“How I love you.” She cupped his cheek. “I think it is utterly perfect. Thank you for supporting me in this endeavor. I do realize it is not precisely the thing a proper duchess does, and Lady Beaufort is rather horrified by the notion.”
“Aunt Hortense is horrified by everything and everyone,” he countered easily. His aunt had taken Hazel under her wing and had done an excellent job of teaching Hazel the vagaries of London manners. “You know that I am only happy when you are happy, Hazel. I will never seek to cage you.”
He was blessed with strong women in his life, who had taught him a woman’s independence was to be reveled in, even if much of the civilized world would still seek to repress her. Hazel, with her wings spread, was a glorious sight indeed.
And her legs, for that matter, but that errant thought was decidedly unwanted, for the spear of desire it sent to his groin.
His intrepid wife was somehow instantly aware of his discomfort. She palmed him through his trousers. “There is another way you might make me happy, Lucien.”
He was rigid. Ready.
“Here?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
The Duchess of Arden was a wanton. And he loved it. He loved her. Lucien cast a glance about their surroundings. They were alone in the building, and there was an accommodating old chaise lounge in a salon to his left which had been left behind by the previous occupants. He could position her before it, lift her skirts, take her from behind…
“Here,” she echoed, and then his brash American duchess tugged his head back down to hers for another searing kiss.
The End.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading Shameless Duke! I hope you enjoyed this fourth book in the League of Dukes series and that you loved Hazel and Lucien’s story as much I loved writing it. I’m not supposed to have favorites as an author, but I will admit these two characters touched my heart in an extra special way. After so much struggle in their pasts, they found their home, their hearts, and their happily ever after in each other.
One historical note: while the bombings on the Praed Street (now known as Paddington) and the Charing Cross stations depicted in this book are firmly based in fact, they occurred in October of 1883 rather than in autumn of 1882. Aside from tweaking the date to fit my fictional timeline, however, I relied on eyewitness accounts to describe the aftermath of the bombings with strict attention to historical detail. I’m also much indebted to nineteenth century travel guides for all the minutiae concerning the London railway and Madame Tussaud’s. (Sadly, Napoleon’s traveling carriage was destroyed in a fire in the early twentieth century!) And, in case you were wondering, yes, there truly were lady Pinkerton agents, the most famous of whom, Kate Warne, served as inspiration for Hazel.
As always, please consider leaving an honest review of Shameless Duke. Reviews are greatly appreciated! If you’d like to keep up to date with my latest releases and series news, sign up for my newsletter here or follow me on Amazon or BookBub. Join my reader’s group on Facebook for bonus content, early excerpts, giveaways, and more.
If you’d like a preview of my upcoming standalone Scandalous Duke, Book Five in the League of Dukes, in which the Duke of Winchelsea meets his match in a scandalous American actress with dangerous secrets, do read on.
Until next time,
Scarlett
Scandalous Duke
League of Dukes Book Five
By
Scarlett Scott
Felix Markham, Duke of Winchelsea, has devoted his life to being the perfect statesman and raising his daughter after his beloved wife’s death. But when devastating bombings on the railway leave London in an uproar, he is determined to bring the mastermind of the attacks to justice. He will lure the fox from his den by any means.
In her youth, Johanna McKenna donned a French accent and stage name to escape the clutches of her violent father and became the darling of the New York City stage as Rose Beaumont. Her past comes calling when her brother’s reappearance in her life leads her into a dangerous web of deceit. She finds herself hopelessly trapped until she receives an offer she cannot refuse from London’s most famous theater.
Felix’s plan is clear: bring the famed Rose of New York to London, secure her as his mistress, and drive his quarry to English shores. But the more time he spends in Johanna’s company, the more he realizes nothing is as it seems, least of all the woman who feels as if she were made to be in his arms. When he finally learns the truth, it may be too late to save both his city and the enigmatic lady who has stolen his heart.
Chapter One
1883
From the moment he first saw Rose Beaumont grace the stage that evening, Felix had known why she was the most celebrated actress in New York City. He also knew why Drummond McKenna, the Fenian mastermind behind the explosions on the London railway, would want her in his bed. And he knew he was going to do his damnedest to use the beauty to lure McKenna to the justice awaiting him.
But for now, he would settle for champagne.
He took a sip, watching his quarry from across Theo Saville’s sumptuous ballroom where the company of The Tempest and the city’s most elite patrons of the arts had gathered to fête the famed Rose of New York. Trust Theo to throw a party lavish enough for an emperor. The servants were aplenty, the food was French, the champagne likely cost a small fortune, and the company was elegantly dissolute.
As a duke from a line that descended practically to the days of William the Conqueror, wealth and ostentation did not impress Felix. As a man who had lost the only woman he had ever loved, women did not ordinarily impress him either.
Rose Beaumont, however, did.
In the light of the gas lamps, she was a sight to behold. Dressed in an evening gown of rich claret, her golden hair worked into an elaborate Grecian braid, there was no doubt she commanded the eye of every gentleman in the chamber. Rubies and gold glinted from her creamy throat, her lush bosom and cinched waist on full display.
And though he observed her to hone his strategy, he could not deny he was as helplessly in awe of her as the rest of the sorry chaps gaping at her famed loveliness. He had watched her perform, so mesmerized by her portrayal of Miranda, he had forgotten he was attending the theater to further his goal. For a brief beat, he forgot it anew as she tilted her head toward Theo and laughed at something droll he had no doubt said.
Theo looked pleased, and well he should, for though he had brought Rose Beaumont to his stage as a favor to Felix, there had been so much fanfare surrounding the arrival of the famed Rose of New York, that his already much-lauded theater was enjoying an unprecedented amount of attention. But he was also favoring Miss Beaumont with his rascal’s grin, the one Felix had seen lead many a woman straight to his bed.
Felix had not painstakingly crafted his plan just so Theo could ruin it with his insatiable desire to get beneath a lady’s skirts. No, indeed. Felix finished his champagne, deposited his empty glass upon a servant’s tray, and then closed the distance between himself and his prey.
As he reached them, he realized, much to his irritation, that Rose Beaumont was even lovelier than she had been from afar. Her eyes were a startling shade of blue, so cool, they verged on gray. Her lips were a full, pink pout. Her nose was charmingly retroussé. Hers was an ideal beauty, juxtaposed with the lush potency of a female who knew her power over the opposite sex.
Their gazes clashed, and he felt something deep inside him, an answering awareness he had not expected, like a jolt of sheer electricity to his senses. There was something visceral and potent in that exchange of glances. A current blazed down his spine, and his cock twitched to life.
She smelled of rose petals. Rose had been the scent Hattie favored. The realization and recognition made an unwanted stirring of memory wash over him. He banished the remembrance, for he could not bear to think of Hattie when he stood opposite a woman who had shared the bed of a monster like Drummond McKenna.
“Winchelsea,” Theo greeted him warmly. “May I
present to you Miss Rose Beaumont, lately of New York, the newest and loveliest addition to the Crown and the Thorn?”
Her stare was still upon him. He looked at her and tried to feel revolted. But the disgust he had summoned for her when she had been nothing more than a name on paper refused to return. Her beauty was blinding, and he told himself that was the reason for his sudden, unaccountable vulnerability. That and the scent of her. Not just rose, he discovered, but an undercurrent of citrus. Distinctly different from Hattie’s scent after all.
He offered a courtly bow. Though he no longer chased women, he recalled all too well how to woo, and he reminded himself now that this was a duty. One in a line of many he had spent in all his years as a devoted servant of Her Majesty.
“Miss Beaumont,” he said when he straightened to his full height. “My most sincere compliments on your performance tonight. You were brilliant.”
“Thank you,” she said, her gray gaze inscrutable as it flitted over his face. “You are too kind.”
Her husky voice reached inside him, formed a knot of desire he did not want to feel. Why did she have to be so damn beautiful? He cast a meaningful glance toward Theo, who had been his friend for many years. And who knew what was required of him in this instance.
“If you will excuse me,” Theo said smoothly, “I must check in with my chef. The fellow is French and quite temperamental. Miss Beaumont, Winchelsea.”
Theo departed with the sleek grace of a panther, leaving Felix alone with Miss Beaumont. His friend’s defection occurred so abruptly, Felix found himself unprepared.
“That was badly done of him,” Miss Beaumont said in the same voice that had brought the audience to their knees earlier that evening. It bore the trace of a French accent, one which had been notably absent from her earlier performance.
“I beg your pardon, Miss Beaumont?” he asked, perhaps in a sharper tone than he had intended.
He was out of his depths, and he knew it. He had procured mistresses before. He had been a statesman for all his life. He had been involved in complex investigations, harrowing danger, the aftermath of brutal violence. He had witnessed, firsthand, the wreckage of the rail carriages in the wake of the bombs, which had exploded several months before.
But he had never attempted to make a Fenian’s mistress his mistress.
“Mr. Saville,” Miss Beaumont elaborated. “He was giving you the opportunity to speak with me, was he not?”
“I cannot say I am capable of speaking for Mr. Saville’s motivations,” he evaded.
The statement was a blatant prevarication, for Felix did know precisely what spurred his friend in every occasion: money and cunny with a love of the arts thrown in for good measure.
“Forgive me, but I have already forgotten your name,” she said. “Was it Wintersby?”
“Winchelsea,” he gritted, though she did not fool him.
He had seen the light of feminine interest in her gaze. She felt the attraction between them—base animal lust though it may be—as surely as he did. Some time may have passed since he had last engaged in the dance of procuring himself a bed partner, but it had not been that long, by God.
“Of course.” She smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. “Winchelsea. I am not a naïve young girl. I know what you want.”
His heart beat faster, and a chill trilled down his spine. She could not know who he was or what his true intentions were. Surely not. “Oh? I pray you enlighten me, Miss Beaumont. What is it I want?”
She stepped closer to him, her red silk swaying against his trousers. “You want me.”
She did not elaborate. Nor did she need to.
Her proclamation was the immediate source of both relief and anticipation. Here was a game he could play. He lowered his head toward hers, not near enough to kiss but near enough to tempt himself to close the distance and seal their mouths. Her lips were so full. Her eyes so wide. He did not think the luminous sheen in them could be feigned, though her fluency as an actress was undeniable. How shameful that such a creature should belong to a soulless villain.
“And if I do want you, Miss Beaumont?” he dared to ask, allowing his gaze to devour her face. Part of his task would be easy. His desire for her was inexplicable, yet real. “What would you say?”
Those inviting lips curved higher. Her smile revealed two dimples. “I would say though you flatter me, you cannot have me.”
Damnation.
He ought to have known getting the Rose of New York to fall into his arms would not be an easy feat.
Want more? Get Scandalous Duke here!
Don’t miss Scarlett’s other romances!
(Listed by Series)
Complete Book List
HISTORICAL ROMANCE
Heart’s Temptation
A Mad Passion (Book One)
Rebel Love (Book Two)
Reckless Need (Book Three)
Sweet Scandal (Book Four)
Restless Rake (Book Five)
Darling Duke (Book Six)
The Night Before Scandal (Book Seven)
Wicked Husbands
Her Errant Earl (Book One)
Her Lovestruck Lord (Book Two)
Her Reformed Rake (Book Three)
Her Deceptive Duke (Book Four)
League of Dukes
Nobody’s Duke (Book One)
Heartless Duke (Book Two)
Dangerous Duke (Book Three)
Shameless Duke (Book Four)
Scandalous Duke (Book Five)
Sins and Scoundrels
Duke of Depravity (Book One)
Prince of Persuasion (Book Two)
Marquess of Mayhem (Book Three)
The Wicked Winters
Wicked in Winter (Book One)
Stand-alone Novella
Lord of Pirates
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Love’s Second Chance
Reprieve (Book One)
Perfect Persuasion (Book Two)
Win My Love (Book Three)
Coastal Heat
Loved Up (Book One)
About the Author
Amazon bestselling author Scarlett Scott writes steamy Victorian and Regency romance with strong, intelligent heroines and sexy alpha heroes. She lives in Pennsylvania with her Canadian husband, adorable identical twins, and one TV-loving dog.
A self-professed literary junkie and nerd, she loves reading anything, but especially romance novels, poetry, and Middle English verse. Catch up with her on her website www.scarlettscottauthor.com. Hearing from readers never fails to make her day.
Scarlett’s complete book list and information about upcoming releases can be found at www.scarlettscottauthor.com.
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Shameless Duke
League of Dukes Book Four
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2019 by Scarlett Scott
Published by Happily Ever After Books, LLC
Kindle Edition
Edited by Grace Bradley
Proofread by CM Wright
Cover Design by Wicked Smart Designs
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded, or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the pu
blisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is punishable by law.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events, or locales, is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
For more information, contact author Scarlett Scott.
www.scarslettscottauthor.com
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