Page 14 of Seven Nights with the Wicked Duke (Regency Beasts #3)

"No need to worry, pet," he said with confidence.

"No one will come in here. My servants know never to enter this room no matter the circumstance, unless I call for them.

I care deeply about your reputation and welfare.

I will do nothing to jeopardize it. The only way we would be found out is if Magnus caught wind if our activities and you would be the likely cause if that were to happen. "

His words assured her and she breathed a little easier.

"He doesn't have any idea. I made sure I was careful while sneaking about."

"Sneaky little thing you are," he said with a mischievous smile. "I am sure that Magnus would never expect or imagine the things his little innocent sister gets up to under the cover of the night."

"I am a grown woman, Your Grace," she replied testily. "I am hardly the child you knew."

"Trust me, I noticed," he replied, swallowing deeply as his gaze flicked down her frame again, bringing along with a surge of self-consciousness.

While his appreciation of her form did much for her esteem, she still was unused to being seen by a man in such a manner.

She had always been taught that her husband alone would be permitted that pleasure and that education burned at the back of her mind, judging her with every second she lay there.

"Apart from your servants," she began, clearing her throat in a bid to dispel the tension in the room. "Is there no chance that you might have family that could come looking for you?"

"No one will come, Cecilia," he replied quietly.

His eyes were heavy lidded as he put some touch on his art piece and while he looked unbothered by her question, Cecilia could sense a certain coolness come over the room.

"I do not have any family who live close enough to visit. They all left me a long time ago," he added after a long minute.

"All of them?" she pried, knowing she should have left well alone but she couldn't bring herself to.

"Well, I wouldn't say that they all left voluntarily though.

The grim reaper did play a role." he said with a dark humorless chuckle.

His eyes met hers and they were completely cold, a warning was evident in them.

"My mother still lives, do not worry. I do not deserve your pity. I am not an orphan yet."

She wanted to say she wasn't pitying him but she knew her words would be naught but a lie which wouldn't soothe him. Instead she kept silent and nodded.

There was an uncomfortable silence while Cecilia studied him, doing her best to see behind the mask of cool indifference, he had suddenly donned and there was something there, something very painful that he was doing his best to hide, and somehow she knew that this was not the moment to push the matter.

"Where does your mother stay then if she does not live close by?" she asked instead.

"At one of my estates in Edinburgh. She is ill, had been sick for quite some time. It was determined that she would heal better if she was away from me. That seems to be true. I have heard tales that her health had improved since she left just after Father's death."

"Why then have she not come visiting? Since it is said that the state of her health had improved. You are her only living child. One would think that she would be glad to visit."

"Perhaps she could not bear to look upon my face. After all I was not the Duke she had envisioned," he said with a bitter smile. "I was not meant to be a duke at all."

"But you are the Duke now. Are you not? You have done a fine work holding the title this past few years surely that is enough?"

"Perhaps it is not enough." he muttered.

"Perhaps you misunderstand her. Every mother would be proud to have a son like you."

"Thank you. That might be true, except for the mother who bore me. I am a living reminder of everything she has lost. You cannot expect her to be overjoyed to see me."

"You lost them as well. They are your family as well."

"Perhaps she might have thought it better if I had died at war rather than losing her precious son instead."

"You are her son as well."

"Am I really?"

But he seemed to be done answering questions now because he just gave her a rueful smile turning to focus on his painting.

"Try not to move Cecilia dear. I do not believe you will like any punishment I have to offer." he said instead and just like that the atmosphere of flirtation and desire took over, and she was back where they started: self-conscious and feeling even more wanton than ever.

This time she was ready to take this game even further, she was no longer content to leave the concept of his own brand of punishment unexplored, and somehow she suspected that she would enjoy the punishment much more than she had enjoyed posing half naked for him.

So she did what any self-respecting lady of scandal would do.

She sat up, allowing the fabric of her chemise to move how it pleased, exposing even more of her skin, drawing Theo's eyes.

She enjoyed the suppressed tension she could see building in his muscles as if he was holding himself back from pouncing on her it was definitely enjoyable to tease Theo.

It was addictive game one that inspired anticipation and sensuality in equal measure.

"I do believe I ask you not to move, pet," he said lazily, leaning backward in his seat, his eyes heavy lidded with his desire. "Actions have consequences, Cecilia. I believe I told you so before. Come here."

He beckoned her with a crook of his finger causing a wave of fear, anticipation and desire to go down her spine.

She took one step towards him, then another and another until she was standing right in front of him.

Only then realizing from his clenched fists, just how much effort it demanded from him to keep himself in check.

It was gratifying to note that she was not the only one slowly going mad with desire.

"Kneel, pet. I believe you need to be punished," he commanded.

Cecilia slowly descended until she was a kneeling position knowing fully well, that in this position, Theo could see down her chemise and even more of her body through the semi-transparent material, instead of her previous bout of modesty, now she felt an almost overwhelming need to bare her skin completely, inviting him to feast his eyes on her uninterrupted.

She loved the feeling of being desired and the wanton part of her hated his control.

It wanted to push him, until he yielded to the madness that she could sense between them.

"If this is your idea of punishment. It is decidedly juvenile I must say, Your Grace," she said saucily and just as she wished, the fire burned brighter in his eyes. "Surely you have something more creative in your books."

"Juvenile, you say?" He asked softly, his tone sleepy and dangerous.

Slowly, he extended a finger to trace her lips, sparking heat from that single point.

When his finger moved closer to the edge of her lips, holding his gaze, she opened her mouth and nibbled the end of the digit eliciting a satisfying growl from Theo's lips.

In the next moment, Theo's mouth descended on hers and he was kissing her like his life depended on it.