Page 33 of My Cruel Duke

The smile did not leave his face.

Penny could hardly believe it herself. Since when did her husband smile, and at her? The only physical expression of emotions she had been capable of conjuring out of him was a scowl. Rhysand scowled when he was angry, annoyed, happy– if at all he was happy on their wedding day.

Not only did his lips stretch in a fine line, it also reached his eyes. Meaning, that Rhysand was genuinely amused. Now that he smiled, he looked a few years younger with a boyish charm around it. She could tell from the way it faltered a bit that it had been a long while since he smiled like this, this genuinely without any negative emotion attached to it.

“Pray tell, what is amusing you? Do I by any chance have paint on my face?” Penny touched her face and found the answer to her question almost immediately. Red paint followed her finger as she pulled it away from her face. At this, Rhysand chuckled, but he masked it quickly with a cough.

“You find my misfortune amusing. Do you hate me that much?” A simple smile sat on her face. Rhysand shook his head. “So you claim, but look at you. You are all smiles for whatever reason.”

His blue eyes seemed warm, like the sea on a warm afternoon such as this one. “Do you have other interests? Besides painting, that is?”

If Penny was shocked at Rhysand’s question, she did not show it. Instead, she nodded.

“I never told you, but one of the many reasons I accepted your proposal is that it had the key to something I have always longed for.” Rhysand raised a brow in question. “To be a mother. Now, I do not think I will make a great mother, but I want to try. I want to enjoy the sounds of little legs running against the tiled floors barefoot. I want to look down at the life I have created and love it with all my heart,” she pressed her lips together before adding;

“Because I know it is possible to love a child I birthed.”

To show her mother if she cared to watch, that it was very possible to love a child one birthed, with everything. The love Penny did not receive from her mother, she would give it to her children, and her children would love her right back. She sighed and turned to her ruined painting.

“You paint beautifully.” Rhysand turned to the painting too. “You have the skill of a professional,” he added and a small smile crept up to her face.

“This was supposed to go to the hallway, to mark the start of the challenge I set out for myself; to fill the hallway with my paintings.” The smile on Rhysand’s face vanished at her words. They were back to default. Penny was surprised it lasted for as long as it did. She should use this opportunity to say the things that kept her up at night.

“I am eternally sorry for going against your warnings. I understand that you have a reason for living the way you have lived this far, and that reason somehow concerns my father and has shaped you into the man you are today. I also know that when I am with child, I shall have no claims to Thornbury Hall, but I cannot keep living in this house like this,” a sigh escaped her lips. “I cannot keep up with the facade that these black walls do not haunt me in my sleep. It feels as though they are draining the very life out of me.”

Rhysand took a protective step toward her, eliminating the space between them.

Lightly, Rhysand fingered a loose tendril of hair on her cheek and tenderly traced the line of her cheekbones and jaw. She met his eyes. Hers were filled with curiosity and deep longing. He was faltering, he could feel it. Each second in her presence was pushing him further down a rabbit hole, and he could not tell if he loved it or hated it, but he knew he did not mind it.

“These changes do not suit me. They resurrect buried memories and it frustrates me, but I do not think I could live with myself if you lost this spark you have in your eyes, or if you stopped smiling.”

She observed him with her sweet musing look. “What does that mean, Rhysand?”

He cupped her face with his other hand. “It means I shall allow it. This renovation…” Her eyes widened. “Only if you agree to take it slow. I would need time to ease into it, so you have to go slowly.”

She sucked in a breath. She had not been expecting that. Especially not after how angry he seemed to be about the situation last night.

Full of excitement, she wrapped her arms around his strong waist in an embrace, pressing her soft body against his in such a wanton, but innocent manner. Rhysand stilled.

“Thank you so much, Rhysand.” She pulled away, but Rhysand held her close. He did not mind that he also had paint on his clothes. He did not mind anything as long as it was with her, and the truth of it scared him.

He stared intently at her slightly parted plump lips, which were begging to be kissed. A light of desire illuminated her beautiful brown orbs. And suddenly, they were back at that ball from a week ago, standing close and fanning each other’s faces with their breaths. That night he had a full taste of her, and now the ache returned. He had not forgotten the way she tasted. He had not allowed himself to forget. It had kept him up at night more times than he would like to admit, and now she was right in front of him. Her eyes told everything she was feeling. She too went back to a week ago, she wanted to be kissed senseless by him.

Rhysand leaned in, slowly and surely until his upper lip brushed hers. He would have another taste of her again, if only–

“Penny, dear, where are you?”

Chapter17

At the sound of her aunt’s voice, Penny wiggled in Rhysand’s grip, but it was as though he tightened his hold on her, not letting her go.

“Rhysand,” she called out breathlessly. His eyes zeroed in on her and a deep sigh escaped his lips before he let go of her. Aunt Augusta had not made it to them yet, but she was close.

“Penny dear,” she called again, and just as Penny parted her lips to respond, the hounds returned, running happily without a care in the word.” Penny’s eyes widened at the implication of what Aunt Augusta’s arrival would mean if she saw the hounds.

“The hounds! Please take them away!” Panic settled in Penny’s voice. Rhysand tilted his head to the side.

“I thought we had established that they are kind beasts if they know you?”