They headed down the back steps and entered the kitchen. One of the scullery maids passed by. “Excuse me.” Charlie held up a hand. “Could I get some boiling water and clean rags?”
“Of course.” The girl bobbed and disappeared again.
She looked back a Raithe. “You’ve only been in Seabridge Gate for a few days.”
He reached out, cupping her cheek in his hand as he moved closer. “I’ve watched your every step since our dance last year.”
She gasped, her hands fluttering up to his chest. “But why didn’t you ask me to dance again? Or even speak to me?”
He took her face in both hands, looking into her eyes. “Because you are dangerous, my sweet. I knew it from the first moment I touched you.”
She didn’t feel dangerous, but she did feel powerful and wanted. What was more, she wanted him too.
“My lady. The water is ready,” the maid called from in the kitchen.
“Take off your shirt,” she whispered. “We’ll get you all bandaged.”
“What my lady asks for, she gets.” And he stepped back, stripping off his shirt.
She resisted the urge to run her hands all over his powerful chest as she pulled him into the kitchen.
She cleaned the wound with hot water and then tightly wrapped it with fresh linens. He was right, it was only a graze, not nearly as bad as she’d feared.
“All better?” he asked, looking down at her bandage.
“It will be soon enough.” She leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his shoulder. “Now. It’s time for you to go to bed. It’s been a long day.”
One of his brows rose up. “It has, indeed.”
Grabbing his bloody, ripped shirt, he shrugged it on, and reached for her hand one more time. “Upstairs with both of us.”
Chapter Sixteen
Charlie practically floated next to him as they made their way upstairs. She knew she’d be pressed against him very soon. In his arms, next to his heart.
“There are some things I think I need to tell you,” she gushed before they made it to her room. She needed to get the words out before he started to kiss her.
“What?” he asked, reaching her hall. “Should I be concerned?”
“I…” She swallowed down her fear. “I don’t know.”
He stopped then, his hand on her doorknob. “What is it?” His face had tightened, his brows drawing together.
“Well,” she straightened her shoulders, “I have to be honest with you. I…” Her shoulders slipped a bit, nerves getting the best of her. “You see, I don’t want a marriage of arrangement or convenience. I want to be in love. That is to say…I’m in love with you, Raithe.” His fingers squeezed hers. “It’s all right if you don’t feel that way about me, but what I wish to know is if, in the future, you might possibly feel that way about me.”
“Charlie,” his voice was gentle but there was an edge to it and she shook her head.
“I don’t want to replace Jenni. She was your past and I respect that. But I need to know I might have a family filled with love like the one I lost. It’s important to me. And—"
“Charlie,” he said louder. “I can’t possibly fall in love with you in the future.”
“Oh,” she breathed, pain lancing her chest.
He pulled her closer. “Didn’t you understand me in the kitchen? Since the first moment I saw you, I haven’t been able to look at anyone else. I’ve been in love with you for a while, I think I wasn’t ready to admit it, but I’m saying it now. I love you, my sweet Charlie. I’ll love you always.”
She gasped in a breath as he wrenched open the door and pulled her inside. “You love me?”
He closed the door behind them, capturing her mouth in his as he pressed her back against it. She threaded her arms around his neck, her fingers combing up into his hair. His tongue danced with hers, their mouths devouring one another. Finally, he pulled back. “Charlie, I’m sorry it’s taken me so long. I felt guilty feeling this way about you.”
She shook her head. “I understand.”
He kissed her again, lifting her into his arms and carrying her across the room. “You scared me because our connection is so strong that I felt like it would erase my past and…”
She leaned back, looking him in the eyes. “It won’t. We’ll honor your past just as we will mine.”
His eyes drifted closed before he opened them again. “I love you, Charlie.”
“I love you too,” she said, kissing him again with all the passion she had.
He set her down next to the bed, his fingers working down the buttons at the back of her dress even as his lips trailed kisses down her neck.
Reaching the last of the buttons, Charlie began pulling the sleeves down her arms, wiggling out of the fabric until it landed in a pile on the floor.
He let out a deep sound, even as he spun her about, and tugged at the strings of her corset. “I can’t wait to take this thing off.”
She smiled as she reached for the bed post, holding on as he pulled the cords. “You’ve done this before,” she gasped as the garment loosened. It hurt the tiniest bit to know he had been such a rake.
He kissed the back of her neck and then reached into her hair, pulling out several pins until the locks tumbled down her back. “I won’t lie to you about my time between my first marriage and now, but I can tell you, there has only been you. Since the first moment we danced, I—”
She looked over her shoulder then and he captured her lips with his own. “I don’t want to make idle threats but I expect you to keep that promise, my lord.”
He chuckled, his hands sliding down her waist and over her hips. “Are you wearing pantaloons?”
She wrinkled her nose. “It’s been so hot.”
He chuckled even as he started sliding her chemise up her body. “I’m so glad.” He skimmed his hands up her calves and over the inside of her thighs. Then he fanned his hands out up over her hips, pulling the chemise up her body and over her head.
She stood in nothing but her stockings and slippers. He guided her hands up higher onto the bedpost then ran them down her arms, tracing every curve of her body until she nearly hummed with desire. His touch was light, the calluses on his palms creating a friction that made her shiver.
And when he reached around her body, cupping her breasts, she moaned and let go of the post, wanting to wrap her arms about him. “Not yet,” he whispered in her ear. “Hold on, love.” As he tweaked her nipples, he began kissing down her back, nuzzling the curve at the small of her back before trailing a kiss over one cheek.
Then he nudged her legs apart, pushing her forward. “I’m going to kiss you again.”
When his tongue slid along her seam she nearly exploded with pleasure, even as one of his hands brushed through her curls, finding her nub of pleasure and applying pressure in slow circles.
His tongue continued to slide along her seam as pleasure built inside her, and she dug her hands into the wood, crying out as he only increased the tempo.
Her legs shook and whimpering cries bubbled from her lips but he didn’t slow the pace and after a few more passes, her insides shattered and she came undone.
Charlie slumped forward, her body pushing into the post for strength. She closed her eyes, wondering how she’d never known her body could do that. “Raithe?”
He slid a hand down her back then held her hips as he helped her as she crawled onto the bed. “I’ll be right there, love.”
Turning over on her back, she watched as he stripped off his shirt, his boots already pushed to the side. When his hands came to the falls of his breeches, she sat up a little. Twice now he’d used his mouth to break her apart. Was it the same for him? Would he feel as good if she touched him like that?
“Raithe.” She moved up to sitting, and then slid off the bed, her knees landing on the floor. She touched his knee, the butter softness of his breeches sliding under her fingers. “I asked you once about other forms of pleasure.”
She
felt his muscles twitch under the tips of her fingers. “You did.”
“Does it work the same for men and women? Can I…” She licked her lips, trying to find the words. He groaned softly, hooking the waist of his breeches with his thumbs and rising to remove the garment.
His staff rose out from his body in front of her face, long, and thick, and straining against its own skin. She lifted her hand, wrapping her fingers about its girth, just to feel and explore the flesh. His head tipped back and he moaned louder. He liked that, did he?
She moved her hand along the velvet skin, exploring the tip, the rod, the base. His hand covered hers, and he guided her fingers up and down the shaft.
Licking her lips again, Charlie remembered the feel of his tongue, hot, wet, just slightly rough. Would he enjoy the touch as much as she did?
She reached out her tongue and flicked the tip. He jolted, his hands sliding into her hair. She did the same again and then planted a kiss directly on the head. He was so hard, she slid her lips along the engorged flesh.
“Charlie,” his voice held a raspy note of desperation as his hands held her still. “Tonight, I want to make you mine.”
“I already am,” she replied as she looked up at him. “Don’t you know that yet?”
Raithe stared down at the woman he loved, the woman who was going to be his wife. Yes. He knew.
But he also had a powerful need to claim her as his own. Take what would only ever be his. Her maidenhead.
He lifted her then, finally pulling her body against his. As their skin came together, they both groaned, her arms threading around his neck.
He lay them both down, her legs twining about his, and his manhood pressed into the soft, slick folds of her seam then sliding deeper into her channel.
“Charlie, I know you’re mine, love. You’ll be mine forever. I swear to you that I’ll care for you to the best of my abilities—”
“I know you will,” she answered without hesitation.
Raithe squeezed his eyes shut. He’d needed her to say that. Deep down, he’d always felt that he’d failed his first wife and he couldn’t fail Charlie too.
“Sweetheart,” he groaned as he slid deeper inside her. “I need you so much.”
She peppered kisses along his face, her hands combing through his hair. He pushed up against her maidenhead and with a quick thrust, broke it open.
She stiffened, her legs and arms tightening as she ceased her trail of kisses. It was his turn to brush back her hair, murmuring soft words of comfort as her body adjusted. Charlie was his. His to love, worship, care for the rest of his life. “I love you,” he murmured against her ear.
“I love you too,” she answered, relaxing in his arms.
He slowly slid back out of her and then back in watching her face. He never wanted to hurt her. She gave him a small smile, her body relaxing further. “That was far more pleasant.”
He kept the pace languid despite the tension building inside him. He held her close as her hips arched toward his, meeting his thrusts.
That was when he quickened the pace. Her arms tightened as she panted, calling out his name. “Raithe.”
He loved the sound on her lips and he gave her a long hard kiss before he lifted to look down in his eyes. “Say it again.”
Her breath fluttered. “Raithe.”
His own finish was roaring nearer, but he held off, wanting her to finish first.
She stiffened, crying out his name again and then Raithe couldn’t hold back another moment. He shuddered out his climax, holding Charlie tight to his chest.
They lay locked together for long minutes before Charlie stroked back his hair. “I can’t believe we just made love.”
He chuckled. He could believe it. He’d been dreaming of this very moment for months. Her dark hair lay in a silky mass, fanned out across the bed. He stroked his fingers through the strands, kissing her cheek, the column of her neck. “You’re going to have to get used to it, I’m afraid. Now that I’ve got you in my bed, I don’t know that I’ll ever let you out.”
She giggled, sliding her hands along his back. “You, my lord, are in my bed.”
He laughed then, rising from the bed and crossing the room. She propped up on her elbows as she watched him. “Where are you going?”
“To lock the door,” he answered, crossing to the French doors that led out onto the balcony. “We can’t have any surprise visitors tonight.”
“No?” she asked, giving him a devilish smile.
The lock sounded with a resounding click. “I’m not even close to done with you, my lady.”
Epilogue
Two months later…
Raithe stared down into the eyes of his bride as they stood in the Seabridge Gate church. The lovely little chapel sat at the very end of the town common. Despite the summer heat, the morning air was refreshing as the doors stood open wide.
Just in the pews, sat Mr. Moorish, his five daughters, and their new husbands.
Cassandra was also there, beaming a smile at her friend, her new husband with his arm wrapped possessively about her shoulders. Raithe grinned. He had to confess, he had not seen that match coming.
“Do you, Lord Balstead, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?” The vicar asked, his words pulling Raithe back to the present, back to his bride.
He couldn’t wait another moment. The past two months had been torture. They’d been able to find a few stolen hours to be together but not nearly enough for his liking. “I do.”
Charlie squeezed his hands. “And do you, Lady Charlotte Summerset, take this man to be your husband?”
“I do,” she said, her smile only growing wider.
The vicar’s words flowed over him until he announced, “You may kiss your bride.”
Swooping down, he captured her lips with his own. It had been a long journey, but he was finally home.
They swept out of the church, stopping to kiss their family and friends.
Rathmore patted him on the back, giving him a wink. “Didn’t know you had it in you.”
Balstead grinned. “I’m aware of your doubts. My stomach still aches from all the hits I took.”
The other men chuckled as Craven stepped up next to him. “You know, you’re not so bad after all.”
“Not so bad?” Mr. Moorish joined the well-wishers, kissing Charlie’s cheek. “Without Lord Balstead I would have never caught the pirates stealing from me.”
“Did they finally capture him?” Raithe asked. Mr. Moorish had sent a fleet of ships after the man and his crew.
“They did. Sunk his vessel I’m afraid and captured whomever they didn’t kill. Captain Montague was his name.”
The group fell silent. “I’m glad that was solved, Papa.” Ophelia took her father’s hand. “But let’s allow these two in the first carriage back to the house for the wedding breakfast. Today is a day of celebration.”
“Indeed,” Mr. Moorish answered. “I’ve reserved a fine case of champagne for the occasion and chosen my favorite sonnet for the toast.”
A chuckle rose from the crowd, and then Raithe and Charlie climbed into the vehicle.
The door had no more snapped closed before Raithe had his new bride in his arms.
“I should tell you,” she whispered in his ear. “I didn’t wear pantaloons.”
In response he tugged down his trousers even as she lifted her skirts. She was already wet and he groaned with satisfaction as he slid into her slick heat. They made love hard and fast, their cries muffled by each other’s lips.
When Charlie slumped against him, he wrapped her in a deep hug. “I love you, my sweetheart.”
She nuzzled his neck. “I love you too.” Then she lifted her head. “But there is something I have to tell you.”
“What?” he asked a knot tightening his lungs.
She licked her lips. “I…I haven’t bled since that first night we were together.”
He closed his eyes for just a moment, processing those words.
“A baby?” Joy and fear danced in his gut. “Already?”
She nodded, holding his face in his hands. “Are you happy?”
“Of course.” He kissed her again. Despite his worries, he couldn’t wait to see her round with his child. He brushed his hand along the flat of her stomach. “A baby.”
“If it’s a boy.” She smiled into his neck. “We’ll name him Raithe, of course.”
“Not Charlie?” he teased, lifting her chin to kiss her mouth again.
“And if it’s a girl,” she wrinkled her nose at his joke. “I thought we’d name her Jennifer.”
A lump clogged his throat. “Charlie…I…” He tried to push out the words. “I don’t know what to say.” Those words filled his heart to the brim. She’d promised to honor his first wife. But this…
She kissed him again as the carriage came to a stop. “Don’t say anything. Except that you’re happy you changed your mind and decided to marry me.”
“I’m so very happy, love.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb.
“I’m happy too,” she gave him a giant smile. “But I’m also hungry. My appetite has been voracious. Are you ready for our breakfast?”
Ready? He was ready for the rest of his life with his beautiful wife.
When to Dare a Dishonorable Duke
Romancing the Rake book 7
Tammy Andresen
When to Dare a Dishonorable Duke
Chapter One
Mrs. Cassandra Winterset sat in an overstuffed leather chair near the fire, assessing the flames as they danced in the grate. Outside the clouds rolled overhead, splattering the windows with rain. The perfect backdrop for her mood.
It was summer, and the sun had been shining for nearly a week straight, mocking her inner turmoil with its bright, warm cheeriness. But finally a cold front had rolled in, bathing the house in frigid rain and allowing her to sit in front of a fire and…brood.
She smiled at the word, normally better suited for a man but it fit her today as she reflected on the past four years of her life. Her smile slipped as she rested her chin on one of her palms.
Romancing the Rake: Seven Regency Romances Page 55
