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“Of course.”

He helped her sit upright. When she turned her back to him, he unlaced her dress. The act was simple, and he didn’t even see much of her skin, and yet, touching her, even through the fabric, had his cock standing at attention. As he unlaced her corset, his resolve to distance himself from her evaporated.

“You will sleep here tonight,” he said.

She turned to him, and her blue eyes sparkled as they locked with his. The smile that spread on her lips made a needle of joy pierce his heart.

“Yes,” she said, and his chest filled with lightness and warmth, like a hot air balloon.

And then there was something strange happening to his face. He felt a tug at the corners of his lips, and her eyes dropped to his mouth, her grin widening.

She gently touched his lips with her fingertips, her expression akin to the awe one might feel when seeing a rare animal up close. “You’re smiling,” she whispered. “Heavens, you’re smiling, Dorian. You’re breathtaking when you smile.”

She had done this. She had opened the curtains inside his chest and let the sunshine straight into his dark heart.

He was a fool. He couldn’t distance himself from her no matter how much he tried.

This woman felt like his salvation.

But one day she very well may also be his damnation.

27

Patience cuddled into her husband’s hard chest and heard the fast thurump-thurump of his heart. His bedchamber around them was dark, the mattress and the sheets were soft, and Dorian was as hot as a furnace.

He was back.

And he had smiled! The most gorgeous, precious smile she’d ever seen. It was like she had broken through the hard shell of Dorian, the Duke of Rath, and through that crack in the shell, she’d glimpsed the Dorian who had existed before the glasshouse…before his mama had been sent away…before he’d had to protect Chastity…before the glove.

And she loved him.

She forcibly pushed away the thoughts that had plagued her ever since she’d talked to Lucien. Dorian had been dueling in Oxford. Did that have anything to do with John? Could John have somehow dishonored himself and then killed himself in shame? Did John’s death have anything to do with Dorian at all, or were these things unrelated…?

This was not the time to ask him. She did not want to break the peace between them. She’d just got him back.

She pressed her nose against his bare skin and inhaled a lungful of his scent: the intoxicating mixture of musk, bergamot, and something spicy, like pepper. His smell always did this to her—made her nipples harden and ache for his touch…made her skin tingle and set her body on fire.

“So, the wifely duties,” she murmured as she planted a kiss on his warm, smooth skin, feeling the muscle tense under her and his heartbeat speed up. “They were quite lovely.”

His arm wrapped around her and pulled her closer. “Patience…” he rumbled. “You need rest.”

Such a pleasant rumble of his voice, resonating through his ribs and against her ear.

“I’ve been resting all afternoon and night,” she said as she ran her hand down his naked chest. She planted another soft kiss on his side, right between two ribs. “I’ve drunk, I’ve eaten. Your physician checked and rebandaged my ankle. Chastity fussed about clean instruments. The cook sent up dinner, and you fed it to me as if I were a child.”

She felt quite brave, quite empowered, feeling him freeze under her, his heart beating even faster. It was all her doing, was it not? She could make this gorgeous, powerful, strong man’s heart beat like that, with just a touch…and a kiss…

What else could she do to him?

“All right,” she chuckled. “If you’re worried about my ankle, is there a way for me to perform my wifely duties and not bother the ankle much?”

He growled, and in one motion, flipped her from her side onto her back, pinning her arms high above her head. She felt spread out for him, all his, every inch of her at his disposal as he towered over her, his face dangerous in the semidarkness of the room, his sky-blue eyes like pools of night, staring at her with intensity.

“For one so inexperienced, you’re remarkably skilled at bringing a man to his knees.”

Patience bit her lip to stop a satisfied smile.

“Are you certain your ankle doesn’t hurt?”