Page 12 of A Duchess Untouched

He then turned his gaze back to her.

“I believe I bade you sit, wife.”

“I prefer standing,” she said obstinately. To make her point, she straightened her back and looked him straight in the eye.

The Duke looked startled by her response. His eyes narrowed into slits as he looked at her. Even in the semi-darkness of the study and his growing stubble, she could still see how his sharp jaw clenched.

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” he said, instead of addressing her current defiance. “Do not for a moment think I forgot about your little farce.”

“What do you mean by that?” Selina asked, folding her arms across her chest, truly confused by his statement.

His gaze dropped, just briefly, to where her arms pressed against her breasts, before he seemed to catch himself and looked back up at her face. She was supposed to be the one demanding an explanation. He left her after they married, disappeared for four years, and came back as if he were her master.

No, he would not get to turn this around and make it her fault.

“I received word of your passing,” he said coldly. “Looking at you at the moment, there is no doubt that you are very much alive.”

“What?” Selina blinked, not quite understanding if the Duke was jesting. “Are you speaking in earnest?”

“Why do you think I am here, Duchess?” Matthew asked, with a fury that he was barely restraining. “I rode day and night, tiring not only myself but Harrison, Maximus, and the horses to reach London in time for your funeral, only to find you alive. Not just alive, but sneaking around dark alleys and entering a gambling hell no less.”

“You sound terribly disappointed,” Selina spat. “Were you hoping that I was dead so that you would not have to get rid of me?”

“Stop talking nonsense,” he grumbled, sounding annoyed. “I merely do not appreciate people taking me for a fool. But this is no laughing matter. Someone sent a messenger all the way to find me and tell me you were dead. Was it you? Did you find the trick humorous? Is it part of a twisted game?”

Selina frowned, her mind racing through possibilities. Could her grandmother or the dowager have done that? She would have to investigate this matter later. For now, she refused to back down, meeting the furious gaze of the husband she thought would never return home.

“I assure you, I had nothing to do with this. I never intended to prank you. I did not, nor do I know of any missive sent to you to invite you to my funeral.”

The Duke tilted his head to one side, studying her.

“Could it be… Was it a trick to have me return to you?” he asked.

“I told you I know nothing about it!” Selina let out a mirthless chuckle. “I would never do that, especially since I never thought you would even care to attend my funeral.” Then, she stopped, as she felt the honesty in her declaration was too much to share with a husband who was a stranger. “As far as I am concerned, I have been dead to you for the last four years, anyway.”

Matthew looked as if he had been struck, shock evident on his face. His eyes probed hers, as if trying to see the truth in her words. Selina had meant everything she said. She had felt dead to her husband and even to the world, living worse than a widow would have.

“You do not know what you speak of,” he murmured.

“I apologize that you were led to return to London under false information, as the writer of the missive appealed to your sense of duty,” Selina said. “Truly, I do. I had nothing to do with it, however. Perhaps your mother is right. Perhaps proceeding with the annulment would be in the best interest of us both after all.”

Selina turned on her heel and went straight for the door handle. Before she could fully open it, however, a hand slammed against the wood just above her head, making her jump. Matthew’s palm was pressed flat there, keeping the door shut fast, and Selina found herself trapped between the solid oak and the towering wall of his body.

He was so close she could feel each breath he drew, his chest brushing her shoulder with every rise and fall. His scent and the heat of him pressed in on her senses until she feared she might actually faint.

Faint dead, she thought, and nearly laughed at her grim little joke.

“We are not done talking, Selina,” the Duke growled straight into her ear. “You are my wife, and you will not speak to me in that manner again.”

Only a sliver of space remained between them as she turned, and he pressed her back against the door. When she looked up, her breath caught. She expected to feel terror, and her thundering heart seemed to insist she did, yet his eyes burned into hers, and his mouth looked far too tempting for her own good. It was fortunate, then, that she remembered exactly what he had done. Or failed to do.

“You seem to remember that I am your wife whenever it is convenient for you, Your Grace,” she said. Her voice trembled a little; she could not help it.

“What do you want from me, then?” he asked softly. “Tell me. What is it that you want?”

“It is simple, really.” She swallowed hard, trying to rid herself of the tight knot lodged in her throat, but it would not budge. “I want to be a real wife. I want my position secured. No matter what brave words you gave your mother tonight, my situation is not so easily settled. My place in this house will always be questioned until there is a child.”

“I gave you my assurance,” Matthew said, as his gaze dropped to her trembling lips before he looked back into her eyes. “I will not let my mother annul this marriage.”