Free The Other Duke by Jess Michaels

so confusing. Her body revolted at being touched, it awakened a deep and powerful fear in her.
    And yet, when Rafe was the one doing the touching, there had been moments when her anxiety was replaced by something far better. Pleasure. It was remarkable and her feelings, her unexpected reactions to him, had overwhelmed her reason and suddenly it had been too late.
    And now she had told him the truth one person in the world other than herself knew. Even Emma had only heard the kindest version of the ugly facts.
    “Rafe?” she whispered in the face of his continued silence.
    He stared at her, but she couldn’t read his thoughts.
    “Tell me everything that happened,” he finally demanded, his voice flat and hard like she had never heard before.
    She swallowed hard. Everything . That was a difficult order. But Rafe wasn’t like Cyril—the fact that he had withdrawn from her the moment he realized she was not an innocent, that he hadn’t attacked her for her lie of omission, proved it.
    He had once said they could be friends and she hadn’t believed him. Now she felt a strange desire to do exactly as he required. To give him her story and hope he would understand and protect it in the end.
    She cleared her throat. “My father and Cyril’s father were old friends and the two of them made their marital arrangement for us when I was just six. You’ve seen the documents by now, you know how title poor Cyril’s family was. In their minds, everyone would win with our match. Cyril’s family would have my generous dowry money, my father would be linked to what was once one of the most prestigious titles in all the Empire.”
    Rafe nodded. “And?”
    “I didn’t meet Cyril until I was ten and he was fifteen.”
    Rafe recoiled yet again. “Dear God, he didn’t—” he began.
    She shook her head swiftly. “No! No, he didn’t touch me then.” She shuddered. “But I was less than impressed by him. He was pimple-faced and snide. I also thought he was uncommonly stupid when he made fun of me for reading. He told me I would stop that when I was his wife.”
    Rafe’s lips pursed. “He was always a charming one.”
    “And he only grew more charming with time. Every year after that, our fathers would force the two of us to meet so that we would know each other a little when the time came to wed. I suppose it was meant to be a kindness, but as I grew older, Cyril’s attitude got worse and worse. He had a long list of things I would and wouldn’t do as his wife.” She took a long breath, trying to maintain control as she continued, “In time, he began to ogle, then g-grope me, when we were alone.”
    Rafe’s jaw set. “You must have told your father.”
    She turned her face. “I told no one . My father made it clear that this marriage would happen regardless of my feelings. The one time I danced around the subject that perhaps Cyril was not kind to me, my father slapped me so hard, my ears rung. So I never addressed the issue again.”
    Rafe pushed off the mattress and began to pace the room, utterly naked and not seeming to care.
    Serafina blushed despite the delicate subject she was now addressing and slowly slid the sheets up to cover herself. What she was going to say next left her exposed enough in spirit that she did not want to have her body revealed at the same time.
    “I was eighteen the first time Cyril—” She cut herself off, as she flashed back to images from the night she was about to describe. Rough hands, rougher lips, tearing fabric, pain.
    “Shhh,” Rafe said, crossing back to her. He leaned over edge of the bed and took both her hands. “It’s all right.”
    She blinked at the concern on his face, then looked down to realize she was trembling.
    “Can you go on?” he asked, his voice nothing but gentle.
    She stared at him, this unexpected man who had been forced into this situation even more than she had been and yet was nothing but decent when it came to his interactions with her. And she