Page 44 of The Duke Who Claimed Her

“What am I going to do about it…” He groaned. “I… You are testing me, Arabella. Why?”

“Am I?” she said. “Or am I just doing as you told me to do? Taking control of my life. Which is more than I can say of you. In fact, I have changed my mind. Go to bed. Yes, that is what I want you to do.”

He did not speak at first. Still not facing her, his shoulders were hunched, his body was shaking, and she could literally see him fighting within himself.

Then he let out a soft moan, and she felt the atmosphere in the foyer shift. When he turned to look at her, Arabella wondered for a brief moment if she had made a terrible mistake.

“Oh…”

He swept down the stairs as he came for her. She took a step back, but she moved too slowly. A second later, and he was on her, one hand taking her arm, the other wrapping the small of her back. He pulled her into him, locking her in place as he stared down at her.

And all the while, she felt him shake, as she heard his breathing rattle.

“I tried so hard,” he said, his voice low and deep. As he spoke, his eyes roamed her, focusing on her neck and then her lips. “To avoid you, to keep my distance. Why could you not let me have that?”

“I thought I wanted you to,” she said, half pulling away, thrilled when he clung to her. “But what if… What if I was wrong?”

“What do you want, Arabella? You say one thing, you do another…” He licked his lips as he squeezed her. “No more lies. No more mistruths. Tell me now.”

What did she want? So many things.

For so long too, Arabella believed that she would never have them. She was convinced she would always be owned, knowing that when she married, it would be to a man she did not want, whom she would never like, and who would only see her as property and someone to control.

For that reason, she was not one who had desired to fall in love. She had never considered the possibility of a happy marriage. To be free… a simple dream, but it was one she clung to.

She had that now, in a way. But what was freedom if you had nobody to share it with? What was a life where you could do whatever you wanted, if there was nobody to do it with? Was Caspian that person? Could she have it all, if he wanted the same thing?

Truly, she did not know. And while she might have liked to think about it, to wonder if she was making a terrible mistake, it was the way that Caspian held her that pushed those doubts to the side. It was the way that his eyes devoured her that made them irrelevant.

Tomorrow, she might stop and consider what she was about to say. But tonight? Right now? She was free to make her own decisions, and that was what she intended to do.

“What do I want?” she said, holding his hungry eyes. “You, Caspian. I want you.”

“And if I say no?”

“I will not let you.”

He groaned, and his grip on her tightened. “What did I tell you about telling me what to do?”

“I have always been a slower learner,” she breathed. “Perhaps you should let me go and walk away? Teach me a lesson.”

“Again, telling me what to do.”

She flashed her eyes daringly. “What are you going to do about it?”

That was it. With those final words spoken, she knew that she had him. Caspian had spent the entire evening fighting an internal battle, but as she held his gaze, she saw him finally lose it. And when he did…

Without another word, Caspian let go of her arm, took her chin, and pressed her face to his lips in a fiery kiss filled with hunger, desire, and lust.

The kiss exploded across Arabella’s body. It swept through her like a hurricane so that she nearly pulled away. But Caspian held her to him, opening her mouth with his lips, and then diving into her mouth with his tongue.

The kiss was ravenous. It was possessive. It was a kiss that told Arabella that Caspian had wanted this for some time. He did not hold back or go gently at it. He ravished her with his lips and his tongue as if it were his last night on earth.

Her hands were suddenly at his waist, refusing to give him the chance to pull away. He dropped her chin, his hands took her waist also, and he squeezed so tight that she nearly yelped. Groans of pleasure escaped his lips. Growls and snarls as if he were an animal.

Suddenly, one hand snatched at the front of her gown. She gasped and tried to pull her face back, but he followed her.

“You wanted this,” he growled between each kiss. “You did this.”