Page 49 of My Cruel Duke

“H-How do you know all that?” Intense astonishment touched her pale face.

“Those are shallow questions anyone paying close attention to you would know the answers to, Sunshine. Ask me something deep.”

Penny licked her lips, unsure if she should put him to the test. But he seemed confident.

“All right, what do I want?”

Rhysand took in a breath.

“Love. Despite everything that has happened to you, you still crave love and acceptance from everyone around you.”

Penny could barely believe her ears, but she could not have him read her like an open book like that.

“Are you perhaps talking about yourself, Your Grace?”

He released a deep chuckle and shook his head.

“It is too late for me, Sunshine; everything good that comes into my life, I taint with darkness.”

“I do not believe that for a second,” Penny said with a step in his direction, her anger entirely dissipated.

“You do not have to believe it. It is just the way it is.”

“You have more light in you than you let people see.”

“Onlyyouwould say that.”

“I could show you if you let me.”

Rhysand gave her a sidelong glance of utter disbelief.

Penny took several steps toward him, closing the distance between them, “Let me in, Rhysand, and I will show you that you are more than you think you are.”

A defeated sigh escaped Rhysand’s lips. He stretched his arms and wrapped them around his wife’s tiny waist.

“Is that really what you want? For me to let you in and make you mine?”

Penelope sucked in a breath, then she nodded.

“Use your words, Sunshine.”

“Yes, Rhysand. I want you to make me yours.”

He lifted an arm to her face and pushed a stray strand of brown hair behind her ears. “Very well then,” he smiled, “But you should know that. From now henceforth, you are mine forever, Sunshine.”

His large hands took her face and held it gently, and in a split second, his lips came down on hers.

Penny’s calm was shattered by the hunger of his kiss, sending the pit of her stomach into a wild swirl. She had kissed him before, but there was something about his kisses this time; they were more intense, demanding, and filled with more emotion. Simply put, it wasmore.

His tongue explored her mouth, sending shivers of desire racing through her down to the spot between her legs.

“So damn sweet,” he whispered, his breath hot against her ear. Then she felt the heady sensation of his lips against her neck. Penny threw her head back, a breathy moan escaping her lips. She had never felt anything quite intense like this before.

Rhysand swept Penelope, weightless, into his arms, leading them to his bed, where he let her down slowly. He drank her in, swollen red lips parted, sparkling brown eyes demanding more than just kisses. Rhysand bit his lower lip. How had they ended up like this in his room, in his bed? He had no idea, but he knew he wanted to remain like this for the rest of his life. Penelope, his wife, his duchess, could end him with her sweet lips, seductive doe eyes, and beautiful dimpled smile.

“Is anything the matter, Rhysand?”

But he knew nothing could ever be if she kept looking at him like that.