The Duke's Revenge (11 page)

She put two tablespoon of
sugar into her cup, and thought
that
, too, must be very expensive
indeed since it was very white. She stirred the warm liquid and
sipped it. It was smooth and delicious.

“
Mrs. Woods is a great
cook. I always enjoy a hearty meal from her,” he said, staring at
her as she bit onto the hot roll.

“
She is a good cook,” Ivy
said timidly with a slight nod. “Mrs. Johnson would love to
exchange recipes with her. I must ask Mrs. Woods to show me how to
make this hot roll.” She turned to her tea again and sipped the
brown liquid. Because her hands were shaking and because he was
staring at her most intensely which made her nervous, she
over-tipped the cup near her mouth. The liquid ran down her lip.
She nervously licked it with her small tongue, and with hands that
was still shaking, she place the cup down on top of the saucer. As
she did so, it rattled which annoyed her even more.

Max groins tightened with pleasure as he
watched her licking her lips, and he was oblivious to fact that she
was very nervous because he was gawking at her.

“
Who is Mrs. Johnson?” he
asked suddenly, his gaze still fixed on her lips, his hand gripping
on the delicate handle of his cup of coffee.

She looked up and her heart skipped a beat.
The way he was staring at her frightened her. She lowered her head
again to avoid his gaze.

“
She is our housekeeper
and cook.” She could still sense him looking at her.
What to do? She wanted him to stop.
“I, I helped her prepare the meal sometimes,” she
said absent-mindedly.
Had he stop looking
at her yet?

“
Why?”

She looked up at him. “It was my job to
help,” she said and lowered her gaze back to her food.

“
You are not to be in the
kitchen while you are living under my provision.” He glanced
away.

She stiffened. How dare he put a restriction
on her life?

“
Does that mean I have to
have permission from you as well, your grace? If I were to go out
into the town or anywhere that is outside the perimeter of your
vast estate?”

“
Aye,” he said, leaning
forward. “You will tell me where you go, do you
understand?”

“
I am a grown woman, your
grace, not a three year-old child,” she snapped, flaring her eyes
at him.

He raised one shapely brow at her. “Madam, I
am the master here, you will obey my orders, do you understand? I
want no disobedient from you.”

“
Your grace, I am not one
of your servants, I will--”

“
You will do as I tell
you. You are my mistress and you are living under my supervision,
not another word, Madam, I am your damn guardian here.”

“
You are not my guardian,”
she snapped and stood up. “You are an ogre who only sees fit to use
your damn power for corruption. You can buy my body with your damn
money but you will never buy
me
, your grace,
my
feelings,
my
heart.”

“
Sit down, Ivy,” he said
coldly.

“
Nay, I will not, I will
not listen to you, I will defy you, and I promise you that one day
you will beg me for forgiveness. You will, I swear, your grace.”
Her body was shaking uncontrollably for all her rage had come to
the foreground, and she couldn’t help but unleash it at
him.

“
Ivy, I said sit down,” he
snapped, folding his arm across his chest.

“
Nay, I will not.” She
turned and rushed toward the door.

“
Ivy, come back,” he said
calmly as he stood up.

“
Nay!” she shouted over
her shoulder and ran through the door.

“
Damnation!” he growled
through gritted teeth, banging his palm on the table.

Donald came in at that moment. “You grace,”
he said.

Max sat back on his chair, glaring darkly at
the food before him. He had no appetite left.

“
Is she always like
that?”

The butler frowned, at a lost as to what he
meant. “I beg your pardon, your grace?”

“
Is she always like that?”
he said, turning his gaze to the butler.

“
Nay, your grace, never
like that, she was such a--”

“
A hot-headed chit just
like her mother,” he mumbled.

“
What was that, your
grace?” Donald raised his brows.

“
Never mind, Donald, I
have new duties for you.”

“
Aye, your
grace?”

“
Keep an eye on Ivy. I
don’t want her near the kitchen.” He didn’t think a mistress should
concern herself with the kitchen or anything to do with
food.

“
And I especially don’t
want her going to the town alone. You will report to me where ever
she goes and what ever she does and you will assign one of the
footmen to accompany her if she were to go out for a walk.” He
stood up. “Do you understand, Donald?”

“
Aye, your
grace.”

“
At night I want more men
guarding around the perimeter of the castle. Those poachers are
getting more notorious with their hands-on-experiment in my
estate.”

“
Aye, your grace.” The
butler nodded. “I’m confident we’ll catch them soon.”

“
Good, I will be leaving
for London next week for business and Parliament, won’t be back for
a week or two. When I’m gone I expect you to take particular care
of her,” he said and left.

Donald stood there, wondering if he had the
power to carry out the duty of guarding Lady Ivy Michaels and
preventing her from going out into the town alone.

Poor little thing, he thought, she had been
imprisoned under the hand of her unloved mother, and now, she was
imprisoned by her master too. She had never had the luck to enjoy
simple things in life before, and he knew that the mere thought of
her going out into the town and visiting the shops and watching the
town folks going about their daily chores was a pleasure to her. He
knew he himself could not imprison her, for he cared for her too
much. And he knew that he would let her do whatever that pleased
her even though he was disobeying the duke’s orders.

CHAPTER 10

Ivy wondered just how much longer she had to
endure the presence of her master. Didn’t he have important work to
attend to in London? Like his business and Parliament? The thought
about him only brought forward more unbearable pain. The tension
between them during dinner that evening was held by her endurance
of willpower. She couldn’t possibly get any sicker than this, she
thought, thinking about those continuous thrusting of her beating
heart. Her hands were shaking while she was slicing her meat and
her stomach protest at the mere thought of swallowing.

She was glad that dinner was over and now
she was able to rest. She could feel the aching of her shoulders
and lower back. The stress had gotten to her, she thought.

“
M’ lady, your bath is
ready,” Lisa announced.

Ivy nodded, got up from the seat, and walked
to the tub. She dropped her hand into the warm water and swirled it
about. “Lisa, the herbs.”

“
The herbs? Oh, it’s still
in one of the bag somewhere. I’ll fetch it right away.” The maid
rushed out the room.

Ivy stared at the closed door. Waiting seem
pointless since the water was getting colder by the second. She
disrobed and climbed into the tub.

The moment her skin touched the water, she
sighed with satisfaction. The warmth soothed her aching muscle. She
closed her eyes, savoring the beautiful feelings. This had to be
the best bath she ever had in a while yet. At home, her bath was
usually short for her mother would not allow her to lazy around in
the tub for more than ten minutes. The water, too, was usually cold
since she was not allowed to use and waste hot water. She smiled
contently.

Feeling drowsy, she closed her eyes and
rested her head on the rim of the tub. She wondered how much longer
Lisa was going to be fetching the fragrant herbs. She started to
feel guilty, for she rarely used the special aromatic dried herbs
Mrs. Johnson made for her. Tonight, however, she felt the need for
it. It would help her to relax and ease her tension.

***

It took Lisa a while to find the special
mixture she wanted. When she finally found some packed away in one
of the unpacked bag, she rushed back along the dark hallway. She
was walking across the corridor to her lady’s bedroom when someone
appeared before her. She gasped, dropping the sachet to the floor.
She widened her eyes in the dimness as she stared at the huge
figure.

“
Your duties for the night
are done,” his voice echoed in the quietness.

“
But...”

“
Leave.”

She hesitated for a moment and thought
better of it. She curtsied and then left the hallway.

He stood there watching the maid rushing
away down the corridor. He bent down to pick up the ball-shaped
sachet lying on the floor. He stared at it in his hand and smiled
his dark, cynical smile. He turned to look at the door and walked
toward it. He turned the knob.

The moment he stepped into the room he felt
as though he had just stepped into a different world; a world in
which he had never been to before. The glowing candlelight and
smell of honeysuckle, roses, and lavender greeted him. The scent
made him feel as though he had just walked into the Garden of
Eden.

He ambled to the figure sitting in the tub.
She looked as though she was sleeping and dreaming beautiful
dreams. He stood behind her, taking in her slender back. She
shifted her body to get into a more comfortable position.

“
Lisa? You’re back,” she
sang out.

The atmosphere was so light and gentle, he
felt as though he was in a dream.

“
Did you find the
herbs?”

Gently stroking the small bag in his hand,
he kneeled beside the tub. He untied the strings, dug his fingers
into the bag, and brought out some fragrant herbs. He sprinkled
them into the tub and watched it floating about on the water, some
clinging onto the petal white skin.

“
Hmm, that smells nice. My
muscle aches, Lisa, would you rub my back?”

His intense gaze did not leave her person as
he reached for the wash cloth. His hand moved into the water and he
started to rub her smooth skin.

Ivy sighed as her aching back lessened in
pain. The rubbing was like a massage, soothing her nerves. She
smiled and relaxed. She simply wanted to hug Lisa for her
understanding. She couldn’t believe that relieving the tension in
her muscle would also relieve the stress in her mind.

“
Very nice,
Lisa.”

It happened slowly, and she didn’t know how
it started but the feeling of relaxation turned into the feeling of
pleasure. Oh, the delight was incomparable.

Then the cloth barrier disappeared. She
could feel bare hands and bare fingers against her skin. She opened
eyes.

The hand that was massaging her now moved
from her lower back around to her flat stomach--caressing and
stroking her skin. The other hand moved up and massaged her
shoulder. Then slowly the hand about her stomach started moving
upward.

She became alert. Her eyes widened.

The hand moved higher and then it cupped her
right breast.

She sucked in her breath as the thrilling
sensations shoot through her body and down her stomach.

She jerked and sat up right. She turned
around and her gaze locked with another pair of blue color.

“
You!” she whispered,
staring wide-eye at him.

Max smiled.

Before she knew what happened, his lips were
on hers. His kiss was not gentle nor was it savage. His tongue was
thrusting between her lips, forcing them to open. One of his hand
was fondling with her breast while the others holding the back of
her head.

Ivy shook her head and hit his chest for him
to let her go. The more she fought him, the tighter his captivity
became. When he finally left her mouth alone, his lips moved down
to her throat.

“
No!” she cried. “Let
go!”

He ignored her plea and moved his lips down
to her cleavage where it was barely covered by the water. There he
started to kiss and caress her.

“
No, your grace,” she
sobbed.

He finally lifted his head and stared down
at her. He stroked her flushed cheek with the back of his fingers.
“I think you have enough bathing for one day.” He put one arm under
her knees and the other behind her back, and in a flash, he lifted
her up.

Ivy gasped when her bare skin met the cold,
thin air.

“
No, put me back in,” she
said breathlessly.

He gave her his devilish smile and his eyes
showed her clearly that he would never grant her her wish. As he
held her there above the tub, water dripped from her naked
body.

She couldn’t speak nor could she think of
what to do. But her heart seemed to know what it was doing; it was
beating outrageously loud and fast in her chest.

Max carried her toward the open hearth where
the fire was busily razing the fresh pinewood. He laid her on the
thick sheepskin rug and then sat back, looking at her. Surely, he
had never seen a more beautiful water nymph in his life. Her body
was silk smooth and very slippery from the droplets of water
clinging to her petal white skin. Her dark tresses were in a
complete contrast to her fair skin which made her look even more
delicious, and he couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away.