Gambling on the Duke's Daughter
Page 21
“Well, I think we both had a hard time believing,” he told her diplomatically. “But I’m going to try harder, Natalia. Just don’t give up on me.”
“I won’t,” she promised, pulling his head down for a scorching kiss. For a long moment, he let himself get lost in her sweetness. It seemed as though it had been years, not mere hours, since he’d kissed her.
At last, he forced himself to pull away, brutally reining in the impulse to carry her up the stairs and spend the rest of the day making love. There were still many things they needed to talk about, including the debt of gratitude that had driven him out onto the cliffs that morning.
He’d gone outside hoping the bitter cold would clear his mind because he’d been undone by her thoughtful gesture.
“Last night, after I left you, I went back to my room and found my mother’s paintings.” He cupped her face tenderly, staring into her eyes as he tried to convey just how much it meant to him. “No one has ever done anything like that for me before.”
She smiled. “There are more of them. Dozens more. Patrick has kept them in his room all these years so the last thing he’d see before he fell asleep was your face.”
That explained how Natalia had found out Patrick was his father. “I’d like to see them all. Perhaps you can show them to me later.” He hugged his wife, melancholy with the wish that Fiona Blake could’ve known her.
His anger toward Warren rekindled, hot and bright. Someone had to make him pay for what he’d done.
Seeming to sense his sudden change of mood, Natalia touched his face, urging him to meet her gaze. “Warren was the man in your dream, wasn’t he?”
Dylan nodded, trying to bring his anger under control. Anger had no place here, not today. “Your questions made me realize it wasn’t just a dream. I was reliving the nightmare of the past.”
“What will you do? Will you try and make Warren pay for his crimes?”
“I don’t know what I want,” he admitted. “My first impulse was to go back to London and kill him. God, Natalia. You can’t imagine how much I hate him.”
Natalia shifted in his lap, so she was straddling his hips, and he had to tilt his face to meet her serious gaze. “I know you want to hurt him. He deserves to die for what he’s done. But you can’t take the matter in your own hands without destroying yourself.” She leaned down and kissed him. “I won’t let you throw away what we’ve found for the sake of revenge. Let the magistrates punish him for his crimes.”
Dylan closed his eyes, struggling to let go of the past, knowing Natalia was right. His love for her had changed him; he no longer had any interest in retribution. All he wanted was to live in Scotland with his wife and try to forget Warren even existed.
Another sobering thought occurred to him, something he hadn’t even considered until now. “Michael will be devastated when I tell him. He idolizes the earl.” He opened his eyes and met Natalia’s sympathetic gaze. “Warren’s downfall will destroy him socially. He’ll lose everything if he doesn’t marry Miss Marks.”
“Don’t worry about Michael,” Natalia told him. “I think he’d be the first to want justice done.”
“Perhaps you’re right.” Utterly drained, Dylan let his head fall back against the chair. “I don’t suppose I need to decide anything this very moment.”
“You’re absolutely right. Any decision about Warren and your brother can wait.” Natalia pressed her lips to his forehead, her relief palpable. “For now, why don’t you let me tell you about a decision I’ve made?”
He stared at her, praying whatever she had to say wouldn’t eviscerate his emotions once again. “What decision have you made, love?”
Natalia gave him a sultry smile. “Remember when you asked me if I wanted children?”
He nodded, all thoughts of the earl vanishing from his mind. He slid his hands beneath her robe, cupping the luscious warmth of her breasts, knowing that one day soon he’d have to share them with his child.
“I do want them,” she whispered, leaning down to brush his mouth with the sweetness of hers. “I want dozens of them.”
He hugged her tight, overwhelmed with gratitude and a sense of rightness. His gamble on the duke’s daughter had paid off in ways he never could have imagined.
The End
Will the Earl of Warren get what’s coming to him?
Will Michael be forced to marry Emma Marks?
Read MARRYING THE AMERICAN HEIRESS, the next chapter in Diana Bold’s BRIDES OF SCANDAL series!
Michael Blake, a straitlaced English nobleman, desperately needs to marry an heiress. When he discovers that his intended bride—and her much-need dowry—has been romanced away from him by his own brother, he is forced to turn to the only other great heiress on the market.
Emma Marks is an American adventuress who has spent the last few years traveling the world—a bargain she made with her father in return for her promise to marry a titled aristocrat by the time she's twenty-five. But when Michael is accused of a crime he didn't commit, can Emma help him deal with the ghosts of his past? And can Michael show Emma she doesn't need to travel the world to be happy because love is the greatest adventure of all?
Buy Now!!! MARRYING THE AMERICAN HEIRESS
I hope you enjoyed reading Dylan and Natalia's story as much as I enjoyed writing it! If you did, I would greatly appreciate a short review where you purchased it or your favorite book website. Reviews are crucial for any author, and even just a line or two can make a huge difference.
OTHER BOOKS BY DIANA BOLD
VICTORIAN ROMANCE
BRIDES OF SCANDAL SERIES
Gambling on the Duke’s Daughter
Marrying the American Heiress
Seducing the Spinster
Finding the Black Orchid
UNMASKING PROMETHEUS SERIES
Masked Intentions
Masked Promises
Masked Desires
Once a Pirate
Fortune’s Gamble
FANTASY ROMANCE
A Knight in Atlantis
WESTERN ROMANCE
LAST CHANCE BRIDES SERIES
One Last Chance
Chance of a Lifetime
Love at Last
The Last Bride
Once a Gunslinger
Once a Mail Order Bride
Once a Bandit
Once an Outlaw
You can contact Diana at Diana@dianabold.com
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Diana Bold has been writing since elementary school and never wanted to be anything but a writer. It took longer than she hoped to accomplish that, but she is now the award-winning author of more than twenty historical romances. She lives in the mountains of Southern Colorado with the love of her life. When she's not writing, she enjoys traveling and genealogy.
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