One Fine Duke

by Lenora Bell

  “It feels so good,” he gasped. “It’s like your body is clasping me, hugging me, and I want to drive home. All the way home.”

  They moved together faster now. Less controlled. He pounded into her and she could take it—all of it—and beg for more.

  Sweat sheen, hands slippery on his back, shoulders so thick and huge above her.

  Short, fast strokes that bounced her breasts against his chest.

  Then long, luscious slow thrusts so deep inside her it made her want to scream. She bit his shoulder, hard, and he growled, capturing her hands and lifting them over her head.

  That’s what she wanted. She wanted to feel his complete ownership.

  She was his and it was a sweet, hot surrender.

  Skin-to-skin contact, feeding her soul.

  “I want to breathe through your mouth. See through your eyes,” she said.

  “I see you, Mina. Only you. You’re so. Damned. Perfect.”

  More deep thrusts, nearly lifting her off the bed. Her nipples sensitive from brushing against his chest. Arms stretched over her head.

  Raw emotion on his face. His lips in a grimace, head thrown back, neck thick and muscles straining.

  “Come for me, Drew,” she said.

  And he did.

  Buried deep inside her until the very last second when he pulled out of her and spent over her belly, a guttural groan escaping his lips.

  He loosened his grip on her wrists and collapsed on top of her. She ran her fingers down the ridges of his back, soothing him.

  He rolled off of her and reached down beside the bed. He used his shirt to wipe her belly clean. She curled up against him, suddenly more exhausted than she’d ever been before.

  He pulled a blanket over them.

  “Mina, that was extraordinary.”

  “Wasn’t it?”

  She kissed his cheek. Emotion welled up in her chest. This strong, formidable man had trusted her enough to be vulnerable, to let her see his pain.

  Mina was falling asleep, her body loosening in his arms, breath lengthening.

  He watched her face as she slept by the light of the candles on the table near the bed. Her eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks.

  What would she dream about tonight? He hoped that she would dream about him, because he’d been dreaming of her every night.

  Maybe he’d wandered one too many windswept moors. Maybe he’d spent too many nights alone in his enormous bed with the crimson velvet curtains closed against the chill and the eerie sounds old houses made at night.

  Maybe telling her all of his secrets had permanently changed him, and he’d never be able to bottle all of his emotions back up.

  Whatever it was, he found himself stroking her hair, listening to the sound of her breath, and making plans for their future.

  Could they have a future? In these sleepy golden moments, as the fire died and the candle sputtered, he almost believed that they could. If they found Rafe, and helped him capture this villainous Le Triton person, then Mina would have avenged the death of her parents. And then, maybe . . .

  Mina at Thornhill House. He thought about uncorking a bottle of his groundskeeper’s elderberry mead, redolent of summer sunshine even in the iciest of winters.

  She would like elderberry mead. He would like kissing her after she drank it.

  She liked to walk with him in the evenings. She loved orange sunsets the best.

  She smelled like the honey of clover buds, but she wasn’t above rolling up her sleeves and pitching in when there was work to be done on the estate. And then she smelled like good, honest sweat.

  Sweat and clover and woman.

  She turned that sharp mind of hers to solving agricultural problems.

  Modifying and improving his hunting rifles was a passion of hers. So was languid morning sex, when her hair was tangled and they were still half asleep.

  They found new routines, new rhythms. They knew each other’s bodies so very well, and yet each day there was a new discovery.

  He kissed her forehead, allowing himself to dream in time with the cadence of her breathing.

  Tomorrow they faced untold dangers. Choices would have to be made.

  Tonight, with Mina curled inside the circle of his arms, everything was a beautiful dream.

  A dream with no tomorrow.

  A knocking on the door woke Drew from a deep slumber.

  Morning sun filtering through the curtains.

  “Wake up, Mina,” he whispered. “We overslept. There’s someone at the door.”

  Mina dove under the covers.

  “One moment,” he called.

  He leapt out of bed, casting about for clean clothing. He stubbed his toe as he hopped across the room on one leg, attempting to don his undergarments.

  He unlocked the door and opened it a crack. Beatrice stood outside, already dressed in her bonnet and pelisse. “I thought you said you wanted to leave early.”

  “I must have overslept. Give me a moment.”

  “I can’t find Mina. I think she must have taken a walk. She’s ready to leave, I’m sure.”

  “I’ll be out in a moment. Put together a plate for me with a huge pile of sausages and mash, will you?”

  He was ravenous.

  “All right.” She gave him a curious glance. “Drew. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You look . . . happy.”

  “No I don’t.”

  “You’re grinning like a fool.”

  “Am I?” His lips refused to relinquish the smile.

  She attempted to peek around his shoulder but he stepped outside the door.

  “Breakfast plate,” he said firmly.

  “I’ll fetch two plates,” his sister replied with a saucy grin.

  Chapter 28

  “It’s paradise on earth, isn’t it?” Beatrice twirled around the enormous library of Thornhill House with her arms spread wide, skirts a swirl of blue.

  Thornhill was every bit as brooding and forbidding as Mina had pictured, perched on a hill overlooking the ocean like a glowering gargoyle with a crown of thorny spires.

  Drew was waiting outside with their mounts. They were riding on horseback to the inn at Falmouth where the Inspector and his men were waiting. Mina didn’t relish the idea of riding a horse, since she was quite sore from the previous night’s activities.

  She blushed, thinking about it.

  The things she’d said. It all seemed like a fever dream now. She wanted time to think it over, but they were on an urgent quest.

  Galloping into danger.

  “Just look at all of these books.” Only one side of Beatrice’s face was able to smile but Mina would call her expression a full body smile. She flung her arms wide, happier and more open than Mina had ever seen her.

  “It must have more volumes than Hatchards. Only see the ladders on wheels. I’ll buzz around from book to book like a bee in a clover field. Isn’t it glorious?”

  “I’m glad it makes you so happy.” It wasn’t Mina’s idea of paradise, but to each her own. “Thorndon is going to take me for a tour of Falmouth,” she said casually.

  “What, this afternoon? We only just arrived.”

  “He was insistent.”

  “So that’s why you’re wearing that ruffled red silk gown. I thought it was a bit much for the countryside.”

  Mina shook a wrinkle out of her shiny scarlet skirts. “This is a London gown, but Falmouth will have to do.”

  “Go have your tour, I’m sure it’s just like any other town. There’s a cathedral and a harbor.” Beatrice rolled up her sleeves. “I want to delve into these shelves.”

  “Then I’ll leave you to it.”

  “Mina,” called Beatrice.

  “Yes?”

  “Please be careful.”

  “Is Falmouth so dangerous?” asked Mina with a laugh.

  “You know what I mean. I’m not dense. I know there’s a reason you and Drew came here and it has something to do with
Rafe and his troubles. I don’t need to know the extent of it. You have your reasons for keeping me in the dark, but what can I do to help?”

  Of course she’d guessed the true reason for coming here. “We’ll bring Lord Rafe home safely.”

  “See that you do. I rather like him, even though he’s a giant pain in the arse most of the time.”

  They’d bring him home unharmed. They’d all arrive safe and sound.

  Mina wasn’t going to imagine any other possibility.

  Several hours later, they gathered around a table in a private dining room at Pierce’s Royal Hotel in Falmouth. Mina’s palms were sweating and her pulse raced. It was finally happening.

  The man she’d hated her entire life, the monster who had stolen her parents from her, was here. She was going to meet him.

  She was going to mete out justice.

  Drew introduced Inspector Langley, a handsome young man with luxuriant whiskers, wearing a blue coat and a tall black hat.

  “We have to move swiftly, Your Grace,” Inspector Langley said. “Le Triton’s ship dropped anchor three hours ago in this sheltered cove.” He pointed at the map.

  “A popular location for smugglers,” Drew said.

  “They won’t unload the cargo until nightfall but we don’t want your man to get away. I’ve stationed my officers to watch and see if he tries to escape. One thing—your brother, Lord Rafe.”

  “Yes? What is it?” asked Drew.

  “He’s on board the ship.”

  “They captured him?” Mina asked. This was bad.

  “Not exactly. My men tell me that he came riding out to meet the ship with a lady by his side. They walked on board and haven’t been seen since.”

  Mina and Drew exchanged a look. “Olivia Lachance,” they said in unison.

  “Rafe is pretending to be on Le Triton’s side,” Drew explained. “It’s risky—one man taking on a whole ship filled with smugglers.”

  “He’ll have a plan,” Mina insisted. “He may have hired men in town who will meet him under cover of night. Or he’ll ambush Le Triton while he’s sleeping, drag him away by himself and hold him hostage.”

  “I hope he has a better plan than that,” Drew replied grimly.

  “Le Triton has only three fingers on one hand,” Mina said. “That’s how you’ll know him, Inspector Langley. You’ll be able to bring him to London to stand trial for the theft of the Wish Diamond, among other crimes. The Duke of Ravenwood will testify against him.”

  “Is there anything else we should know about him?” asked Langley.

  “He carries knives on his person. At least five concealed blades and razors—his weapons of choice. He has deadly aim.”

  Knives that had killed her parents, she’d learned from reading Sir Malcolm’s secret files. The blades marked with a golden trident.

  One of the Inspector’s men burst into the room. “Inspector Langley, Your Grace,” he huffed, out of breath.

  “What is it, Rummage?” said the Inspector.

  “The gentleman, Lord Rafe, he’s been captured.”

  Drew groaned. “I thought you said they welcomed him on board.”

  “They did, Your Grace, but then we saw him fighting on the deck with one of the smugglers. He fought bravely but they overwhelmed him. They trussed him up and took him down below.”

  “As I said, not much of a plan,” grumbled Drew.

  “We’ll have to rescue him,” Mina said, her heart sinking.

  “Le Triton has a hostage now. This isn’t good,” said Inspector Langley.

  Mina’s mind sprang to action. Rafe was a hostage. They needed a bargaining chip. They needed . . . her.

  “Gentlemen, here’s the situation,” she said. Everyone turned toward her. “I know Le Triton. I know the way his mind works. There’s something you don’t know. My uncle and Le Triton have a long history of enmity, my uncle being the president of the Society of Antiquaries and Le Triton being an antiquities thief. Le Triton knows about me, and he knows that my capture would wound my uncle. I could be your bargaining chip.”

  “You said we would help Rafe capture Le Triton,” said Drew. “Nothing was said about you sacrificing yourself as bait. I’ll be the one to draw his attention.”

  “It can’t be you, Your Grace,” she said evenly. “If he knows that you’re here, he’ll know the value of his hostage, your brother.”

  “Very true, Miss Penny,” said Langley. “You’ll have to stay in hiding, Your Grace.”

  “I’m not going to stay in hiding,” Drew burst out.

  “You won’t be hiding,” Mina assured him. “I have a plan. As I was saying, I have more value to Le Triton as a hostage than Lord Rafe does because of Le Triton’s enmity with my uncle. Here’s my proposal. Inspector Langley and I engage with Le Triton and his men from the shore. We say we know that he’s holding Lord Rafe. We distract him with my presence. I know him. I know what he’ll do. Quite possibly he’ll offer to make a bargain, a trade.”

  “You’ll never offer yourself as a hostage,” said Drew with ice in his voice. “I won’t let you.”

  “I didn’t say I’d offer myself. I said he would offer for me. Inspector Langley, you’ll play this as if all you’re doing is defending England’s shores from smugglers. You’ll pretend to be bribable. You won’t know who he is and what a prize his capture would be. You’ll pretend to waiver, to be swayed by the offer he’ll make you. He thinks all men and women can be bought.”

  “I think I’m beginning to understand,” said Drew. “While you’re distracting him, I’ll sneak on board the ship with some of your men, Inspector, and rescue Rafe.”

  “And then I’ll capture Le Triton,” said Langley with satisfaction. “It’s a good plan.”

  “It’s our only plan,” said Mina. “And we must hurry.”

  Chapter 29

  The red-gold sun slid behind jagged black cliffs.

  Mina, Drew, and Inspector Langley crouched behind an outcropping of rocks, watching the smugglers unloading crates down a ramp and into a wagon. The rowboat Drew would take to rescue Lord Rafe bobbed in the water nearby.

  “I don’t think this is what Sir Malcolm meant when he entrusted you to my care and I swore to protect you,” Drew whispered in her ear.

  “I can do this. I might look small and defenseless but you know that I’m not.”

  “You’re not.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly. “If your parents could see you right now, I know they would be so very proud.”

  A lump rose in her throat. “You don’t have to go to the ship, Drew. There’s no shame in staying here.”

  His jaw clenched. “Of course I’m going to the ship. I’m not letting you face this alone.”

  “I know it won’t be easy for you to board the ship because of the kidnapping.”

  “Rafe’s being held on that ship. He could be chained in the hold, scared and helpless. He might think he’s going to die. Of course I have to do this. You know I do.”

  She nodded and gave his hand an answering squeeze.

  “It’s time, Your Grace,” said Inspector Langley, interrupting them.

  “Be careful.” She wanted to kiss him. She had to let him go.

  He crept toward the rowboat with Corbyn and one of Langley’s officers, keeping to the cover of rocks. He climbed into the rowboat, one of the men untied the rope, and they glided away into the darkness.

  Mina and Inspector Langley waited in the dark, watching the men unload the cargo.

  “Don’t worry, Miss Penny. They won’t be watching the back of the ship—all of their focus is on unloading the cargo swiftly.”

  “That’s Le Triton on the deck,” whispered Mina. “The one in the gray cloak.”

  “It’s almost time to set the plan in motion.” Langley signed something to his men and they fanned out on either side of them. They would keep to the shadows while she and Langley spoke with Le Triton.

  “Le Triton,” shouted Langley, standing up from behind the cove
r of the rock. “You’re surrounded. Surrender now and it will go easier on you.”

  The men on the ramp and in the boats all jumped to attention, drawing knives and pistols.

  “Who’s there?” asked Le Triton in French-accented English.

  “Inspector Langley of the London Metropolitan Police!”

  “You’re a long way from London, Inspector.”

  “I’m the Inspector for the Mayfair District. I believe you’re holding one of my constituents. Lord Rafe Bentley.”

  “We know you have Lord Rafe,” Mina said, rising partially above the rock. She’d drawn her pistol when everyone else had drawn theirs.

  “And who might you be, mademoiselle?” called Le Triton.

  “I’m Lord Rafe’s betrothed.”

  “Very interesting. I have another lady on board who claims to be betrothed to him.”

  A lovely lady with black hair and flashing green eyes appeared on deck. “Exactement. Lord Rafe, he is promised to me.”

  “Well he can’t marry both of you, ladies,” said Le Triton with a nasty laugh. “At least not in jolly old England. Shall we have a fight to the death?”

  The smugglers laughed roughly, shouting encouragement.

  “I’d win that fight,” said Mina.

  “Pah,” spat Miss Lachance. “I think not.”

  “Well, well. All of this fuss over one wicked lord,” said Le Triton. “Go back below deck, Olivia, and wait for me there. Perhaps I’ll bring you the lady to play with later.”

  Miss Lachance disappeared.

  “Mademoiselle, you haven’t yet told me your name,” called Le Triton.

  “I’m Miss Wilhelmina Penny. I believe that you know my uncle, Sir Malcolm Penny.”

  That nasty laugh again. “Ah. This does change everything. I’ve been waiting a very long time to meet you, Miss Penny.”

  “And I’ve been waiting to meet you. Now let my fiancé go.”

  “It won’t be that easy, and you know it,” he replied. “Inspector Langley, shall we have a conversation man-to-man? Leave the ladies out of it. Come aboard and you have my word that you’ll be unharmed.”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Mina said, turning to Langley. “He’s a thief and a smuggler.”