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Accidentally Compromising the Duke(59)



They both froze. She was aroused by his roughness, and the very idea had his cock twitching.

“Remove your hands,” she growled. “This is unseemly!” Her cheeks were so red, it was as if they wore rouge.

He removed his fingers from her core, placed another digit under her chin and lifted her head to meet his eyes. He could see the anger, the frustration, the arousal, and the embarrassment in the depth of her gaze. “Never be embarrassed for your passions.”

She arched an imperious brow, and hauteur descended on her lovely features. “I was certainly not embarrassed.”

“Good.” Then he pressed a kiss to her brow.

“But I am angry you thought to check if you had released in me. Would it truly be so bad to have a child?”

He buried his face in her hair.

“Edmond?”

“Maryann died in childbirth.”

“I know.”

“Then you know I will not risk you.”

“This is not your choice to make. We need to have a reasonable discussion.”

He withdrew from her, drawing up so he sat on the bed, his back flushing against the headboard. “A logical discussion has been had.”

“I am perfectly healthy. You should not believe I will suffer complications.”

“My proof is bones beneath the ground; my proof is in the tightness of your passage…”

She gasped and glowered at him.

“My proof is in the narrowness of your hips.”

She gathered the coverlet to her, and sat in the center of the four-poster bed, staring at him with a defiant tilt of her head. “Tell me what happened with Maryann, please.”

Her glare intensified at his silence. “I know I was not to ask about her, but surely you can see that is no longer an option. I have kept my silence, but in good conscience I can do so no longer. To be docile will ruin our chance for happiness.”

“And if I decline your request?”

“I shall make your life wretched.”

He arched a brow. “I fail to see the power you have to do this, madam.”

An elegant shoulder lifted. “I will not allow you to bed me.”

For a stunned moment he was speechless, and when the import of her words were fully assessed and understood his entire body hardened, tensed. “Are you by chance attempting to manipulate me, Duchess?” he said with dangerous softness, a tone in which many heeded and retracted their offenses with alacrity.

Instead his duchess nodded firmly. “More like encouraging you to communicate with me. I realized last night after you drew me to you for the fifth time, that your reluctance to commence your martial duty had been well…bluster, and you are quite unable to resist me.”

Grudging appreciation flared inside him.

Then she gave him a sweetly sensual smile. “Upon my word, your mien is once again proud and unyielding. If it is any consolation, I find you magnificent and it will be painful for me to withhold from your touch…and kisses,” she said huskily, her eyes glowing with honest need and determination.

“Sarah’s birth had been difficult, and Maryann had labored for over twenty hours,” he said abruptly.

Adeline’s eyes widened with hope and something far tenderer that he was not yet ready to acknowledge. It occurred to him then that his duchess had been bluffing. She had not really thought he would open himself to her. Had he truly been so cold and reserved? He suddenly realized how much he wanted to actually converse with her, so that she could understand his stance even if she did not accept it. He was startled to realize he did not want her contempt or her resentment. When had her good opinion become important?

“Weeks after Sarah was born, Maryann resided in a deep melancholy. I consulted with several doctors, and I was told it was normal for many women who had just gone through the rigors of childbirth. I did everything possible to lift her spirits, and she did rally. The first night I…the first night I tried to take her to bed was eight months after Sarah’s birth. Maryann was as stiff as a board and hardly responded to my touch. I did not press an advantage, and I left her be for another several months. But in that time I mentioned on numerous occasions my wish for an heir, after all, what man, especially a duke, was not in need of a blasted successor and a spare.”

Warm and concerned eyes held his steady.

“Without me having to seduce her, she came to me, and we resumed intimacy. Shortly after, she became with child.” He cleared his throat several times before he continued. “I am not sure what moved her to confide in me, but she finally told me the doctors had advised her to not have any more children.”

“Oh,” Adeline gasped, sympathy filling her expressive eyes. She made as if to touch him, and then withdrew her hands quickly.