Sebastian laughed loudly, drawing attention from those surrounding them. And that included Sin, who glared at them with his dark eyes, and she couldn’t help thinking he again thought the worst of her.
“Why don’t you stop lying your own tongue black and tell him what he wants to hear?” Sebastian asked, following her gaze toward his brother. “Don’t you deny it, little sister-in-law. You are the sole reason for your own unhappiness, and if you’ll only talk to him, and I mean really talk to him, you can mend this marriage, turn it into something good. Something like Fanny’s.”
Charmaine wanted to sigh deeply with despair. What was it with this family? Why did they keep sticking their noses where they didn’t belong?
First the duchess had been haranguing her about her relationship to Sin and now Sebastian, from out of nowhere, was telling her what to do.
She knew it was because they loved Sin and wanted only what was best for him. They couldn’t do more than try to persuade her to work out the bumps in their marriage, but as no one knew the full story, they were unaware they nagged her in vain.
“It’s just one small problem,” she said, trying to put the focus on Sin instead of herself. “Your dear brother refuses to hear me out, and therefore there is not much more for me to do than wait until he feels ready to listen.”
“You could seduce him.”
What?
She couldn’t hide her shock at his outrageousness, and his grin deepened. “You are such a beautiful woman, Charmaine Darling, something which you should use to your advantage. When I think about it, I don’t think you ever have. You just stand there, looking absolutely gorgeous, with your long blonde hair and vivid blue eyes. But you never use it.”
She blushed, hearing him call her by her new name, as she to her surprise found she liked being a Darling. It felt right to belong to this strange family, being a part of the chaos they called life.
But to be asked to seduce Sin…
As Sebastian cocked his head to the side, looking at her with his mischievous green eyes, a part of the wall she had built around her heart disappeared. It was strange to feel such immediate connection to someone she didn’t really know, and she knew he could become her friend.
Not because he had to or because he wanted her, but because on some level they connected. The easiness between them was without strings, and she had never experienced that with someone before, and especially not with a man.
Before she could change her mind, she decided to be honest with him. “I wouldn’t know how to.”
He didn’t blink at all over her admission. Instead, he dragged her further back in the room, until they could have a private conversation without anyone overhearing.
“Get naked. That would work.”
She didn’t think her cheeks could get any warmer, but she ignored her embarrassment. “What if he denies me anyway? That would be too humiliating.”
“He won’t.”
“How do you know? How can you be certain the man who constantly turns his back to me, pretending I’m not there, won’t laugh at me before continuing ignoring me?”
“Because he doesn’t ignore you.”
“Yes, he does!”
Sebastian shook his head, his eyes dancing with amusement. “No, he doesn’t. Even now, as we speak, he’s watching you when you don’t notice. The man can hardly take his eyes off you, and I guess ignoring you is his only way to save his poor heart from suffering too much.”
Charmaine shook her head sadly. “He doesn’t care about me.”
“He doesn’t? Then why do you think he’s this angry with you? Because you made this marriage happen? Hardly. If you had just warmed up to him, he would have forgiven you that little mishap a long time ago.”
He looked expectantly at her, waiting for her to come clean with him—and she wanted to, but couldn’t. Not until Penelope was safe.
“It is too late. He can’t even stand the thought of having to share the same bedroom with me. Didn’t you hear him when we arrived? He was desperate to sleep anywhere else as long as it wasn’t in the same room with me.”
The pain she had felt at his not wanting to be near her was clear in her small voice, and for once the mirth in Sebastian’s eyes died as he looked at her with a compassionate little smile.
“Ask yourself one thing, then: why do you think he doesn’t want to share a bedroom with you?”
“Because he can’t stand the sight of me.”
Sebastian shook his head and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. “No, because he knows he can’t resist touching you if he has to share a bed with you. He wants you badly, Charmaine, and if you for once stop acting like an ice queen and instead show him the real you, the warm woman I can sense behind all the pretending, he won’t be able to withstand you.”
Tears ran down her cheeks, and he wiped them away tenderly. “Please believe me. A little warmth can do wonders. This ice-queen act of yours is starting to get really old, and I think you might find yourself in the midst of something much better if you let go of it. Something which might last a lifetime.”
She found herself wishing that were true. A life filled with happiness sounded like heaven to her, and the more she pondered it the more she realized she liked the thought of sharing it with Sin.
The problem was Penelope.
She was still very much in jeopardy, although not aware of it, and Charmaine had long ago made a vow to put her sister’s life first. Penelope would never know what her sister had sacrificed for her well-being, but Charmaine didn’t care. As long as Penelope was happy, it was enough for her.
“What’s holding you back?” Sebastian frowned at her, and she sighed deeply.
“Too much to tell, I’m afraid. All I can say is that for now I can’t reach out to Sin. For his own good it is better he stays away from me.”
“You sound like you are dangerous.”
She couldn’t help but laugh when she noticed the suspicious look he gave her. “I’m not. But sometimes we all carry things in our hearts we cannot ignore. I have such a thing, and I have to see it through before I will be ready for happiness.”
Reluctantly Sebastian capitulated to her stubbornness. “For me it’s hard to understand what can make a young, well-bred lady like yourself give up her own life, but as I can see it’s important to you I’ll leave it be. But, please, if there is anything you need help with—come to me. I will help you and ask no questions. All right?”
She nodded, tears in her eyes, humbled by his simple generosity.
“Well,” he continued, with his impish smile back in place, “let’s join the others before rumors start running around about me not being able to keep my hands off my lovely sister-in-law.”
She put her hand in the crook of his arm and accompanied him back to the others, who were awkwardly praising the gloating Annabelle Overton.
Penelope joined them in the outskirts of the crowd.
“What an awful woman.”
“Miss Overton?”
“She too, I admit, but I was talking about the mother. She’s been telling everyone how important she is and how much everyone looks up to her. Fanny has been rolling her eyes so much I fear they soon will continue rolling, whether she wants it or not.”
“That would be a sight to see.” Sebastian grinned and Penny whacked him lightly on the shoulder.
“You imp. Go away and let me talk to my sister alone.”
Sebastian bowed deeply. “As you wish, my lady. Who am I to go against such a gentle demand?”
He strolled away, leaving the two sisters alone.
“I need to talk to you,” Penelope whispered intensely, nodding toward the door leading out to the hallway, and Charmaine followed her curiously.
“Alone at last,” Penelope sighed as they entered the famous round foyer of Pendragon.
Charmaine, who could sense her sister’s repressed anxiety, didn’t waste any time. “What is it, Penny? You seem distraught.”
; “He’s not here.”
“Who isn’t here?”
“Rake.”
Ah.
Charmaine put an arm around her sister, offering her handkerchief to the now crying Penelope.
“He will come, you know.”
“I know. Sooner or later he will appear, because he too wants to see the triplets. But how will I ever be able to reach him? I’ve been such a monster, pushing him further and further away from me when I didn’t tell him the truth about what happened to me at Lord Bolton’s house, and now he’s just too angry to face me.”
“Do you think he loves you?”
“I know he does.”
“So why hesitate? When he comes, you just have to make sure he understands your point of view.”
Penelope snorted angrily. “Like you have, you mean?”
Charmaine drew back slightly. “This was about you, not me.”
“But you insist on holding everyone at arm’s length, refusing to let anyone know what’s in your heart. And yet here you are, telling me to do the opposite. Why don’t you?”
“Because Rake loves you, that’s the difference. You have something to build upon. I haven’t.”
The air went out of Penelope, and she smiled apologetically.
“I’m so sorry. You are right. Your situation and mine are quite different. You are married to a man you don’t love and who doesn’t love you, while I have a man I love and who loves me. I just seem unable to make him want to marry me.”
Charmaine frowned. Why did it bother her how easily Penelope assumed she and Sin didn’t care for each other? It was the truth, she knew that, but still... She didn’t like it at all.
“I think I’ll leave this little soirée for now.” Penelope sighed. “I’ll go and see how Fanny’s doing with feeding the little ones. I need to distance myself from everyone for a little while.”
“You are such a bad liar,” Charmaine snorted, knowing her sister too well. “You are just trying to elude Mrs. Overton.”
Blushing, Penelope grinned. “Yes, I must admit I am. She’s such a horrible woman. She keeps patting my hand, telling me not to worry about being less pretty than her daughter. I can’t help that it vexes me a bit.”
“As it should. But if I understand it correctly, that woman vexes everyone she meets, so you shouldn’t take her words too seriously. You are very beautiful, and she’s just jealous.”
“Not as beautiful as you are.”
“Maybe not on the outside, but you are the better person on the inside, believe me.”
Penelope hugged her closely. “I love you, Charmaine. You know that, don’t you?”
Charmaine nodded. “And I love you.”
“I know. You can’t help it. Nobody can. I’m just too loveable.”
Charmaine laughed, and as her sister disappeared up the staircase, she couldn’t help but smile. Poor Penelope. She hadn’t had an easy life so far, and Charmaine wished there were something more she could do for her, but other than keeping Lord Nester and Lord Bolton as far away as possible, there was not much.
Too tired to return to the music room and keep up the appearance of indifference, she found her way to the bedroom she and Sin had been given, closing the door behind her. The silence of the room was manna for her pounding head, and she decided not to call for a maid. Instead, she started to unbutton her dress by herself, slowly working her way through the small buttons.
The dress had just fallen into a silky pile at her feet when the door crashed open and Sin barged in, stopping midstride as he realized she was undressing.
“Y-you left,” he stuttered, and she felt an urgent need to put the dress back on, but something made her think of what Sebastian had said: Seduce him. He wants you.
“I did,” she whispered, but he wasn’t listening. He was staring at her with an odd expression, slowly closing the door behind him without taking his eyes off her.
“Why?”
“I’m tired.”
He took a step toward her, and she could see him convulsively clenching his hands as if trying to restrain himself from reaching out to her. From touching her.
Maybe Sebastian had been right. Maybe Sin did want her. A little flicker of hope started to dance inside her, and she wished she knew what to do.
How did you seduce a man?
Get naked, Sebastian had said, and before she could stop herself she took a step back and sat down gracefully on the bed. Sin’s eyes never left her as she bent down and removed first her shoes and then the silky stockings.
She heard his ragged breathing when she removed the thicker chemise, leaving only her thin one. The silken layers didn’t hide much of her body.
“What are you doing?” he whispered hoarsely, and she knew this wasn’t the moment for lies. If she ever wanted to be able to reconcile with him, she needed to be as truthful as possible.
“Seducing you.”
He staggered forward and grabbed her waist, hauling her closer to him. She let her arms slid up around his neck just as she had earlier that day, lifting her face to his in a silent invitation for him to kiss her.
His hands trembled as they moved over her back, touching her soft body under the silky chemise, but he didn’t lean down and kiss her. Instead he closed his eyes as if he tried to find strength to withstand her.
“Kiss me,” she whispered, unable to stop herself from wanting to feel the wonderful sensation his last kiss had aroused inside her.
“Why?”
She looked into his burning dark eyes—and, to her horror, she couldn’t see him yearning for her; all she could see was contempt.
“Because I want you,” she whispered as he took her hands from his shoulders and moved away from her.
“You do, do you?”
He looked her up and down in the most insulting way possible, and only her pride made her able to face him. Something had gone wrong, terribly wrong, and she didn’t know what. He had wanted her; she had felt it in his trembling hands and in his hot breath washing over her.
But somewhere she had done wrong and lost him.
“What made you believe I want you?”
Tears filled her eyes, and she forced herself to stand still and not hide from him, even though his insulting gaze made her quiver. He did everything he could think of to make her feel small and humiliated, but she would never let him know how well it was working.
“You’re quite the seductress,” he drawled, circling the bed before lying down on top of it with his arms under his head, looking absolutely untouched by her almost naked presence. “One can’t help but wonder where a virgin like you has learnt how to make a man want you. Or is that the thing—you are not a virgin anymore?”
She winced at the open insult and, with a whimper, dived to the floor and grabbed the thicker chemise to hide her body from him again.
“Oh, no, don’t you put that thing back on. You were doing so well, Charmaine. Why don’t you continue, and show me what other men have taught you. Show me how you have seduced them.”
As she put the chemise on again, defying his order, she hid her face, not wanting him to see the streaming tears.
“I have never…”
“Liar.”
She stiffened as he snarled at her, clearly not believing a word she was saying.
“I don’t lie,” she whispered. “I have never seduced anyone before.”
“You just can’t tell the truth, can you? This explains why you were so desperate to marry me, why you tripped me. You knew no one else would ever want to marry a used piece like yourself, and when I presented the perfect way out to you…”
His voice trailed off, and instead of continuing he patted the bed beside him. “Why don’t you come here and show your husband what you have learnt.”
“No.”
“No? Why not? What’s wrong with seducing your own husband? Don’t you think there should be something in this for me? What else do you have to offer me but your body?”
Nothing.
The humiliation of having tried to seduce him was nothing to the humiliation of being denied. She had known it could happen, but Sebastian had been so sure…
How could Sin believe this of her?
What possessed him to even consider her offering herself to other men before tricking him into marrying her?
“Please leave,” she whispered, but he only laughed at her. A strained laughter, as if forced, but still a laugh.
“Why? So you can go downstairs and continue flirting with my brother and making a spectacle of yourself in front of everyone?”
Jealousy. That was what had ticked him off.
He had watched her and Sebastian when they stood at the back of the music room, and he had conveniently misunderstood everything.
The relief she felt made her stagger. Jealousy she could understand. Jealousy she could live with. Her stepfather had constantly lectured her about her indecent behavior toward other men.
Most men seemed to be overly possessive when it came to their wives. Why would Sin be different just because he didn’t love her?
“I wasn’t flirting with Sebastian.”
“Well, let me tell you something, it certainly did look as if you were. You kept touching him.”
She looked up at him, recognizing his lie.
“No, I didn’t. I was merely standing beside him, talking to him.”
“So what were you two talking about so intently? How to best hide your lack of virginity?”
She grabbed her robe from the small chair beneath the window and put it on, not knowing what to say to him. Should she tell him the truth? That they had been talking about him? No, she couldn’t. Not when he was this upset.
“We talked about the guests, Mrs. Overton and her daughter.”
“Ah, the lovely young woman with the beautiful voice.”
“Really? You liked her singing?”
“I thought she had the loveliest voice. Don’t you agree?”
She shook her head without thinking, too caught in her thoughts about the awful Miss Annabelle Overton and her screechy voice. “No.”
The Beauty of You Page 6