Page 32 of The Duke’s Second Bride (Regency Second Chances #4)

I t was late afternoon by the time Edith left. The sun was beginning to lower in the sky.

After waving goodbye to her friend, Ava headed straight for Christian’s study.

When she got there, he was sitting at his desk.

God, he looked so handsome. Those blue eyes of his were as intense as always, this time focused on his paperwork. Ava recalled the night before, when he had set that same focus to the task of pleasuring her.

Just the thought of it was enough to make her blush deeply, as though heated from within.

At the creak of the door opening, he looked up to see her. Immediately, his face lit up with a subtle smile, brightening his entire demeanor.

“Ava,” he said, and the sound of her name in that low, rich voice sent a ripple of pleasure through her. “Good afternoon.”

“Good afternoon,” she said. Then, “I was looking for Pudding.”

He arched a brow, and Ava noticed he was very still in his seat, barely shifting at all.

“He is not here,” he said. “I have not seen the infernal creature all day.” He glanced downwards, then back up.

“Is that so?” Ava smiled, then tossed her head, beginning to walk around the edges of the room rather than directly towards Christian and his desk. “What a pity. I could have sworn Mrs. Wentworth had said she had seen him run down the corridor outside this study.”

“I do not doubt it,” Christian said.

As subtly as he could, he slid his chair closer to the desk. Ava pretended as though she did not notice the movement.

“And yet he is in none of the other hallways,” she continued, feigning disinterest in him and the desk in favor of looking over the many, many books that lined the room.

“Then perhaps you should ask Luke,” he replied smartly. “I imagine the boy would know where the cat is better than the housekeeper.”

“No, he isn’t with Luke.” She continued her slow examination of the walls and shelves of the room. When she glanced back at Christian, he had a sly smile on his face that mirrored her own. “Nor is he in my room.”

“Well, then,” Christian said. “I have not the faintest idea where he could be. You ought to keep better track of your pets.”

She gasped in mock offense. “How dare you!” she said, beginning to cross the room towards him. “Why, I love that cat more than life itself. And …”

She rounded the desk, revealing that, sure enough, Pudding was sitting on her husband’s lap, curled up and seemingly asleep, based on the lack of purring that accompanied this contented tableau.

“It looks rather as though you may be beginning to develop a bit of a fondness for him, too,” Ava said triumphantly, looking down at the cat, then back up at Christian, who looked slightly embarrassed at being caught out, though not entirely displeased.

“Well …” Christian began, looking down at the cat, then back up at his wife. “The cat was already here when I began my work,” he protested.

“So, the cat has finally earned your favor, then?” Ava questioned.

Christian huffed, brushing at his sleeve as if offended. “Favor? Hardly. I merely tolerate its existence. Do not mistake my civility for fondness.”

If Pudding had been asleep before, he was awake now. He jumped up and off Christian’s lap onto the desk, where he went into a long stretch. Then he jumped down to the floor and squeezed easily through the cracked door out of the study and into the hallway.

“How noble of you,” Ava said.

With Christian’s lap newly relieved of its previous occupant, she decided to take the opportunity to take that space for herself. She sat neatly on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“What about me? Are you keeping me on your lap because of pure civility?” she teased.

“No,” Christian murmured. His eyes traced a deliberate path down her face and neck, lingering at the curve of her dress, and Ava felt herself shiver at the intensity of his gaze. “It is … because I have no other place I would rather have you.”

“Is that so?” Ava asked. He leaned in to kiss her, and she leaned away teasingly, eliciting a growl from him.

“Yes,” he said, voice low and steady, yet thick with something unspoken.

His hands rested lightly on her hips, not quite possessive, but undeniably controlling, keeping her anchored to him.

“It would be unwise for you to sit anywhere else. I cannot be responsible for what I might do if you were out of reach.”

Ava felt heat creep to her cheeks, a flutter in her chest. The way he looked at her—calm, commanding, and yet entirely focused—made it impossible to speak, impossible to think, impossible to ignore the pull between them.

“What about now, then, that I am here?” she challenged, biting her lip.

“Oh … Let me show you, then,” he smirked and leaned forward again, this time managing to successfully capture her mouth.

She pressed deeper into the kiss, allowing his tongue deeper access into her mouth.

Her hands roamed the unfortunately clothed expanse of his shoulders and back, all of which were broad and strong and muscled and warm beneath her palms.

As she squeezed his back, he let out a moan into her mouth, which she returned in kind. The sound seemed to spur him onwards, spur both of them onwards. He stood, lifting her onto the desk, so that he could sit her upon it.

Ava clung to him all the more tightly for stability. She drew him closer, and he acquiesced to her unspoken demand by coming closer still, pressing between her thighs, against the spread of her skirt.

“I have been thinking about nothing but you all day,” he murmured against her lips. “All day, I have been trapped at this damned desk, poring over this blasted paperwork, and my head has been filled with nothing but visions of how goddamned beautiful you looked last night.”

“It is all I have thought of, too,” she confessed, a bit breathless already from the kissing.

With one arm wound around his shoulder to hold herself steady, she used the other hand to card through his hair, caressing his jaw. She enjoyed the way he shuddered at the gentle touch.

Last night had been all about her. He had insisted upon it. And while Ava was grateful for the attention—God, she was grateful for it—she also could not suppress the desire to return the favor in kind.

Although returning the favor wasn’t perhaps the most accurate, that turn of phrase reflected a sort of altruism she didn’t feel.

No, this desire was entirely selfish. She wanted to hear all sorts of moans and rasps and deep, pleasured growls escape from his chest. She wanted to see what his face would look like contorted in pleasure.

It was an unfamiliar feeling. She had never felt this way about William, she realized. With William, all matters of the physical had felt like nothing more than an obligation. He had never considered her pleasure.

Now, with Christian, it was as though his every movement lit a fire within her. She pressed her lips to his once more in an even more passionate kiss.

One of his hands left her waist and moved down to her ankle. His hand traced a line up her leg.

“Father?”

Luke’s voice came from the hallway.

Ava and Christian broke apart, and were able to smooth down their clothing and stand by the time the boy reached the study. He knocked at the door.

“Come in, son,” Christian said, finally having banished some of the breathlessness from his voice.

Luke pushed open the door. “Have you seen Pudding?” he asked.

Both Ava and Christian tried unsuccessfully to hold back chuckles. They looked at each other, and Ava felt a spark in her chest at the sight of Christian smiling. It was such a rare sight, and yet the expression suited him so well that she could not imagine him looking any other way.

“What is it?” Luke asked, looking back and forth between the two. “What is so f-f-funny?”

Ava calmed herself back down and smiled at the child.

“I was just looking for Pudding too,” she said by way of explanation. “Come along. You and I can go looking for him together. How does that sound?”

Luke nodded eagerly. “What about F-father?” he asked, looking up at Christian as he took Ava’s outstretched hand.

Ava looked at Christian. “Your father is swamped with business today, so he will have to stay in his office for a while longer,” she said.

Christian nodded. Ava and Luke began to walk towards the door. Just as they reached the door, though, Christian called out behind them, “I will be joining the two of you for dinner, of course.”

They looked back. Ava felt the smile on Luke’s face matched by a glow in her own heart.

Sure enough, Christian joined them for dinner that night. It was the first time he had done so since their arrival at the country house. Ava felt almost nervous, as though it was her first time dining with him.

In a way, it was, she supposed. After all, before they had been dining as near-enemies. This felt like the first time she was truly dining with her husband .

In an instant, she pictured what it would be like to go to bed with him after dinner, and heat flooded her cheeks.

“H-h-how has your w-work been, Father?” Luke asked while cutting the meat on his plate.

He also seemed slightly nervous, based on the seeming return of his stammer.

Things had seemed much improved between him and Christian as of late, Ava noticed, but he still spoke more alone with her than he ever did around anyone else.

“It is all much the same,” Christian said. “What I would really like to know is how your studies are going. Your tutors tell me you are exemplary in every subject they teach you.”

Luke beamed at the unexpected compliment. “They do?”

Christian nodded. “And I have seen myself how hard you have been working. I am proud of you, son.”

Ava felt warmth spread through her—different than her usual lust for Christian. Affection. She didn’t just desire her husband; she liked him. She thought he was a good man.

And if he struggled sometimes to show his affection for his son, at least he was still trying.

“Ava has been working hard too!” Luke cried.

Christian’s gaze slid over to his wife. Ava was continually surprised by how even just eye contact with him was charged with an almost magnetic pull.

“She has been, hasn’t she?” he said, his voice so low that it filled her with renewed desire.

“Yes,” Luke said cheerfully. “We brought seeds from the garden at the country house! She said we can start a new one here.”

“Yes,” Ava agreed, blinking and breaking eye contact with Christian for a few moments to collect her thoughts. But when she looked back at him, she saw he had not looked away from her for one moment. “Yes, that is true.”

“Well, I shall be pleased to see it,” Christian said. “And perhaps to even assist myself.”

Ava arched a brow. “Oh, really?” she asked.

He nodded. “Indeed,” he said. “I met with my business partner this morning, and I finished all the necessary paperwork this afternoon. I suppose I shall be in need of a new project. Particularly if you are going to be assisting me in looking over our finances in the future, Ava.”

She smiled, pleased. “I would be happy to,” she said. “And we would be glad for your help with the garden, wouldn’t we, Luke?”

Luke and Christian both smiled. It was clear, in that moment, how much father and son resembled each other.

For perhaps the first time, Ava felt truly as though she were at home in the London house.

After Luke went up to his room with the maid, Ava and Christian were left alone at the dining room table. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife as their eyes met.

“Well,” Christian murmured, “I believe this has been our most pleasant family dinner to date, don’t you?”

Ava nodded. She could not bear to tear her gaze from him as he stood up and crossed around the table to her.

He bent down to kiss her. Her eyes fluttered shut, and the world seemed to fall away until all that remained was the exquisite sensation of his mouth moving against hers. She reached up and allowed him to draw her to her feet.

Then, suddenly, he bent down and swept her off her feet, holding her firmly against him. The moment was so unexpected that she could not help but let a delighted laugh escape her lips.

“What on earth are you doing?” she exclaimed, winding her arms up affectionately to bind them around the back of his neck.

He kissed her deeply. “I thought you might enjoy a change in perspective,” he murmured, his eyes glinting with mischief.

She smiled. “Well, it is certainly … different,” she said, affecting a tone of mock reprimand. “Though I might add, we are already within our house, and it has been several weeks since our wedding.”

“Ah, yes,” he said, kissing her once more quickly, and beginning to walk around the table back towards the dining room exit. “I confess I am behind in my duties as a husband. Clearly, I must do all I can to make up for it, and to make amends, wouldn’t you agree?”

Ava reached up to kiss him again. “Better late than never, I suppose,” she murmured. “Though I would recommend most strongly that you start immediately.”

He smiled. “Yes, I should,” he said. He kissed her once more. “I have some last bits of work to finish before bed.”

Ava groaned, which teased a laugh out of Christian. He continued to carry her up the stairs, walking to her chamber, and nudging the door open.

After depositing her gently on the bed, he bent down to kiss her yet again, and she took advantage of the opportunity to wrap her arms around him, kissing him deeply.

“Stay,” she said, pressing her forehead to his once they had broken the kiss. “Save your work for the morning.”

He chuckled, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Ready yourself for bed,” he said. “Enjoy one of your books. I will be with you as soon as I can.”

She rolled her eyes as he left the room, but felt the glow of excitement remaining.