The Duke's Wife (The Three Mrs #3) - Jess Michaels Page 0,84
people coming, with so much at stake? There is a great deal that might go wrong.”
He pondered that a moment. “What if we made a wager to ease your mind?”
She arched a brow. “You just love losing to me, don’t you?”
He snorted out a laugh. “If you get too cocksure, I’m bound to catch you. Now, are you too cowardly to wager, Your Grace?”
“Never.” She folded her arms. “What is the subject?”
He stroked a hand across his freshly shaven jaw absently, leaving her wanting to do the same thing with her cheek and then her lips. “Well, we are attending a ball, and my sister will be there—a center of attention, no doubt.”
“No doubt,” Abigail agreed freely. “I saw her dress today and it is beautiful. She will be admired by all who attend.”
“Then why not wager on Ophelia and the number of her dance partners?”
“Interesting,” Abigail said, and tried to keep her giddiness from her face. She and Ophelia had talked during breakfast, and Ophelia had confided that she did not intend to dance more than ten times that night. She wasn’t going to fill her dance card. So Abigail had the advantage in this wager. “Do I get to choose the number first?”
“Yes. And whoever guesses closest to the correct number without going over will win.”
She pretended to think about it. “Nine,” she said.
“Nine?” he repeated. “Come, this is her first event since returning to London. She will be in great demand. I say fourteen. Her card will be full and only exhaustion will keep her from dancing all night long.”
Once more Abigail tried to keep her excitement from her voice as she shrugged. “You know her best, so you are likely to win. But what are the stakes?”
He cocked his head. “What do you want, Abigail?”
He was toying with her, being seductive and playful and probably expecting her to ask for some sexual favor. And it was tempting, because she did love any time he touched her. And yet she wanted something more, foolish as it might be. Something she had been pondering a great deal in the last few days.
She shifted. “A while ago, you offered to tell me about your past. That deep, dark secret we both know you are carrying around.”
“Ah yes, my secret room of portraits I’ve painted…badly,” he said solemnly.
She shook her head at his teasing. “I lost the first wager where that secret was the prize, so I didn’t get to know it. But I’d still like to.”
He seemed surprised by her request, and for a moment she thought he might refuse her, but he nodded. “Very well. My secret is the prize if you win. And if I win…then after the ball, after I peel that pretty dress off with my teeth and make you shake with pleasure, after all of that…I want you to stay with me in my room. All night.”
She swallowed hard. “You want me to sleep in your bed with you?”
“Yes.” His voice grew rough. “Very much so, Abigail.”
She worried her lip a moment. The reason she had avoided sleeping with him was that it felt so intimate. Even more so than sex, somehow. To sleep in the same bed was to fully trust a partner, to surrender the most vulnerable moments with them.
It was one of the last barriers she had left between them. And yet she could see how much it mattered to him and she wanted to give him this boon.
She nodded. “Yes.”
He grinned. “Then may the best man…or woman…win,” he said as he crossed the room, swept her into his arms and kissed her gently, as to not muss her. When he set her aside, he offered her his arm. “Shall we go, Your Grace?”
She drew in a deep breath and then took his arm. “Lead the way, Your Grace.”
He did so, taking her from the room and leading her to the next step in their path together. The next step toward their future.
The ball was in full swing, and no one could have counted it as anything but a rousing success. Nathan had watched, swelling with pride, as Abigail embraced her role as duchess to the fullest. She was such a natural at making people feel comfortable, welcomed, no matter their station or income or title. He realized now that was one thing he had always admired about her, loved about her. Seeing it in action only made that love swell higher.
Now she had just entered the dance floor with Owen