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tension in his jaw eased and he walked towards her. “The money is nothing, as long as you find the clothes to your liking. Are they to your liking?”
    The duke stood before her, so close that she could see the tiny streaks of gold in the dark brown of his irises. The now familiar fragrance of his eau de Cologne mixed with the smell of soap and starch was intoxicating, invoking a sudden memory of him braced above her as he thrust his shaft deep within her, his cologne combined with the scent of perspiration and arousal heavy in her nostrils.
    When he spoke again, his voice was husky. “Arabella, if you do not stop looking at me in this manner, I will pick you up, place you on that settee and take you again.” The blaze of heat in his eyes and his words made her stomach quiver. “And I do not wish to do that because I know you must be tender this morning.”
    Even as she blushed at the intimacy of his statement, she couldn’t deny the melting warmth in her chest at his concern.  
    “I am sorry.”
    Bella’s eyes widened in surprise. There was a strange note in his voice and she wondered when he had last made an apology.
    His voice low, he said, “I had only meant to pleasure you. But the way you responded to my touch, watching you reach your peak drove me beyond bearing.” His brows knitted. “I hurt you, didn’t I?”
    Bella was at a loss for words. The man before her displaying regret for claiming her body, when it was rightfully his to claim could not be the same man from yesterday.  
    Castor obviously took her silence for agreement. “I will not come to your bed again until you are healed.”
    “No!” Bella stopped short, feeling her cheeks flame. “I mean, I am all right. Truly, it wasn’t so bad. The pain was only momentary.” The pleasure had lasted much longer. Her blush deepened. “You don’t have to stay away. I have no objections if you wish to … visit me.” Lud, he was going to think her a wanton now, and he would be right.  
    Just a few days ago, she had resigned herself to living the rest of her life a spinster. She was destined to never know the love or the touch of a man. If there had been even the tiniest sliver of hope that she would one day find a husband, it was now gone. She was no longer a virgin. She was mistress to the Duke of Ice. She was already ruined beyond repair, so why not enjoy herself. And although Castor Winterton-Grant may be the most ruthless peer in the whole of England, he was also a very skilled lover.
    His eyes were hooded and she could not read his expression. He said nothing, merely inclined his head. “Come. I have something to show you.”
    That something was a room on the top floor of the house, adjacent to the central stairs. Bella swore her mouth fell open when she had her first look of the library. Three out of the four walls of the room were covered in books from floor to the high ceiling. The fourth wall was actually a bank of windows which allowed the library to be well illuminated. All the libraries she had ever seen, including the one in her home, were poorly lit and it was a hardship to read there.  
    Speechless with awe, she slowly walked over to the nearest shelf, reaching out and tentatively touching the red vellum of one of the books there. “Guide to the Lakes,” she murmured.  
    “It is a guide to the Lake District. The engravings are barely tolerable but the prose is a great improvement. It was written by one who knows that area well. I found it unexpectedly poignant.”
    Bella looked over at Castor. “How many of these books have you read?” There were thousands of books in the mammoth room. Perhaps tens of thousands. She would need several lifetimes to read each tome in the library.
    “I don’t know. Certainly more than a thousand.” He shrugged. “I have always been a voracious reader. As a child I would rather be in here reading that outside with Pollux.” He froze. Shock flitted across his countenance.
    “Pollux? Is he your