Falling for the Marquess - Julianne MacLean Page 0,82
wasn’t sure how to handle that. What did husbands and wives do when the wife was indisposed?
Additionally, neither of them had mentioned their argument about Gillian. It was as if it had never occurred. They’d made love the night before, but Clara had felt distanced from Seger and didn’t know how to breach that distance without starting another argument.
She rose from her chair and forced herself to smile, all the while feeling like she barely knew her husband. Nor he her. They were like two casual acquaintances, making light conversation, laughing about trivial things, and making love. Though he picked up on each and every desire she had sexually, and satisfied her beyond any expectation, he didn’t want to hear about her anxieties or emotional insecurities. He just wanted her to smile and be beautiful and amusing.
She was thankful that it was easy to smile and be beautiful when he was making love to her, for that was how he made her feel.
As she watched him pour the wine, however, she realized uneasily that the persona she was forced to keep up when he was not making love to her was beginning to try her patience.
There were moments when she wanted to shout at Seger or throw a vase at him to stir up some real emotion between them. But she feared that if she did that, he would think she was irrational again, and she did not wish him to see her that way. It was important to her that she hold on to his respect.
He handed her a glass. “Try this, darling. It’s the best we have in the house.”
She sipped the wine and felt the most pleasant sensation of heat pouring through her body, relaxing her mind. “It’s delicious.”
“Not nearly as delicious as you.” He held up his own glass. “To your beauty.”
Clara watched him in the dim lamplight and marveled at his beauty—the square line of his jaw, his strong, masculine hands. Sometimes he seemed to have no awareness of the strength of his appeal. Other times, he knew exactly how to use his charm.
Distracted as she was by her husband’s charisma, she still could not get the image of Daphne’s gravestone out of her mind. Seger had erected it on his country estate, and the memorial to his first love would always be there, even after Clara had taken up residence.
She wondered if he still went to visit it.
Shaking her head at herself, she endeavored to sweep those thoughts from her mind. She did not want to spoil their evening together. Instead, she sat down on the bed and asked him about his day, resolving to make this a pleasant, memorable night.
As she watched him saunter toward her, sleek and irresistible, she knew it wouldn’t be difficult.
Seger gazed down at his wife and wondered how it was possible that any woman could be so exquisite in every way—from her earthly beauty down to her angelic, bright charm. Her smile was everything to him. Sometimes it was sweet and adorable, other times confident and poised, and still other times, it was sexually charged and drove him around the bend with need. She was the perfect combination of innocence and sophistication.
He had put aside their conversation of a few nights ago, and she seemed to have forgotten it, too. She had not mentioned Gillian again, and he was glad. He did not want to be reminded of the fact that Clara did not completely trust him when he had done everything in his power to earn and deserve her trust. Nor did he want to talk about Gillian when he was with Clara. Gillian was the last person on his mind.
He set down his glass and climbed onto the bed, then took Clara into his arms. With the exception of a few small impediments, marriage was bloody spectacular so far.
Though he couldn’t imagine it being this good with anyone else—which was why he had never been the least bit inclined to take this route with any other woman.
Well, he had with one woman, but that had been a very different time.
He eased Clara onto the soft pillows and began to unbutton the top of her gown, but she stopped him. “Seger....”
Stalled briefly—a tad surprised—he drew back. “Yes?”
“I’m not sure we can do this tonight.”
He blinked a few times. “What do you mean?”
“I mean....” She slipped out of the bed and folded her arms, as if she were shivering in the cold. “My monthly arrived today.”