Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

T heodore woke and stretched his stiff body. He smiled when he remembered exactly why his body was so stiff. He had made love to many women over his years, but the recent past had been devoid of lovemaking, and when he thought about it, he knew it was through choice.

He had the opportunity to sleep with women during that time, but he had chosen not to. The previous night had been the culmination of months of no women, but it had also been the culmination of something else.

As Theodore reached to the side, he lost his train of thought. Christine was not in the bed beside him, and the other half of the bed was cold. He had not noticed her getting up and leaving the bed in the night, but her absence was noticeable.

Why does that frustrate me so much?

He had asked women to leave his bed, and he had left a bed with a woman in it, but he had never had a woman leave his bed without being asked to. This should have dented his ego, but it didn't. There was something very different about Christine compared to the women he had been with before, and that created a whole new set of feelings that he had to decipher.

Theodore shook it off and sat up in bed. Sunlight streamed in between the curtains that suggested the morning had aged, and he had slept late. His body felt rested even if he had not slept a lot of the night. He smiled as he thought of Christine going about her day after what he had done to her.

That smile was quickly lost when he remembered the cold side of the bed. It drove him out of bed, and he didn't bother calling for his valet. He got dressed on his own, selecting his own clothes for the day and making himself look almost as respectable as his valet would have done.

Theodore thought about going straight to her room to look for her but decided to go downstairs first. The smells coming from the breakfast room were too delicious to ignore, and he headed straight for them. It was a pleasant surprise to find Christine in there.

He could not help but smile as he entered. "Good morning."

"Good morning," Christine replied. "I assumed you would be hungry, so I had them leave out the breakfast foods and keep the dishes warm. When I heard you upstairs, I had them bring the meat and eggs back in."

Theodore studied his wife for a moment before replying, "Thank you. That is very considerate. I am ravenous."

"I did not have much to eat. I wanted to dine with you this morning."

Theodore could not quite place the tone. She spoke mostly as she usually spoke, but there was more formality in her voice than usual. It was not much, but it was enough to suggest something was wrong.

"Are you well this morning?" Theodore asked as he sat down beside her.

"I am. Thank you for asking," she replied. She smiled pleasantly and gestured toward the maid to pour some tea into both her and his cups.

"The food smells especially delicious this morning," the Duke said with a hint of mischief. "Especially after last night. I worked up quite the appetite."

"Then you must eat your fill," Christine suggested.

Theodore did not understand what was happening. He had enjoyed the previous night, and he knew from the sounds she had made that Christine had enjoyed the night, too.

When the maid had poured two cups of tea, he nodded to her, and she left the breakfast room, leaving him alone with his wife.

"I did not hear you leave my bed through the night," Theodore said.

"I did not leave until the morning," she replied. "I slept well in your bed, and I enjoyed your warmth."

Were you afraid to speak in front of the maid? Is that it? No, there is something else at work here.

"Did you enjoy yourself last night?" Theodore asked. He had never needed validation before, but he worried he had overstepped the mark.

When her face flushed a light pink, he knew she was thinking of their lovemaking.

"I have never felt that way before," Christine admitted. "I did not know a man would make a woman feel like that. Words cannot describe the way you made me feel. My goodness, there is a tingle covering my body as if your lips and hands are still on my bare skin." Christine panted and looked down at her empty breakfast plate.

The Duke felt his member stiffen in his trousers at her words, and he knew what they would do after breakfast. Once he had some food in his belly, he wanted his lips and hands back on her body.

Theodore took her hand and pulled on her, so she turned slightly to face him. He looked her up and down as she looked demurely away. She wore a loose-fitting dress that left everything to the imagination, but he had known her intimately the previous night, and he imagined it all.

"I would like to make you feel like that again," Theodore said. "Would you like that, Christine?"

Christine flushed a little more, and the desire he had for her burned inside. He wanted to tear the dress from her and take her right there on the breakfast table. If his sister were not in the house, he might storm to the doors, throw them closed, and do just that.

"I would like that," she replied.

The words should have stoked the fire of desire burning bright within, but they had the same formality that made him think they were agreeing to a business deal and not lovemaking.

She was somewhat distant toward him, and he could not figure out why. She had admitted that he had made her feel things she had never felt before, yet she did not seem entirely excited to do the deed again.

"It will feel even better this time," he pushed, hoping to get a reaction from her.

"I know it will." While her pupils were dilated, and she licked her lips gently at the thought, the tone of her voice was in strict opposition to what her body said to him.

The Duke let go of her hand before he resorted to something he would regret, like begging to take her to bed right there and show her what he meant. If his ego had been dented by waking to not find her in his bed, it had been smashed like glass to hear her speak. The words were what he wanted to hear, but there was something off. Everything screamed at him that she desired him as much as he desired her, but her tone was a single leaky tap in a luxurious bathhouse. It should not have mattered in the grand scheme of things, but the constant drip, drip, drip infiltrated his thoughts until he couldn't ignore it.

"Thank you for waiting to dine with me," the Duke said as he loaded his plate.

"I enjoy dining with you," Christine replied.

The answer annoyed him more than anything else had that morning. She spoke with more enthusiasm over a simple shared breakfast together than she had about their night of passion.

"I enjoy it, too," Theodore admitted, even though he could not work her out that morning.

The mixed emotions were agonizing, and it only made him want to take her all the more—to prove to her how he could make her feel or perhaps to realize the angst inside.

"Your Grace," the butler said from the doorway.

Theodore smiled when they both looked up from the table. Christine could be addressed in the same way, and while she was still not used to being the Duchess, she did her best.

"What is it?" Theodore asked.

"Your presence is needed in the sitting room. We have a visitor," the butler said.

Theodore wanted to know who the visitor was, but he recognized something in the butler's tone. He was hearing something in everyone's tone that morning.

"I shall be right there," Theodore said. He turned to Christine. "Please, stay and enjoy breakfast, and I shall try and be back before it is over. I really do want to dine with you."

Christine smiled. "Thank you."

"And later, we might do something together. Once whatever business there is taken care of. I don't know yet what we will do, but I have the afternoon and evening free, so perhaps a walk in London, or we could go and view a show."

"Yes, I would like that."

The enthusiasm in her voice went straight to his loins, and he felt his nostrils flare as he breathed through them. Partly, it annoyed him how enthusiastic she was about a walk when she did not sound properly enthused about what had happened the previous evening, but he was also excited to elicit a response from her.

He was about to walk for the door, but it felt like an elastic was attached between him and his wife. It tugged on him and pulled him back until it snapped with a crack in his head. The elastic attached his lips to Christine's, and he had to kiss her before he left. Theodore grabbed his wife and lifted her to her feet, pushing his lips into hers and thinking of pinning her to the wall as he had done only hours ago. His body ached to make love to her again. He would show her pleasure like she had never been shown before.

When she kissed him back with as much passion, he doubted what he had heard previously. She wanted him as much as he wanted her, and they would soon be an enabled mass of naked limbs once he had taken care of business.

She can't kiss me like this if she did not enjoy the previous night.

It was not only excitement that coursed through his body but relief. He did not know what had been bundled up inside, but her kiss was a wave that washed through him, removing the dusty tension and cobwebs of stress.

When he pulled apart from her, he felt like a completely new man. Her kiss had fed and nourished him much more than the food could have.

"I shall see you again soon," Theodore said.

"I look forward to it." Her reply was genuine, and her smile true.

Theodore took a breath and smiled back at his wife before he followed the butler to the sitting room.