KATHERINE

Our breathing grows heavy, rushed.

I feel the sparks crackling in the air, the scent of excitement.

"I think… I’d better check if dinner is ready. The lady of the house said it wouldn’t be much longer. You must be hungry."

He springs up like a coiled wire, putting distance between himself and the bed, leaving me there, leaning forward like a fool, lips pursed, as he strides toward the old wooden door.

"Aren't you going to check my wound?" I ask in a soft voice—seductive, or so I think.

I won’t give up so easily.

"Mrs. Nora gave me some medicinal herbs; they should take effect. Besides, you told me you were fine," he responds curtly, and before I can deploy all my charms, he’s out of the room.

"Damn Duke, stiff and uptight. But what you don’t know is that crazy women are persistent, and I won’t stop until I conceive your heir," I mutter, already scheming how to take advantage of the fact that, whether he likes it or not, we’ll be forced to stay together.

****

Later, I got the