The Duke's Masked Wife

255 Desire (1)

“You cannot take this back. I am not going to stop no matter how much you plead,” said Edgar.

When it came to those who wanted to harm Alessandra, Edgar found it hard to hold back from wiping out her enemies. He was normally calm and waited for a later moment to strike but with Desmond, Daniel, and William, his body went straight into wanting to kill the person standing before him. William Lancaster will soon take his last breath even if Tobias were to suddenly change his mind.

“I don’t intend to stop you in the future. I only want to stop you from destroying their statues before you end up paying for an entirely new garden. Now is not the time for you to be attacking statues when your wife is concerned about you. Remember a year ago when you were the one calming me down? Oh how times have changed,” Tobias mused, enjoying how their positions switched.

Edgar ignored Tobias enjoying the moment and looked to Alessandra standing on the edge of the house waiting for a chance to speak to him. “You’ll pay for those right?” He pointed to the broken statues as he walked past Tobias.

“Yes-wait! What the hell, Edgar!” Tobias exclaimed. Edgar was filthy rich so why would he be the one to pay for what Edgar damaged? “Edgar, I’m not paying for shit. I don’t even want to pay a visit here next year after what that old geezer proposed a moment ago. He’s not even listening to me,” he muttered.

“Are you alright now? Have you settled down?” Alessandra asked when Edgar approached her.

“Far from it but I will be fine for now. I’m sorry for storming away without you. I let the moment get the best of you,” Edgar apologized first. He should have taken her hand and led her away from being so close to William.

“That’s alright. I’m glad you separated yourself from him before something bad could have happened. I don’t want you to be the source of anyone’s entertainment tonight. I suppose I should have walked away from him but I did not want to show him that he bothers me. I won’t lie that I was also tempted to punch him so I know how hard it is to hold back. Do we have to leave now?”

“Why? I am never going to leave a party over the likes of William Lancaster. You were enjoying the party and I am not going to make you leave now. Just give me a moment to calm down a bit more. William is not the only person to anger me. You are cold,” Edgar commented after he caught her rubbing her hand to warm it up. “We should head back inside.”

.....

“Tobias, are you cold? You should head back inside, Tobias. No one cares about the king,” Tobias muttered as he passed the couple with envy in his eyes. “The only person to worry about me is my wife.”

Alessandra chuckled, finding Tobias’s need for attention to be amusing. “Thank you for coming outside with us, King Tobias.”

Tobias stopped in his tracks and turned to Alessandra. “Keep this up and I might come to like you more than Edgar. You’ve earned the right to just call me, Tobias. We’re family at this point. I’m going to check on Hazel. She must be worried out of her mind.”

“Are you alright, Tobias?” Edgar asked as he was not the only one with problems tonight.

There was a proposal to strengthen the relationship Tobias had with one of his allies. To consider taking Linda as his mistress since Hazel had not yet provided an heir. Tobias shot it down right away as he had no intentions of taking another woman. However, the rejection tonight won’t shut down the suggestion forever. It wouldn’t be long before more people started to advise Tobias to take Linda to his side.

Tobias did not want Hazel to learn of this until he would have a private conversation with her. She was already on edge about the women visiting the palace and now others would put it in her head that she needed to watch out for her best friend.

“I need a drink. I stopped you from attacking William but I might punch that old man if he brings up his granddaughter again. What was the point of me playing nice with these people because my father requested it? Being nice does not suit you and me, Edgar. I’m going to stop this facade,” Tobias replied.

Alessandra recalled Edgar had told her to not be fooled by what she saw when it came to Tobias as he was more dangerous than he showed. What was said when Edgar and Tobias left to make him stop pretending?

“I will leave you two love birds alone,” Tobias said as he walked away. Just like Edgar, he needed to protect his wife from the vultures in the room. ‘I should take her on a trip out of town. The palace will become messy in the coming days,’ he thought.

“What did William say to you?’ Edgar asked once they were alone.

Alessandra didn’t think this was the best idea to tell him now when William was most likely still around but she did not want to keep any secrets from him. “He said he wanted to offer condolences for my father. Then he almost mentioned that I am owed to him before stating I am in a place where I do not belong but I will go where I belong soon.”

Alessandra chose to leave off the fact she had caught him staring at her chest. William did not try for the slightest moment to hide that he wanted her and it made her want to return home to scrub her skin even though he had not touched her. His gaze was enough to make her feel dirty.

Edgar held Alessandra’s hand and took her back inside from the cold. “What are you hiding from me?” He asked as he saw right through her. They had been together many times for him to know when she was withholding something.

“There is nothing-”

“Alessandra,” Edgar said in a firm tone to stop her from lying. “Now is not the time for us to start lying to each other so tell me. When I kill the man, I wanted to know everything I was killing him for.”

“I will tell you after we have left the party. Thank you for always jumping to protect me. I have to admit that is quite uhm,” Alessandra paused, embarrassed to say that seeing him go up against William was exciting in more ways than one.

“Did that turn you on? There is still enough time for me to punch someone and then we can hop into a bathroom for privacy. Or we can leave right away and have fun on the way back home in the carriage? I can’t stop thinking about taking your dress off.”

“Please behave, Edgar. If you can keep your composure even with William present, I will do something for you when we return home,” Alessandra softly spoke. In her head, she sounded quite loud as she gave him a bold offer.

A party with Kate and William present meant they had not escaped all the drama just yet. She wanted Edgar to remain calm despite how much the two deserved to be strangled. Edgar would never care about how others view him but she did not want him to be criticized for the things he did because of her. She was all for Edgar punishing William in secret so no one could point a finger at him.

Edgar wasn’t falling for any of Alessandra’s tricks. She was trying to play him by not mentioning what she would do for him. Her offer sounded sexual but then once they got home she would say she meant something else. “What is it you will offer me?” Edgar asked.

The two rejoined the party and right away, all eyes went to them to see how Edgar was after his little argument with William Lancaster. Everyone wished to know about the bad blood between the two men and though this was meant to be a party for people with class, they wanted to see a fight between the two men.

“I have not thought of it yet. I just threw that out there,” Alessandra replied.

“Then let me change what I am looking forward to. If this party ends without me trying to snap someone’s neck, you must strip out of your dress for me. Careful,” Edgar caught Alessandra after she almost tripped.

It wasn’t hard for him to control his temper now that he was going to plot to have William’s head on display on a stick outside his gate or perhaps drag William back to his dungeon and lock him in a room with hungry animals that would love his flesh.

Alessandra and Edgar found a quiet corner to enjoy themselves in peace.

“You can remain in your corset if it will ease your mind. Throw me a bone tonight, Alessandra. I am desperately burning to have you one way or the other,” Edgar confessed as his desire to touch her replaced the anger he directed at William and it would not fade away any time soon. “At least satisfy my imagination tonight.”

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