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CHAPTER TWELVE. TOUCH ME, LIKE A SINNER
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This time he brings her emeralds—not diamonds. Though they serve the same purpose: to block her magic.
He's chosen emeralds because just as he noticed that she was no longer wearing the diamonds around her neck, she was still wearing the emerald earrings her mother gave her. It's not something he tends to do—notice others.
The Duke is in her chambers, clipping the emeralds around her neck, like he did her first day here. But it's different this time around, she knows more of what she's giving away now.
Perhaps, in the beginning, even if she knew what he'd be doing to her with this jewelry, she wouldn't have minded as much. She'd never see herself using magic then; never see herself tapping into that sort of power.
Now that she has, she can't fathom it being taken away from her.
She supposes this is something the Duke will continue to do, more so during their marriage. He'll take and take and take.
That's why she needs her magic, she needs something that won't leave her defenseless with him. Something that if not superior to him would have her in step with him.
As he clips the necklace around her, she gives that away.
For him, she's also wearing a blue dress today. For him, she'll also try to be better with Contessa. For him, she'll do all of this—as much as she might not want to. Her service to him is something that has stepped out of her own wanting. It exists outside of her desires as a duty.
Still, she finds it easy to tell him: "You cannot control everything I do," because they're just words and she wants to remind herself that she still has this one thing.
