Page 32 of Project Duke

Like all of the other rooms, this one’s pitiful state was apparent, but Calliope could see its former grandeur so clearly. She’d have the paneled walls painted in turquoise, but a darker, duskier tone than Nathaniel’s eyes. And she’d put golden drapes and a golden counterpane on that glorious bed, and many pillows. She’d refresh the tired wooden floor, and get a large, plush carpet so that stepping on it with one’s bare feet would be a pleasure.

What paintings would he like? Trying to remember if he ever mentioned the sort of things he was interested in, she narrowed her eyes at Nathaniel, who approached her with a small carved-crystal glass holding red port wine. His fingers brushed lightly against hers as he passed her the glass, sending a jolt of awareness straight through her knees.

“What are your interests?” she asked breathlessly.

He chuckled slightly. “Right now? I have only one interest. You.”

His eyes were dark with meaning over the rim of the glass as he drank. She took a sip, too, not really tasting it. She should be more confident, so much braver than she was at this moment. Everyone was settled after dinner. The girls had gone to their rooms. After the terror of meeting the three dogs, and being rescued by Nathaniel, Miss Furrington hid under the bed in Calliope’s new room connected to Nathaniel’s through the larger door to her left. Calliope had left the cat with a little ping of jealousy. Shaken by the beasts, by her near fall, by this new house, and by her new family and new husband, Calliope didn’t want to face her wedding night…

Not now…

Probably not ever.

And that strange, burning excitement that seethed at the very pit of Calliope’s stomach surely wasn’t anticipation of what was to come. She knew exactly how good it could feel to lie with a man—if books could be believed. Villains and Velvet was a collection of nine short stories where well-bred damsels were seduced by all kinds of rogues, scoundrels, and rakes while on swashbuckling adventures, being chased by pirates, vagabonds, and highwaymen.

Nathaniel could have easily stepped out of that book, with that large, muscular body and that voice as deep and as seductive as sin.

Heavens…and what if the night with him would be just as good as in Villains and Velvet? Just as good as she’d felt when she’d read those stories—before William had found her. Just as good as she’d felt when she’d touched herself right there?

Could he make her feel like that, too?

Her heart slammed so fast against her ribs, she couldn’t breathe. She took the last sip of her wine—gosh, it tasted like sweet vinegar—and put the glass back on the table.

“I meant, what sort of paintings do you like?” she asked. “Your walls are bare.”

Nathaniel’s jaw muscles worked, and he put his empty glass on the table, too. “Let’s not talk about my bare walls, dearest.” He turned to her and took a large step, standing so close she could smell him. “Let’s talk about something I’d like to see bare…you.”

Her throat contracted. Goodness, he was just like the hero from one of those stories! Heat flushed through her, making her all achy and longing for something…

Was it heat or embarrassment? William King’s shadow lurked in the depths of her psyche like a silent guard, dark and powerful.

She saw it in Nathaniel’s eyes. It would happen between them. If she didn’t stop him.

In a cold slap of panic, she whirled around and walked to the first thing she saw…the books.

She grabbed one of them mindlessly. The book was titled Things as They Are by William Godwin. A book about political injustice. She threw a curious glance at Nathaniel and flipped through it. His dark gaze followed her every step. It was like a warm, heavy caress on her body.

How could she be like this? Want this, ache for it, and fear it at the same time. “Did you like this one?” she asked. “Given you condemn innocent men to serve at war against their will, I didn’t think you would be interested in books like this.”

He slowly walked to her and stood five steps away, leaning against the poster of the bed. “Like what, Calliope?”

“This book is about how powerful institutions can destroy a person’s life with no regard to their circumstances. Isn’t that what the system of press-gangs is doing to people? Tearing them out of their lives, dropping them into a war with no consent? Isn’t that what that system did to my brother?”

There was a tiny flinch on his face, a flinch of regret. Of sorrow. Calliope’s heart lurched.

“I had to do many things to keep the roof above my sisters’ heads,” he said. “Things I’m not proud of. Reading books like that reminds me that I’m still human. Gives me hope it all could be different one day. By marrying me, you gave me such hope.”

And just when she was looking for more ways to dislike him, to reject him, to keep him at a distance, he said things like that… Things that made her knees weak and stole her breath away. Maybe he really wouldn’t be like William. Maybe she just needed to chase that shadow away and let Nathaniel in. Let him teach her. Change her.

After all, William King was no longer a threat. He couldn’t marry her anymore.

“I can quite understand that, Nathaniel,” she said with a slight smile. “In fact, I read it twice.”

She put the book down and picked up the next one in the stack.

And dropped it like it was red-hot. On the cheap paper cover was the all-too-familiar print with a blooming rose underneath… Villains and Velvet by Lucien Montpellier.

She froze, burning with shame and embarrassment just like fourteen years ago when William had found her with that exact book. How could this be? She hadn’t seen the book in years, yet the very memory of it was both arousing and shameful.