The Duke and the Accidental Bride (Duchesses of Convenience #5)

Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

S he waited until they arrived home. But that was done purposefully.

Little was said on the trip back, a normal state of affairs, still companionable and without incident, but that was the problem. Again, Duncan complimented her and thanked her for a pleasant evening without drama.

“It was my pleasure,” she said simply, sure to keep her cool and let Duncan think that the night would be progressing, and then ending, smoothly. “I am just glad that you enjoyed yourself.”

“I did,” Duncan agreed, seemingly pleased with her content state.

When they walked inside the manor, it was expected that they would go their separate ways as was always the case after supper, when the evening came to an end. Duncan would go to his room to get ready for bed, and she would go to her own.

This time, Isabella changed course.

She walked after Duncan and followed him down the hallway. He didn’t notice her, reaching his room and opening the door, stepping inside and then closing it behind him without so much as a glance.

Isabella approached that closed door and raised her fist above her head to knock. She hesitated for a fraction of a moment, considering whether this was the best course of action. Once she knocked on that door, there would be no going back and she still could not say exactly what she expected, or even wanted to happen.

But then she remembered this past week. How pedestrian it had been. How simple and plain. Oh sure, it was pleasant enough and it was nice not to outwardly despise the man whom she was married to. But it wasn’t enough!

She remembered their first night, in the washroom, the Duke’s naked body glistening with soapy water as his eyes burned a furious warning that she was yet to meet.

A warmth spread through her body at the thought and she knocked once and then, without waiting for an answer, she opened the door and stepped inside.

“Isabella?” Duncan was in the middle of taking off his jacket, pausing with it halfway down his arms when she saw her close the door behind her. “What is this – is something the matter?”

“You tell me,” she said as she crossed the room to meet him.

He frowned, eyes flicking over her and trying to assess what this was about. He must have seen the determined look on her face, and surely he sensed that this wasn’t going to be a congenial conversation.

Still, he tried for a disarming smile. “Whatever it is, might it wait for tomorrow? It has been a big night, and I think we could both use some sleep.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

His face dropped and the side of his mouth twitched. “Are you sure about that? We have both had a few drinks tonight, perhaps some time to discuss...” His eyes flicked over her again. “Whatever this is, will do us well. By the way...” He forced the smile again. “That dress on you is --”

“Stop it,” she snapped, not daring to give him the chance to compliment or try and be nice. This ended tonight! “Enough with the feigned compliments and the forced niceties. Enough!”

He turned stiff. “Excuse me?”

“You heard what I said, and I am sick of it, Duncan.”

“I...” He clicked his tongue and took a calming breath. “I am not entirely certain what you mean, Isabella. All I have done is be kind to you, which I thought you might have appreciated.”

“And I might have, if it was real.”

“You think I am lying?”

She scoffed. “I think that a man who means what he says would not spend half the night flirting with a strange woman in the middle of a crowded party were everyone could see.” She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

He scoffed. “I do not know what you think you saw, but I can assure you that I was not flirting.”

“So you say.”

“So I do,” he said sternly. “Whatever it is that you think of me, I would never do such a thing as that. We are married, Isabella. And that means something.”

“Then she was flirting with you!” Isabella attempted, desperate to put herself back in control of this argument. “I know a woman trying to seduce a man when I see one.”

“That was not what was happening.”

“And I know a man accepting those advances when I see it,” she continued to fire. “I am sorry that I was there tonight. If I had not been, I am certain you would have had more fun.”

Jaw clenched, she saw his eyes flash fire and brimstone. His body began to tremble. The anger that he had worked so hard to suppress all week slowly boiling to the surface.

That’s right. Just like that...

“That is not what happened.” He spoke through his teeth. “And I will thank you not to speak of that which you do not know – to not accuse me of such slander.”

“Who was she then?” Isabella demanded, her excitement building, while she maintained her angered temperament. “Hhmm?”

“Nobody.”

“That was not how it --”

“I do not care how it looked!” Duncan roared suddenly. “She is an old friend and that is all – which is more than you deserve to be told! I will not stand here and defend myself because you have suddenly decided to pretend to care.”

His words washed over her like flames. Hot and heated and fiery, she took a step back as if he had slapped her. Heart rate spiking, a tremor of fear crept up inside of her because the demented look of rage on his face was beyond what she had imagined.

But still, Isabella stayed strong. Stubborn. Determined. And, most of all, excited beyond anything that she had felt all week. In my entire life, for that matter.

“I am not pretending to care,” she shot back. “I do care. As is my right.”

As she spoke the words, she expected them to come out as a lie. Only there was a truth behind them, one which she realized as soon as they were spoken that Duncan could see.

“Really?” he frowned, sounding cautious now. “You expect me to believe that.”

“It’s the truth!”

“And I am supposed to believe that? That suddenly you care about this marriage when all week, I have watched you itch and fidget at the mere idea of being congenial. Most women would count themselves lucky if they had a week as ours just was. You...” He scoffed again. “You treat it like torture.”

“That is not true!” Isabella cried. “And I have every right to be upset.”

“Upset, yes,” he agreed. “But not hysterical.”

Her eyes flashed anger. If she was being entirely truthful, those words alone might have cut her so deep that she would have bled out all over the carpet. But he assumed that she was lying, which she realized she could use.

“Fine then,” she said with a shrug. “If that is the case, perhaps I will take a leaf out of your book.”

“What do you mean?”

“You wish to sleep with other women?”

“I do not wish to sleep –”

“Then what would you say to letting me sleep with other men?” she spoke over him; his eyes widened and she could see how angry that suggestion made him. “An open marriage, I believe is the term. Surely, you will not be so against that?”

“Isabella…” He groaned and massaged his temples as if to calm down. “I will pretend I did not hear that.”

“Why? What is the point? As this week has proven, you and I…” She shook her head. “We cannot work.”

“Is that what you think? All I have done this week is be kind to you! To treat you with respect! Which I had thought you might appreciate.”

“What I would appreciate is a husband who is honest with me!”

“We tried that!” he snapped.

“No, we did not,” she responded, half with venom, half with a sense of earnestness that came out naturally. “You want to avoid me and hate me and pretend that I do not exist? Fine! But do not dare to treat me like a fool or an idiot. All I ask is that you be real with me. At least then I will know where I stand.”

She was standing less than five feet away from him. Facing him. Hands curled into fists by her side as she berated the man as if her life depended on it – a full week’s worth of insults, laid bare in ways that she could see were cutting him.

And Duncan did all he could to control himself. Body shaking. Refusing to look at her. Face and neck turning red as his breathing rose so quickly that she thought he might start breathing steam soon.

“You do not know what you are asking.”

“I know exactly what I am asking.”

“No...” He shook his head. “What you think you want, trust me when I tell you that you are not ready for it. You would not enjoy it.”

“That is for me to decide.”

“I am doing this for you.”

“And I am telling you no.”

He winced. “Isabella... please.”

Isabella had never felt so excited before. It was hard to fathom what was happening to her body; the way it quivered, the warmth that spread, the fire that grew inside of her that was like a hunger desperately searching for something to consume. And Duncan... he was so close, she knew it.

“I was right then,” she scoffed as if in disgust. “I married a coward. What a shame.”

And that was the final straw.

Duncan’s head snapped up and he growled at her; the beast released from the cage. She could see it in his eyes, she could feel it radiating from his body. The entire room seemed to shake as he bore down on her, his presence growing where he stood to seem as if he was eight or even nine feet tall.

“You want the beast?” he snarled. “You want the monster?”

“I need it,” she said.

“Fine. But remember, you asked for this.”

And with that, Duncan let the beast out of the cage, strode across the room, and took her for the first time.