Page 16 of Ravished by the Beastly Duke (Regency Beasts #1)

CHAPTER 16

W illiam felt the tension leaving his body as he saw his wife bounding down the staircase the moment he entered the house.

“Oh, where have you been, husband?” she asked, approaching him with a spring in her steps.

He smiled. He could sense that his wife was even happier and more carefree than she usually was.

He enjoyed seeing her in this way, but he wondered why she was in such a good mood.

“I told you earlier, wife,” he replied. “Or have you forgotten? I went to Parliament today, and from there, I was with Theo and the others.”

“Then you must tell me about your day over dinner.”

“Certainly.”

William would rather die than admit it, but he enjoyed having a wife. Eveline made him happy in more ways than one.

He loved nothing more than coming home to his welcoming wife, who would be waiting for him so they could have dinner together.

He loved how livelier and warmer his home was with her in it. Before her, it was cold and unwelcoming.

As they sat for dinner, he could not help but stare at her for just a little longer.

“What?” she asked, having caught him staring at her.

William simply smiled.

How was he going to tell her that he enjoyed having someone who demanded to know how he had spent his day and who also seemed to enjoy hearing about the rather mundane activities he engaged in?

“It is definitely not nothing,” she insisted stubbornly.

“Then you might have to force the truth out of me,” he quipped.

“Force?” she repeated as she squinted her eyes, regarding him with curiosity. “I can certainly think of a way or two I can force you to tell me the truth,” she teased, holding his gaze.

She licked her cutlery clean of the apple pie before licking her lips.

That little motion stirred something inside him.

“Oh, you are teasing me now?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I am doing no such thing,” she responded, her eyes twinkling wickedly. “I am simply having my dinner.”

William laughed.

“Now, do not think you can flirt your way out of telling me about your day,” she said.

“Ahh, I had a rather tiring day at Parliament,” he relented. “It was boring and uneventful.”

“Tell me everything!” she pressed. “It must be so fancy to be at Parliament.”

“If being around a little too many egoistical men is your definition of fancy, then yes,” he snorted.

“You do not seem to like the other lords, do you?” Eveline asked.

“Oh, many of them are decent, but the others are rather annoying and infuriating,” he said. Despite his efforts, he could feel himself getting fired up.

“How so?”

“Would you believe that some of the lords are trying to reduce the military’s budget?” he scoffed, now incensed as he remembered, yet again, the ridiculousness of some of his peers.

“Why?” Eveline asked. “Would that not be a foolish mistake, since our military is keeping us safe and also expanding our influence?”

William’s heart melted at his wife’s intellect and smart commentary.

“Precisely,” he agreed.

“If anything, I would argue that the military should have more resources,” she continued.

“They seem to forget what happened in the past when the military was not properly equipped,” William continued, less incensed now.

“I cannot help but wonder what would drive such men—who have also served in the Army, mind you—to make such suggestions.” Eveline shook her head.

“That indeed is the problem,” William said. “The lords who suggested it are the ones who have never served in the military. They have no idea what it was like to fight for our beloved country.”

“Now I see why they would make such a foolish suggestion. They certainly believe that the military is but a minor institution.”

“You are right,” William murmured as he recalled the events of the day again. How foolishly those lords had spoken and how brazen they had been in their foolishness.

“If they had just a fraction of the experience Theo, Emerton, Magnus and myself have, they would never make such foolish proclamations.”

“That must have been difficult for you to sit through,” Eveline sympathized, placing her hand on his.

William’s heart warmed at the comfort her hand provided, and yet he could not help but feel ashamed that she pitied him.

However, when he looked at her, he did not see pity in her eyes. Instead, he saw understanding and compassion.

“It certainly was difficult, and I nearly left mid-session,” William admitted. “It was Magnus who implored me not to.”

“Oh no,” Eveline gasped. “When men who know how important the military is leave, then these ignorant lords would win.”

William could not help but ponder his wife’s words, as, once again, she had impressed him with her intellect.

If he indeed left Parliament like he had been tempted to, then the ignorant lords might outnumber those who had experience in the military.

“You are right, dear wife. I shall not let my emotions get the better of me.”

Eveline squeezed his hand and smiled cheerily at him.

William’s heart leaped with joy. Not so long ago, he joined the military, after being condemned by his father for so many years, to experience humanity at its most cruel and to suffer day in and day out.

If only his younger self could see how he made it out of the military in one piece—not without being scarred, of course. But never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he would be sitting at the dining table, across from the most beautiful woman he had ever known. A woman who he was proud to call his wife. A woman who was a ball of discovery and surprises.

And yet, despite the peaceful moment he was sharing with her, the memories of his past could not help but invade his mind yet again.

Guns.

Bodies.

Burning flesh.

Screams.

And more screams.

William shuddered in an attempt to shrug off the memories.

“Are you all right?” Eveline asked, worry etched on her face.

He simply smiled, not wanting to scare her.

“But you do not look all right to me,” Eveline noted.

“I just cannot help it,” he confessed. “The memories.”

“I cannot possibly imagine,” she said in a low voice that he found comforting.

“I remember now, just like yesterday, how the lack of weapons and other resources cost us some of the finest men the military has ever seen. It is a miracle that I… that…”

William bit his tongue. He had almost mentioned the near-death experience that he had before he left the military.

“You do not have to talk about it,” Eveline reassured him.

William felt a rush of gratitude towards her at that moment.

After his return from the war, too many people seemed too interested in his experiences at the front. While some were tactful enough to only insert it in conversations, others asked rather brazenly, while the rest simply stared at his scars, their eyes filled with questions.

He was, therefore, grateful that he did not have to experience the same with his wife.

“Thank you,” he murmured. “I am truly grateful that you are my wife.”

By this time, the plates were empty and the servants were now clearing the table.

“Now…” She perked up. “Shall I regal you with tales of my activities today?”

He noticed her attempt at changing the subject.

“Why, I am eager to hear what my dear wife was up to while I was being infuriated at Parliament,” he drawled.

Eveline rose from her seat and came to him, stopping right in front of him and leaning against the table.

William had no choice but to look up at her. “I am all ears, wife,” he said expectantly.

“I shall tell you only if you promise to grant this one request,” she whispered, leaning towards him.

She planted her hands firmly on the back of the chair, on either side of his head, so that her chest was only an inch away from his face.

“Fine… I…” He was about to agree to her request when he started. “Wait… Tell me the request before I agree to it.”

Eveline stared down at him, and he was momentarily lost in the ocean of her eyes. She sighed heavily, and he briefly looked away only to see her bosom heave dramatically.

“I was simply wondering if you would want to share your bed with me tonight,” she teased, planting a kiss right on his lips.

He captured her lips immediately, drinking her in until he was satiated.

She pulled away from him, but only just enough for her to catch her breath.

“What do you say, husband?” she breathed in his ear.

William groaned. “Oh, Eveline!”

He had realized her ploy to secure access to his bed, and as much as he was tempted to agree, he knew he could not.

Therefore, he pulled away by just an inch so that her delicious lips were almost grazing his.

The temptation was strong, but William proved himself to be stronger.

“I am thoroughly tempted. However, I cannot let myself be compromised so,” he said.

Eveline sighed dramatically.

“And I could not convince you!” she asked, biting her lower lip just delicately enough to get the attention of his member.

William groaned.

“What if I told you that I am afraid ghouls and witches will come for me tonight,” she added.

“Then I shall remind you that I am only next door, and I shall be there to protect you within minutes,” he countered.

Eveline titled her head as though ruminating on a matter.

“Hmm, what have I done wrong?” she murmured to herself. “This would often work for the women in the books I read.”

William couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Perhaps the women in the books you read are not dealing with men quite like myself,” he boasted.

It was Eveline’s turn to laugh.

William rose from his chair and, in one swift motion, lifted her onto the table. She, on the other hand, wrapped her legs around him so that he was forced to draw closer to her.

“Did you learn this trick from your books as well?” he asked, amused.

“I suppose you would never know what else I have learned from my books, seeing as you are so incorrigible.”

He laughed as he planted a kiss on her shoulder right up to the side of her neck.

Of course, William would want more than anything to finally be able to let go around his wife. He knew his walls were crumbling, and yet he held back. He knew he could not truly let himself be intimate with her unless he shared with her his fears.

Eveline shivered under his lips.

“Are you so certain you are as incorrigible as you say?” she sighed.

He laughed again as he stepped back, leaving her frustrated. “Why don’t we retire for the night? I am truly worn from the activities of the day.”

With that, they headed for their chambers, and it was only after he had seen her off to her room that he retired to his.

Truly, he was spent because he had scarcely hit the bed before he was pulled into sleep, a rather fitful one.

There was chaos and screams that were quick to be silenced by the loud noise of gunfire and other weapons.

William tripped over himself in a bid to hide from the chaos, and when he stumbled and fell hard, he found himself face to face with a familiar face—the face of one of his comrades.

I must keep going if I do not wish to suffer the same fate, he thought to himself as he began to run, not quite sure to where.

He felt a bullet whizz past his ear with the speed of lightning, and he was tempted to see what it hit, but he did not.

Before he knew it, he was back at a ball in London. However, the moment he stepped into the ball, it fell silent, and all eyes swiveled to him. The silence was so deafening that he could hear his own footsteps as he made his way into the ballroom. He was beginning to wonder why everyone stared at him when he looked down and realized that he was still dressed in his blood-stained uniform.

Loud whispers that sounded awfully like a multitude of bees surrounded him, and panic shot through him.

I need to get out of here.

He rushed out of the ballroom. However, the moment he stepped out of the door, he was back at the war front, with guns just shy of ripping into his flesh and doing significant damage.

He had only just begun to run again when a voice that sounded awfully familiar called to him.

“William!”

He looked back only to see the most angelic woman step into the war front with him. Her beauty was a stark contrast to the chaos of the battlefield.

Panic shot through him again. However, this time it was not for himself.

I need to protect her.

“No, Eveline! You must leave now. You do not belong here,” he shouted over the din.

Eveline shook her head fervently. “Not unless you come with me.”

“You do not understand, Eveline. You must leave.”

How could she not understand that he was simply trying to protect her?

“If I leave, then you must leave with me,” she said simply.

“But I am doomed,” he insisted. “You can still save yourself.”

“I am not afraid.”

“But you must be.”

A bullet suddenly flew past her face, only missing her by less than an inch, but she did not seem to care.

In fact, she did not flinch.

“Are you not bothered by this?” he asked, confused by her bravery.

“What?”

He knew then that he must protect her, as she did not even seem to know what danger she was in.

He rushed to her side and pulled her by the hand.

“Eveline, come with me,”

With Eveline in tow, he began to seek shelter to no avail.

Suddenly, by some miracle, they stumbled upon a shack, and he decided to take refuge in it.

It wasn’t until they were inside the safety of the shack that he breathed a sigh of relief.

He rounded on her, furious at her foolhardy decision to follow him into the war from the ballroom. However, when he finally turned to face her, all he could see was a severed hand—a hand that seemed to have been ripped from its body.

William’s eyes widened in shock, and he dropped the hand as he let out a scream.

NOOOOOOOO!