. “I simply do not enjoy watching my wife being fawned over by all and sundry.”

“Well, which is it, Your Grace? Am I being fawned over or attempting to pursue your friends? Please enlighten me, so I know which activity to desist from. Or should I simply stand in the corner and face the wall?”

His eyes flashed at her, his hand moving to her lower back, pulling her so close that it was almost indecent.

“I would put you in a cage if I could,” he snarled, “so that no other man could ever touch you again.”

“Try and see what I shall do in return.”

“Do not pretend you cannot see them looking at you. With that dress, everyone can see your figure, running their eyes over you like you are theirs for the taking.”

Alicia leaned in, her rage rising with every breath.

How dare he accuse me of this when I have simply been standing with my friends?

She moved her lips to his ear. “Just think, my Duke. As you have not yet claimed me, how will they ever know who I belong to?”

He growled and turned to face her. They spun in the center of the dance floor, their lips inches apart as Alicia glared furiously at him.

He ground his hips against hers, and she felt his hard length through her gown. They were attracting attention, couples turning to stare, and Seth’s eyes were dark and glittering as his fingers curled around hers.

“We are leaving.”

As soon as Alicia was in the carriage, Seth pinned her to the bench, using his body to hold her in place.

She gasped as he wrenched off his mask, threw it to the side, and then tugged the white feathers from around her eyes.

“Are you trying to enrage me?” he asked, his hands gripping her hips, preventing her from moving.

“You are the one who has enraged me,” she retorted. “I have done nothing, and yet you accuse me of everything!”

Seth scoffed, maddening jealousy consuming him.

“Every eye in the room was on you tonight,” he thundered.

“And what about you? You tell me that you do not wish to leave my side, and yet you spend the evening speaking with your friends.”

Seth’s stomach lurched at the memory of Michael’s behavior. The truth of what he had witnessed ate at him, the beliefs he had always held about his friend fighting for dominance with what he had seen tonight.

Could Michael have hurt Gordon? Could he really have lied for all these years?

“I was making small talk,” he insisted.

“And so was I, or is it one rule for me and another for you, Your Grace ?” Alicia hissed.

“Stop it,” he said, crushing her against the seat. “Say my name.”

Her eyes narrowed. “No.”

Seth surged forward, capturing her lips in a desperate kiss, pouring all the pain and worry of the night, the hurt at his friend’s potential betrayal.

Alicia moaned, her arms coming around his body as he lay above her, pressing her down into the cushions.

As her mouth opened for him, he pushed his tongue inside, her sweet taste driving him wild as he mapped her body with his hands.

“I believe this is the best gown you have worn, Duchess.”

She pulled back from him, her expression still angry as her fingers pushed into his hair, tugging at the strands until he winced. “I thought you did not care for the sight of my figure in it.”

“I care for it very much,” he said, kissing down her neck and over her breasts. “It is everyone else who doesn’t have permission to look at you.”

His hand was straying now as he pushed against the folds of her dress, the feathers brushing against his fingers as he thrust his hand beneath the layers.

Alicia gave a sharp gasp that turned into a groan as his hand cupped her backside and slid over the smooth skin there.

He kissed her deeply once more, their tongues tangling as his fingers moved to the back of her thigh, teasing her, the skin hot as she dragged her nails over his scalp.

Seth shuddered at the pleasure of it, pulling back as she sighed heavily.

Their eyes met, and there was an urgency about her that he had not seen before. The moment stretched as she gazed up at him.

“If only you could let go of your past… Your future is waiting for you,” she whispered. “I am ready to give you everything, Seth. I want nothing else. Come to my chambers tonight.”

Seth’s whole body came alive at the prospect of finally joining with her.

He let out a long breath, withdrawing his hand from beneath her skirts and moving back. The dismayed look on her face was horrible to witness, but he could not do as she asked.

Settling back in their seats, they fixed their disheveled clothes. Alicia was breathtaking.

Seth could have lunged across the space once more and taken her.

But I cannot. Not yet.

“Is that what you think will happen, Duchess? That I can simply forget my past and the troubles I have experienced, all because you wish it?”

Alicia’s eyes widened, and she crossed her arms over her chest indignantly. “That is not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean? You would prefer someone who did not carry the world on his shoulders? Someone to match your light?” Seth felt the bitterness of the words at the back of his throat.

“Instead, you are stuck with me. I am sorry, Duchess, but you cannot just remove the parts of me that you dislike when it suits you. Marriage doesn’t work that way. ”

Alicia’s face hardened at that, and the space between them suddenly felt suffocating as she leveled him with a baleful glare.

“And what would I know of marriage?” she demanded. “It is not as if we have a real partnership. To the church and the world, we are no more man and wife than strangers in the street.”

Seth scoffed, but a dark sensation writhed within him.

“You have not made me yours despite everything you said up until now,” she continued. “And if you cannot stop living in the past, you never will.”

She turned toward the window, the darkness outside bathing her beautiful face in shadow.

“I always believed that your darkness matched my light, that perhaps they complemented each other. I would be willing to lo—to accept everything about you if you would let me.”

Her eyes flicked back to him, steeped in sadness.

“But it is not me who is holding back. It is not me who cannot accept who you are. It never was.”

Seth’s face was expressionless as Alicia waited for him to speak. The carriage rolled to a stop, tilting to the side as the footman jumped down and came to the door, but he did not open it.

Alicia stared at her husband, this man who had undone her from almost the first moment she had met him. A man she wished to understand in every way—to help, to bring into the light.

But already she could see his old mask falling back into place. He had shut down, and despite everything that had happened between them, he still did not trust her enough to allow her to be with him as a wife.

Perhaps he never will.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she slid across the bench as the door opened and got out of the carriage.

Seth did not follow her.

She ran from the carriage, into the house, ignoring the surprised stares of the assembled servants, and bolted up the stairs.

As she entered her room, she ran to the bed, throwing herself onto the soft covers, their coldness a fresh reminder that she was alone.

After a few minutes, she heard soft footfalls outside her door as Seth came up the stairs. She held her breath, keeping her eyes closed, praying that he would come to her, that he would finally share everything with her.

His footsteps paused beside the door as if he were deciding what to do. Then, they continued on down the corridor.

Alicia let out a long and miserable sigh. Soft movement beside her arm made her open her eyes.

Dove nuzzled her head, purring in greeting, and she took the little kitten into her arms, hugging her tightly as she let her tears fall.