The Duke's Indiscretion by Adele Ashworth Page B

it, darlingwife,” he whispered in a husky timbre. “I expect you to tempt me in it, make love to me in it. That’s what it was made for.”
    Her eyes flashed with shock—and a growing fear. “No.”
    Instead of arguing with her further, he reached down and lightly grasped the sash at her waist, pulling it open before she even sensed his action.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” she asked, taking a step back, clutching the top of her robe again as she held it tightly closed at the neck.
    He smirked. “Undressing you.”
    Her eyes widened in horror. “Absolutely not.”
    Straightening a little, he crossed his arms over his chest and gazed at her candidly. “Then you have five minutes, Charlotte. Five minutes to put the corset on and come to me, or…”
    She looked him up and down furiously. “Or what?”
    He shrugged. “That will be at my discretion as your husband.” Then he turned and walked to the adjoining door. Without looking back at her, he added, “I’ll be waiting for you.”
    She wanted to scream as he clicked the latch shut, leaving her alone for five whole minutes before he…what? She couldn’t think about that. Just as she knew deep inside she had no right to deny him anything, not if she wanted him to support her in her dream.
    Deflated, she glanced down to the corset and slippers in the box.
    Dear God, help me get through this night.
    â€œI married a brute,” she whispered, fingering thelace. Then with a deep breath for confidence, she slowly began to remove her robe.
    Â 
    Colin stared at the flicker in the grate, sipping a brandy, barely able to control his intensifying desire as he waited for her. It had been at least ten minutes since he’d left her bedroom and he knew she took more time than he’d allotted her simply to antagonize him. Or defy him.
    She hesitated in embracing the inevitable as her finest wifely duty. He acknowledged that. But even as he understood her apprehension, he also reminded himself that making love to Lottie English would be the most memorable experience of his life, and the only reason he found himself here now, anticipating the night to follow, craving the sensual pleasure he would soon share with the woman he’d been aching to bed for years, who now belonged to him by law.
    It had been hard to suppress his need for her today, knowing what the night would bring for both of them. The week had been long and tediously eventful, and she’d played her part perfectly as the soon-to-be Duchess of Newark, always regal yet demure, gracious yet unassuming, and ever the lady.
    Theirs was the wedding of the season, naturally, and she looked remarkably glamorous, radiant even, surprising him because for the first time since he’d met the Earl of Brixham’s sister, she appeared as close as he’d ever seen her to the stunning image of Charlotte and Lottie combined. Still, he didn’t think anyone recognized her as the famous opera singer; nobody in attendance would ever expect the new Duchess of Newark to be the seductive coloraturawho made her living on the stage. Only Sam and Will, his two closest friends, had learned the truth from him after the formal wedding announcement had been made, and they’d never tell anyone save their wives. And he had to tell them, because his sudden agreement to a marriage of convenience would strike them as completely out of character when he’d gone for so long postponing, even ignoring, his marital duty.
    Colin glanced at his clock on the mantel again. Half past midnight. It had been almost twenty minutes since he’d left her and his patience was beginning to thin. He bunched his shoulders, then loosened them and stretched his neck to ease the raw tension within, deciding he would give her two more minutes, then march into her room and seduce her there, details be damned—
    The click of the latch jarred him and he flipped his