To Love A Duke

Wifely woo

Song Recommendation: Woo Her by Joy Hanna

When a lady cannot abide a gentleman’s presence, said gentleman must unearth the reason and rectify his footing. He may start by sniffing his underarm..or by wooing her into admiration!

“.. and that my friend is how to marry a lady” Rourke finished admits fits of laughter. He had teased him when Orion had narrated the story of how he had abducted his present wife. Rourke was a tall, lanky man, quite easy on the eyes, but Orion was well past frustrated by now, it had seemed wise at the time to come to Rourke, Marquis of Hertford for reasonable advise. It didn’t seem so wise now. Rourke who had inherited the title from his father upon his death had blabbed on about the gores of marriage and how this was only the beginning. considering that Rourke himself had once been married long before he took to his life of promiscuity. It was therefore not outlandish in any way to believe he saw marriage as a curse bestowed on Mankind as recompense for man’s Evil Nature

Orion sighed loudly “How am I suppose to rectify my errors if she cannot even bear my presence through a meal”

“By offering to dine even more often with her” Rourke replied, flashing his white even teeth

“She hates me, thinks I’m using her to repay her father for some evil he committed towards me” Orion let his his brandy glass fall to the rug with a dull thud

“Frankly speaking, you led her to believe that, how about you compose her a poem, I hear women love all that talk about their beauty Putting the sun to shame ”

“You do not really mean that do you?” Orion asked him warily, “ Artemis really isn’t the type of woman to be swayed by flattery, and As you know I cannot compose a poem to save my life” he was irked, he hadn’t slept a wink last night and for the past days now, it was slowly getting to him and all the alcohol he had consumed of late threatened to bust forth from his bowels. Ugh, he felt sick to his stomach. He had rode to the neighboring village where Rourke held a property he inherited from his maternal grandmother, the moment he had heard he was around he realized if he didn’t talk to someone about this Artemis fiver he would go stark raving mad.

“Hmmm, You do have a solid point there, I suppose she would be fast asleep if you were to attempt that approach” he said with a trace of humor. “I must say abducting her does not do much for marital bliss, does it?” Rourke asked swirling the brandy in his glass, he seemed sober enough considering he had consumed his first bottle of the day

“I suppose it doesn’t” Orion replied weakly, he was seated on the opposite couch, legs crossed, head thrown back in frustration he couldn’t help but wonder how she was now, what was she doing in his absence, was she composing that letter again, was she asleep? He had learnt from Dungnan that she was an early riser, so she was probably up and about swaying that pretty little arse of hers with her back in that rigid stance, commanding his servants and consuming his food, Ah yes that must be it, he had noticed the way she had filled out of late, His feisty goddess, looking even more beautiful with some skin on bone. At least she was eating well and there was some good in that

“Have you thought of doing something real?” Rourke’s voice jolted him from his thoughts of a haughty looking blonde woman and At that he looked up at him

“Something Real?” He asked a mighty lost

“Woo her. court her. Do all the things you would have done if this were a normal marriage” He shrugged as if it didn’t really hold much water but Orion kept the words at the back of his mind and He couldn’t help but ask

“Do you think I have made a mistake?” the thought came to him swiftly,

“How do you mean?” Rourke asked him looking genuinely concerned, Rourke was a long time trusted friend and confidante, they had each other’s back and though they would never admit it to each other, they loved each other as brothers. And God knew Orion needed a brother right now.his chest was feeling tight on the prospect that he had bound her to a life of misery and unhappiness with him, this hadn’t been the plan. Truth was they hadn’t really been a plan, not with Artemis, one never knew what to expect.

“there must have been some other way to protect her, perhaps I shouldn’t have married her” Rourke watched him thoughtfully, his expression bland. He went on “it’s crazy you know, this..this urge to posses her to make her mine in every way that counts, I can no longer lie to myself Rourke, I must admit I have my selfish reasons for marrying her” Rourke was watching him carefully as he spoke, head tilted to the side as he listened.

“A little late for regrets don’t you think” Rouke asked him looking very sober.

“That’s the major problem, I don’t regret it” He took his head on his hands and breathed out heavily

“I fear I have made her miserable and as selfish as it, I don’t f*****g regret it, I don’t regret snatching her from the viscount’s house and marrying her” he laughed bitterly

“I fear that she may one day see me for the monster that I am, but even that doesn’t drive me to regret”

“ some real dark s**t brother, some real dark s**t” Rourke said thoughtful throwing back the last of his brandy, they sat in the silence of Rourke’s Study and Orion could not help but wonder that if he had married her to protect her from the viscount then who would protect her from him, from the darkness that lurked within his soul.

As the sun set and Orion rode home he vaguely wondered if perhaps there had been some truth in the conversation he had with Rourke, he laughed up into the air was he truly considering wooing his wife? The answer was positive, Now how did one go about the seduction of one’s wife. God help him