His Duchess is a Ghost (Novel) - Chapter 31 (Patreon)

“You will stop here, Zilal,” the duke said as he halted.

“But my lord..." Zilal broke off when the duke glanced at him behind his shoulder.

Whatever look the duke threw at him instantly made the man drop his head in forced surrender.

“Yes, my lord,” Zilal said in a weak voice, and the duke continued walking. 

Zilal looked like a worried puppy as his gaze followed the duke. But he didn’t move an inch forward and remained there, exactly as his master had wanted.

…

Inside the duke’s chambers, Alena waited quietly by the bed as the duke was taking his bath.

She hadn’t forgotten his words from earlier that day and had no plans to back off. Though, if given the choice, she would have chosen to never engage in intimacy with this man again.

Duke Donovian was utterly dangerous. A man whose very essence seemed to weave a spell of irrationality around anyone who came too close to him. He was like a force of nature, a peril incarnate in every sense. To be intimate with him was to dance with danger itself, to flirt with a risk that was as intoxicating as it was surely lethal.

But Alena had only seen a little vulnerability in him—an opening, once. And that’s when he was being pleasured and reaching his own release. She had managed to wound him by attacking him while he was vulnerable. If she’d attacked him a little bit earlier that moment, while he was at that very peak of pleasure… she thought that he wouldn’t be able to react fast enough to stop her, right?

The method was something… twisted. Something that didn’t sit well with her conscience. But she didn’t have the time to search for another weakness or opening that might never exist in the first place. Because if such a thing even existed, the duke would have been long dead by now.

And there was no use for her to be listening to her conscience at this point. 

Because she knew she was going to hell with him in the end.

With measured steps, Alena approached the figure reclining in the bathtub. 

The duke lay there, his long, muscular arms stretched out and grasping the tub's edges with an effortless strength. His eyes were closed, veiling the haunting allure that usually emanated from them, yet his features remained strikingly handsome, undeniably magnetic even in repose. 

Without hesitation, Alena’s ghostly form straddled him.

She raised her weapon in a swift arc, aiming to strike. But, as she had anticipated, he was quicker. His hand shot up, gripping her wrist firmly. 

And just like that, her ghostly form transformed, and she was once again in her living form, flesh and blood.

Water soaked her instantly, the fabric of her wedding dress swelling and billowing out around her.

Alena relaxed.

“I wonder…” she started without any preamble. “… if I am going to disappear if you let go of my wrist or if I stay in this form as long as you’re touching me.”

“The latter, duchess,” he replied, his voice low and steady. There was a subtle shift in his gaze, an unidentifiable change.

“I see… that’s great then.”

He observed her with probing intensity. “It seems you prefer me to pleasure you right here in this tub instead of the bed.”

“Yes,” she affirmed. “Right here, Duke. Fulfill the pleasure you promised.”

The duke stared into her eyes for what felt like forever. Something unfathomable seemed dancing in the depths of those golden pupils right now. Was he trying to read her again? He reached out and tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. His tender touch... she wished he would stop touching her with such care as if he meant it.

“Tell me, duchess…” he whispered, “what is the limit? Say it and I will make sure not to go beyond the boundary you will set.”

Alena’s eyes drifted to the adorable mole below his tempting lips. Once again... She wished he'd stop saying such heart-melting words as if he truly meant them. And how could he... how could such beautiful words be coming out of the lips of a man like him?

“I’ll let you know when you get there, duke,” she answered.

He gave a slight nod, his enigmatic gaze still seemed to be dissecting her. “As you wish, duchess. I promise to stop the instant you say it.”

___

CHAPTER 32>>