Page 95 of To Pleasure a Prince

“I didn’t realize you meant to shirk your duties as my wife to do it.”

His words got her dander up. “If you try to keep me here against my will, I shall summon Cicely to fetch me.”

“How? You can’t exactly send her a letter.”

She colored. “I’ll ask one of the servants to write a letter for me.”

“Will you?” He smiled grimly. “I dare say not a single servant in your own household ever knew you couldn’t read, so you’re not likely to reveal it to a servant in mine.”

The fact that he was right only increased her anger. “Then I shall hire someone in your little village—”

“Nowthat,my dear, I will definitely not allow.”

“What? Do you mean to forbid me to do it?”

“Absolutely.” When the word sent her scrambling to get off his lap, he held her firmly, his own temper flaring in his face. “I’ve spent half my life as the object of the most cruel gossip. The local populace has finally come to see me as a fair and just landlord who cares what happens to his land and his tenants, and you want me to give them a reason to gossip about mywife?To talk about how she’s itching to leave me a mere week after we married?”

“I am not itching—”

“You have no idea what it’s like. I can trust my servants to be loyal and discreet, but the townspeople…” He shook his head. “I will not allow it.”

All her anger dissolved. If anyone understood that sort of pride, it was her. But the fact remained that he was trying to keep her in a prison of his own making.

“Then I shall have to walk to London,” she said tightly. “Unless you mean to lock me in your dungeon?”

“Of course not.” A heavy sigh wracked him. “Very well, we’ll return to London for the season, if you wish.”

“I do.”

“But onlyafteryou give the reading lessons a few more days. All right?”

“All right.” She should be relieved that he had relented. But she had the uneasy feeling that disaster had only been postponed, not averted.

“Besides, our honeymoon has barely begun. Surely you will not begrudge me a few more days of keeping you to myself.”

“No,” she said, the yearning in his tone erasing some of her unease. Of course he would be demanding right now; they hadn’t even been married a week. “But I do not mean to spend the whole of it suffering through your books and my headaches. For today, at least, could we do something else?”

A smoldering heat leaped in his face. “Whatever you say,” he murmured as he lowered his mouth to hers.

With a laugh, she pressed her fingers to his lips. “Notthat,you randy devil. We do plenty enough of that already.”

He released a frustrated oath. “Then what else did you have in mind?”

“For one thing, I could use a vigorous ride—” She caught herself even before his eyes started gleaming. “On ahorse.Perhaps we could see the rest of your estate and tour the main house.” A mischievous smile touched her lips. “You could even show me your famous dungeon.”

His face instantly grew shuttered. “Let’s skip the dungeon. The damned place is cold and dreary, with nothing in it but old wine bottles and rusty chains. It’s no place for a lady.”

“But all your talk about it and the rumors have made me curious.”

“Only because you have a false image of it in your head. It’s not what you’ve imagined, I promise you.” He cast her a forced smile. “If you really want to see it, I’ll show it to you, but I’d prefer not to stir up the rats by going down there.”

Rats. Ugh. “Never mind. I’ll take your word for it.”

“A ride, however, sounds pleasant. And the weather’s perfect for it.” His mouth brushed her ear as he slid his hand inside her bodice to fondle her breast. “But first, dearling, I want a private ride. I deserve a reward after making so many concessions.”

“Oh, you do, do you?” She pretended to be affronted, though her blood had already begun to heat and her pulse to race. “And if I say otherwise?”

“Then I’ll just have to convince you.” He thumbed her nipple until she groaned and pressed her breast into his hand. “I gather it won’t be too difficult.”