For Love of the Duke(89)
Why…?
What…?
How could this be?
She opened the small reticule and her breath caught.
The heart pendant glimmered back up at her.
The heart of a duke.
He’d rescued her reticule.
Katherine angled her head, wrinkling her brow.
…And he’d kept the small article.
Why would he—?
“What are you doing?”
The bag slipped from her fingers at the harsh growl.
Her head snapped up and she met her husband’s furious gaze.
Katherine swallowed hard at the burning hot fury detected in the blacks of his eyes.
“J-jasper,” she stammered.
Jasper stared with something akin to horror at the blasted green reticule given to him by Guilford a lifetime ago.
Heat climbed up his neck.
“J-jasper, you have my reticule.”
Yes, he’d kept her bloody reticule. He despised the weakness within him that made him hold onto the frippery, and, he cringed… sleep with it beneath his pillow.
“Why do you have my reticule?” Katherine angled her head, moving her gaze from Jasper to the rumpled green fabric.
He swung his legs over the bed, feeling like an untamed beast.
“Jasper, I asked—”
Jasper whipped back. “I heard you,” he barked and bent down to retrieve his breeches. He should have never taken her to his chambers. He should have never made love to her. Or poured his seed into her. Or…
With another growl, he jammed his leg into one of the holes of his breeches and yanked it up.
He no longer recognized this…this…weak-creature Katherine had turned him into.
Jasper stuffed his other leg in, and pulled his breeches up.
His life had been fine until her. He’d been content to wallow in the misery of his own creation. He’d been safe and protected, and then with one crack of a thin sheet of ice, she’d tumbled into the surface and toppled his world.
“Are you going somewhere, Jasper?” A quizzical note threaded her question.
Jasper stooped to rescue his white cambric shirt. He pulled it overhead.
In that moment, he hated Katherine for forcing him to live again and opening him up to the perils of caring. Not when living was so bloody hard and uncertain.
He reached for his jacket.
Katherine scrambled over the edge of the bed, glorious in all her naked splendor. “I don’t understand why you’ll not speak to me.” Brown curls hung over her cream white shoulders and draped across her breasts. The pink tip of one perfect mound of flesh, peeked from between the strands, the tempting image she presented mocked his steely resolve.
Jasper spun toward the door, but Katherine rushed around to plant herself in front of him. She planted her hands upon her delicately flared hips. She narrowed her eyes. “Is this about the reticule?”
This was about everything.
“Because I don’t know why you held onto it, Jasper.” Her soft, gentled words washed over him until his fingers itched to reach the short distance between them, take her into his arms again, and make love to her. “But I have to believe it means something, Jasper.”
Her supposition killed his desire swifter than a plunge in an icy lake.
He shook his head. “You incorrectly assume, madam. It means nothing.” Jasper made to step around her.
She matched his movement. “Then why did you keep it?” she challenged. “Why if…?” Her question ended on a gasp as he pulled her close.
Jasper lowered his head, so their noses brushed. “It means nothing. Do you hear me, Katherine? Nothing.”
Most ladies would have recoiled at his icy fury. Katherine tossed her head back like a Spartan princess. “If it meant nothing you’d have returned it to me, Jasper. Or you would have left it that day at the—”
“I didn’t find your bloody reticule. Guilford did,” he cursed, and released her with such alacrity she stumbled back a step.
Katherine righted herself. Red color slapped her cheeks. “Oh.” Her gaze slid away for a moment.
And Jasper despised himself for the uncertainty he detected in her usually spirited, warm brown eyes. Because the truth of it was Guilford had rescued the item, but Jasper had retained it for reasons he didn’t, couldn’t force himself to consider.
Her eyes, they returned to his. “You needn’t push me away, Jasper,” she said softly. “I love you.”
Jasper’s body jerked. Oh, God.
This he couldn’t stand. He could not crave her love. Could not want it. She would destroy him in ways Lydia hadn’t managed to.
Taking a steadying breath, Jasper squared his shoulders. “Katherine, ours is a marriage of convenience. I’ve told you before. I loved my wife and she is dead. I’ve nothing left to offer you, and I certainly don’t want your love.”