Page 24 of My Cruel Duke

He did not spare his wife one glance as he grabbed her arm and led her out of there, for fear that meeting her eyes would make him lose sight of the little control he had over his body and take her soft lips right there on the dance floor. Perhaps he should do it to prove to all the hungry men who stared at her that she was his and no one else’s.

“Your Grace, what are you doing? Let me go,” Penelope tried to wiggle her way out of his hold when they entered a quieter corridor but Rhysand did not bat an eyelash to show that he had heard her, or that he acknowledged her squirming. He dragged her with him until they were in a dark room. Alone.

“Mind explaining to me what in the devil that was about?”

Chapter12

Penelope looked up at Rhysand, but the look in her eyes was far from the dreamy gleam she looked at that gentleman with. Not even a tiny smile on her lips.

Well, Rhysand did not care if she smiled at him or not, but for her to smile at other men, and so freely like that? He would not have it.

“Answer me,” he demanded.

“Let go of me first!”

He let go of her hand as though it burned him but made sure there was a little distance between them. If she was comfortable standing so close to a complete stranger, then he expected she would have no problem standing this close to her husband.

“Now answer me.” But she did not. Instead, the sound of her breathing increased along with the heaving of her chest, pushing her breasts to his line of sight.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds to gather himself. He could not get lost like this, this easily, especially to a woman who set his feelings out of control.

“Do you forget that you are married?” The fury in his eyes could light up a whole village.

“How could I ever forget? I have your ring on my finger!”

That sassy mouth.

“If you know, then I implore you to quit fooling around with other men all in the name of dancing.”

Penelope’s mouth hung open as she stared at him.

“Surely, Rhysand, you do not suggest that I am–” his smirk cut her off. His given name from her lips sounded more luxurious than any piece of jewelry he had ever seen.

No, he could not think like that. He would not allow it.

“I am not suggesting anything. I am only reminding you, Sunshine, that you are married to a duke who hates it when others touch what belongs to him.” He closed whatever space was between them. So close he could feel her hot breath on his face, so close that she could feel his hardness on her belly.

Stains of scarlet appeared on her cheeks and her lips parted in surprise when she felt it, but Penelope morphed her surprise into a sly smile, with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Ah,” she placed her gloved hand over her mouth and looked down momentarily, then she looked up at Rhysand. “I know what this is, Your Grace.”

He cocked a brow. “What?”

“Jealousy. Rhysand, you are jealous.”

“That is an outrageous claim, I am not–”

“It is, is it not? Seeing as you have no right to feel such emotion toward me, a mere babymaker.”

“You have to make a baby first, to be called a babymaker, Sunshine, do you not?” He pressed harder into her. She bit her lower lip hard. Rhysand could not tell what aroused him more; that his little sunshine did not back away from his hardened cock pressed against her in such a manner or the raw desire he saw in her eyes.

“I prefer you refer to me by my given name, Rhysand,” Penny tried to back away, but Rhysand’s eyes held her hostage. His blue eyes turned dark like the sea brewing a storm. She wanted to say more, she wanted to say something that would stop her legs from trembling in her skirts, something that would push this man and the emotions he evoked in her away, but as she parted her lips, no words fell out, save the burning desire to be kissed recklessly by this man, her husband.

“I shall call you what I please. And I do have every right to feel emotions when my wife is in the arms of another man. It has nothing to do with jealousy.” He raised his hand and brought it to her face, tracing the lines of my face slowly. “I do not like to share, Sunshine, my properties, my food, or mywife.”

Penny sucked in a breath and attempted to take a step back, but a quick arm around her waist halted her movement. Then his hand on her face crept to the back of her neck, pulling her face closer to his. Then slowly, as if to prove his point, his lips came down on hers. The moment their lips touched, her calm was shattered and it was as though her skin caught fire.

She gasped as his soft lips went over hers, claiming her in the one way she had longed for since their wedding day. She ached to feel his lips on hers again and she got it, very hot and tantalizing.