Taming a Wicked Rake (Taming the Duke's Heart Book 9)

by Tammy Andresen

  Holding her about the waist, he flipped them over so that her back was against the mattress, his weight on top of hers. The sensation was glorious.

  She pulled his head down and kissed him with all the feeling she had in her heart.

  “Maddie,” he moaned, low and deep.

  That was when she felt it. The nudge of his manhood against the folds of her sex. “Oh,” she said, surprised by how large it felt against her.

  Then he began to sink inside. He’d barely begun and already she felt stretched taut, burning radiating through her. He eased out and tried again, getting a little further.

  It was agonizingly slow, incredibly sweet and, despite the pain, she’d never felt safer as he murmured words of comfort and affection.

  Finally, he pushed through her maidenhead and she let out a cry, despite herself. He froze, his hands clasping her face. “I’m so sorry, love. I’ve never done this before and I’m afraid—”

  “Don’t be afraid.” She gave him a half smile, despite the pain. “I’m not. I’m with you, how could I be?”

  He stared down at her, his face scrunched as he searched her eyes. “I love you so much.” Then he kissed her over and over as he slowly withdrew.

  When he plunged himself inside her again, the thrust hurt less and then even less the third time. She began to return his kisses, her lips clinging to his more and more with every thrust.

  Despite having just come undone, pleasure began building in her again. “Adam.” She drew him closer as she moaned into his mouth.

  The sound of his name shredded any last control and his thrusts turned frantic as his mouth clung to hers.

  She cried out as she broke apart again and he let out a load groan, his body shuddering with his release.

  They remained locked together long after their tremors had subsided.

  Maddie wasn’t certain what she’d expected, but it hadn’t been this. This joining of hearts, bodies, and minds.

  “Adam,” she whispered as the morning sun streamed into the room. It bathed them in a rosy light. He leaned up and his eyes roved down her body. Though she hadn’t been embarrassed, his perusal caused her cheeks to heat and she crossed her arms over her chest.

  He pulled them away, again, his fingers lacing with hers. “Never cover yourself, love. Not in front of me.”

  “Why did my brother allow you to chase after me alone?”

  His eyes widened in surprise. “He was at the green looking for you when the detective arrived to say he’d seen Delaney leave town. He shouldn’t be far behind me.”

  “Oh dear,” Maddie gave him a wicked grin. “Perhaps we should dress, lest I am caught with a wicked rake.”

  He came back down, his chest covering hers. “I’ve been completely tamed, love.”

  She giggled. “So have I.”

  Epilogue

  One year later….

  Maddie touched the bit of silk covering her eyes. “Can I see now?”

  “Not yet,” her husband whispered close to her ear. Adam’s voice teased over her skin making her shiver with both happiness and desire. His hand was at her back, guiding her on the street.

  They’d just stepped out of the carriage and she could hear the busy London happenings around them. The sound of horses and carriages filled the air as people called to one another, shuffling about on the stone street.

  She let out a playful huff. “Will it be soon? It’s almost time for my midday meal.”

  He chuckled. “You just ate breakfast.” But his hand came to her rounded belly in a protective gesture. “Still, if you need to go home, we can do this another day.”

  “Adam.” She swatted at him and managed to just catch his arm or his shoulder, she wasn’t entirely certain. “Don’t you dare.”

  Then they stopped. His hand left both her back and her belly as he tugged at the knot of the silk scarf blindfolding her.

  The fabric broke free and the sudden light caused her to blink several times in an attempt to clear her vision. Before her stood a large brick front building like all the others that lined the street. “It’s a building.”

  “Yes,” he answered, drawing out the single word. She squinted at the façade, not looking at him, but she could hear the smile in his voice.

  “It isn’t a residence?” She cocked her head to one side, assessing the wide brink steps.

  “It can be,” he answered, his hand touching her back. “Read the sign.”

  Slowly making her way up the steps, they’d gotten difficult now that her belly covered her feet, she crossed to the metal plaque mounted on the door. “Kingsley House.” It read. Then below. “For Women in Need.”

  She gasped, spinning toward her husband. “But I already used the funds from my dowry to purchase a similar building.”

  His look turned soft as he stepped up next to her, circling his arms about her large middle. “I thought you needed a second. When I think about the world I want our children to grow up in…” He gave her a gentle squeeze. “It’s a world where unfortunate women are cared for, not abandoned.”

  Maddie caught her breath as she slipped her arm around her husband’s tapered waist. “This is too much. I appreciate what you’ve done, but truly, you shouldn’t have.”

  “I should have.” He let his hand slip down her rounded stomach. “Thanks to you, we’ll leave a legacy behind that is noble and just. We’ll raise our children to care for the world, not just live in it. I know these aren’t changes that can happen in a single year, perhaps not even a lifetime, but there has to be a beginning.”

  Maddie’s eyes filled with tears. Laying her head on Adam’s shoulder, she swiped at the liquid starting to trickle down her cheeks. “This life is everything I dreamed it would be. You are everything I dreamed you would be.” Then she tilted her head back and captured her husband’s lips with her own. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” he replied. “Now, are you ready to discuss publishing your letters?”

  She groaned. “Oh please do stop.” But she settled her head back onto his shoulder. Though she wasn’t ready for the world to know her views, she appreciated that he knew them, understood them, and accepted that side of her.

  “Since you are days from giving birth, I will leave it be…for now.”

  A smile touched her lips. “All right, partner.” And with this man, her husband and life partner, her supporter in all things that mattered most to her, Maddie had found exactly where she needed to be—his wife and together they’d created a safe haven for themselves and their future offspring.

  Taming an Unrepentant Earl

  Taming the Duke’s Heart Book 10

  Tammy Andresen

  Taming an Unrepentant Earl

  Captain Harold Maddox stood on the docks near his Dover home and looked up at the cliffs he’d admired since childhood. Drawing in a deep breath, he filled his lungs with sea air. He was home.

  Taking a few steps down the dock, he winced as pain shot through his hip. His hand came to the spot and he gave the wounded flesh a firm massage. Blast his body and its weakness.

  Working the stiff joint, Harry started down the dock once again as his hand touched two letters in his pocket. The first was a missive from the Prince Regent. He’d been made an Earl for his valor on the battlefield. His brother’s doing, no doubt. As the future Duke of Manchfield, Barrett Maddox had plenty of sway with the crown.

  And while being made an earl was an honor, Bar had no doubt been delighted to saddle his little brother with that sort of responsibility.

  Harry preferred action to the desk. Always had. And for the last seven years, that’s what he’d gotten. The army had been the perfect place for him. His life had purpose, meaning, discipline, and above all, excitement. Sometimes more than even he could stand.

  Which led him to his second letter. His best friend and fellow captain, Alfred Chesterfield, had died standing next to Harry when cannon fire had ripped through their tent. He’d suffered shrapnel wounds all over his body, t
he worst on his hip, but Alfred was gone.

  As Harry was recovering in bed, he’d received a letter from the Alfred in care of the General Cross. Apparently he’d drafted it before his death and left it with the general as a safe guard. In the event of Alfred’s death, his friend asked that Harry should make provisions for Alfred’s one remaining family member, his sister, Miss Sophia Chesterfield.

  Harry personally wanted nothing more than to return to the battlefield and avenge his friend’s death, but his superiors wouldn’t allow him to return until he’d made a proper recovery and so he’d decided to use this time to fulfill Alfred’s request.

  His sister had started several women’s houses five years prior. They were made for just Sophia’s sort. Women who had no other options could live in these homes and learn skills that would enable them to make their way in society.

  Decision made, he’d set out to enact his plan, finish his recovery, and return to the front. In that order. That had been another benefit of the military, discipline. Something he’d sorely lacked before his career and he was a better man for it.

  Harry’s residence was still in his brother’s home, though he could, if he chose, purchase one of his own. He was home so infrequently, he hadn’t seen the point. And he didn’t bother to stop there today. Instead, he hired a carriage to make the two-hour journey to Capel-le-Ferne. The small seaside village was where Alfred resided before he’d enlisted and his sister lived there still.

  Which made it exceedingly easy for Harry to travel there and bring the young lady back to his sister, Maddie’s, newest home for distressed women in Kent.

  With any luck, he’d accomplish the task, and in doing so, prove to his superiors he was fit for the front. By the end of the summer, he’d return to where he belonged.

  Dressed in uniform, he walked, albeit slowly and with a hint of a limp he couldn’t seem to lose entirely, to the staging inn where he hired a coach for the day. “I fully expect to return this evening,” he said to the driver just before climbing into the carriage.

  The driver tipped his hat and gave a nod. “That’s good, sir, ‘cause if I ‘ave to stay overnight, I charge double.”

  Noted, Harry thought. Not the he cared about money, but still. Principally speaking, he’d prefer to get this whole business over with as quickly as possible.

  * * *

  Sophie sat with her cousin as they assessed the drapes in the front parlor of Sophie’s home. She’d pulled her black veil off her face and tossed it behind her head in order to better assess the silk fabric. “Is it too pink?” she asked Danielle as she cocked her head to the side. The pink, in her mind, framed the sea beyond wonderfully but, if she had a male buyer for the property, he may find her palette too feminine.

  Danielle looked at the drapes and frowned, her blonde curls falling over her shoulder as she dipped her head. “What does it matter? I’ve told you nearly every day since Alfred died that you needn’t leave this place.”

  Sophie tapped her chin, ignoring Danielle. The girl didn’t like change and they’d had their fair share. First when Sophie’s mother passed just before Christmas and then, only a month ago, her dear brother’s passing.

  Her hands came to her hips. Technically speaking, Danielle was right. They owned the house and Alfred had left Sophie with a sizable inheritance that, if she rationed the money properly, could carry them through life. She imagined that Danielle assumed, without representation, they’d simply become spinsters together and live out their remaining years in this house.

  Dreadful. At only twenty years old, Sophie had no intention of waiting to die. She’d find a way to secure a guardian of sorts so that she might make a suitable match and start a family of her own.

  She looked over at Danielle. Where Sophie had dark hair and eyes, Danielle was the picture of angelic beauty with lush blonde hair and large blue eyes. Sophie was sure once she married, she could help Danielle make a life for herself with a husband and family of her own.

  “We’re not leaving, Danielle. Not yet. This house is part of my dowry and I want it to appeal to suitors when they come.”

  Danielle snorted. It sounded even more ridiculous considering how tiny her nose was. “You can’t just have suitors come here with no chaperone and no one to negotiate a marriage contract.”

  Sophie cocked her head assessing her cousin. “There’s a way, I’m sure of it. For now, however, I am doing what is in my control. The drapes.”

  Snorting again, Danielle tossed herself into a chair. Which made Sophie smile. Danielle was normally a picture of feminine grace. Clearly the drapes had ruffled her cousin’s feathers. Or perhaps it was her that was annoying her companion.

  Sophie understood. Danielle was a model of feminine decorum and as such, she would accept her fate with docile obedience. That nearly made Sophie snort. She had no such grace.

  “You’ll see, Danielle. The answer will present itself soon enough.” The midday light was beginning to illuminate the curtains, giving them a rosy glow. She liked them.

  “Guardians do not suddenly knock on your door and offer to--” Danielle stopped as the front bell rang.

  Sophie cocked an eyebrow. “Who do you think is calling?”

  Danielle wrinkled her nose. “It’s likely Mrs. Harris coming to say our chickens have wandered into her yard again.”

  The butler, one of four servants in the house, crossed to the door and opened it. Sophie found herself peeking into the foyer, curiosity making her crane her neck to get a better view.

  “Good afternoon. How may I be of service?” Peevely asked.

  “Good afternoon. I am Captain Maddox here to see Miss Sophie Chesterfield.”

  Sophie gave a delighted clap and spun about to Danielle. The moment she’d heard the man’s deep baritone, she’d known this was the answer, but hearing his identity confirmed her feeling. “You were wrong, dear cousin. Our guardian has, in fact, arrived at our door.”

  Danielle’s mouth had formed into a soft O as she sat up in the chair. Sophie had a moment of immeasurable satisfaction as she grinned down at her cousin. Danielle recovered quickly, wrinkling her nose again. “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s an unmarried man and we are unmarried—Sophie!”

  Sophie paid her no mind as she lifted her black skirts and rushed to the hallway. She’d never met Captain Maddox, but she felt as though she knew him already. Alfred’s letters had been full of praise for his friend and fellow soldier.

  She rushed into the foyer. “Captain,” she cried, racing headlong through the doorway. “I’m so glad you’ve come. Alfred told me so much…” But the words died on her lips. In that moment, she realized that she knew Captain Maddox not at all. Because while Alfred had told her all about his valor on the field, his honor and integrity, his unfailing friendship, he had never once mentioned that Captain Maddox was handsome as sin with overlong dark hair that brushed his ears and a square jaw in a devil-may-care sort of fashion. Nor had her brother said a word about his dark penetrating eyes or his slightly hooked nose that gave him an air of danger. And Alfred had most definitely not mentioned the man’s full and sensuous lips that started a riot in her belly as she stared at them.

  Lord help her, she was in trouble.

  Want to read more?

  Taming an Unrepentant Earl

  About the Author

  Tammy Andresen lives with her husband and three children just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. She grew up on the Seacoast of Maine, where she spent countless days dreaming up stories in blueberry fields and among the scrub pines that line the coast. Her mother loved to spin a yarn and Tammy filled many hours listening to her mother retell the classics. It was inevitable that at the age of eighteen, she headed off to Simmons College, where she studied English literature and education. She never left Massachusetts but some of her heart still resides in Maine and her family visits often.

  Find out more about Tammy:

  http://www.tammyandresen.com/

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mmyandresen

  https://twitter.com/TammyAndresen

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  Read Tammy Andresen’s other books:

  Seeds of Love: Prequel to the Lily in Bloom series

  Lily in Bloom

  Midnight Magic

  Other Titles by Tammy Andresen

  How to Reform a Rake

  Don’t Tell a Duke You Love Him

  Meddle in a Marquess’s Affairs

  Never Trust an Errant Earl

  Never Kiss an Earl at Midnight

  Make a Viscount Beg

  Wicked Lords of London

  Earl of Sussex

  My Duke’s Seduction

  My Duke’s Deception

  My Earl’s Entrapment

  My Duke’s Desire

  My Wicked Earl

  Brethren of Stone

  The Duke’s Scottish Lass

  Scottish Devil

  Wicked Laird

  Kilted Sin

  Rogue Scot

  The Fate of a Highland Rake

  A Laird to Love

  Christmastide with my Captain

  My Enemy, My Earl

  Heart of a Highlander

  A Scot’s Surrender

  A Laird’s Seduction

  An Earl’s Forsaken Bride

  Taming the Duke’s Heart

  Taming a Duke’s Reckless Heart

  Taming a Duke’s Wild Rose

  Taming a Laird’s Wild Lady

  Taming a Rake into a Lord

  Taming a Savage Gentleman

  Taming a Rogue Earl

  Taming a Christmas Wallflower

  Fairfield Fairy Tales

  Stealing a Lady’s Heart

  Hunting for a Lady’s Heart

  Entrapping a Lord’s Love

  Luring a Lady’s Love

  American Historical Romance