Heart and Dagger

by Holland Rae

  But then all fear faded as she saw her fiancé standing before her, blocking the early sunrise from her eyes.

  “Hello, Captain,” Armand said. His voice was husky and promising, and Catalina felt herself throb at the hitch in his words. “Reporting for duty.”

  She grinned, holding out her hand and guiding him to lie next to her in the damp grass. Armand de Bourbon, earl and business owner, lying on the wet ground. It was a funny thing indeed.

  “Henri is recovering nicely,” he told her, folding his hands behind his head to look up at the sky. Then he turned to face her. “I owe you everything, Catalina.” It was the second most powerful thing he had said to her, with the sole exception of I love you.

  “Antonia enjoys fussing over him,” she replied, enjoying the lazy circles he was drawing upon her skin, where her linen shirt had ridden up, or rather, been pulled up. “I’m sure the fact that he’s so devilishly handsome could contribute to her pleasure.” Teasing Armand was certainly contributing to her own.

  “Wench,” he growled into her ear, his tongue just ghosting over her skin. She suppressed a shudder of desire. It never did any good for your opponent to know how much control he had over you. But then his mouth was roaming over her chest, kissing the curves of her collarbones and sliding down between the open flap of her shirt.

  “Sails are raised?” She said it as a question, but the firm press of his delicious cock against her thigh was answer enough. He bit her for the terrible joke, but then slid his hand over the curve of her bottom, pressing her thighs against his body.

  “Permission to come aboard, Captain?” he asked fiercely. She was panting into his mouth now and thoroughly enjoying his hand cupping her breast through the shirt.

  “Permission granted,” she whispered. And he did just that.

  Epilogue

  20 May 1806

  London

  “It’s beautiful,” Catalina said. “I couldn’t be happier.” She turned to face her husband and took his hands in her own. “Armand, it’s perfect. Thank you.” She placed a fierce kiss upon his lips. “May we go inside?”

  He nodded, his eyes following the quick-footed two-year-old who had escaped her mother’s clutches in her moment of excitement.

  And so they entered the London townhouse previously of the Earl of Devon, and now the twice-as-large London townhouse of the earls of Devon and Derby, now known as the Liberté Home. It was enormous, and the workers, whom Armand had handpicked for the job, had done remarkable work of connecting the two homes so they appeared as if it had never been any other way.

  “There are four dormitories,” he said, as they entered the main foyer of the house. “Split between boys and girls, men and women. I’ve had the workshops set up across the first floor. Anamitra, don’t touch that!” He followed their young daughter, who had already absconded with a long piece of wood she had found left over from the construction.

  Catalina was walking into one of the workshops now, a room with several enormous weaving looms positioned in long rows. She clapped her hands together again, feeling as though she might burst into tears. She hugged Ana and Armand close to her body.

  “Now, Henri and Antonia have promised to keep Dwyer House running in full working order”—he looked at her with a melting grin that didn’t promise overmuch for her britches—“and we’ve our responsibilities upon the Liberté, so I took the liberty of finding the proper person to keep charge of the house.”

  She raised her eyebrow. For so many years she had done it all on her own. She was still not used to Armand putting his hand in. She didn’t have long to wait, however, because the front door opened again behind them, and—

  “Eliza!” Catalina squealed, and her sister rushed into her embrace with the force of a tidal wave.

  “Charlotte…” Eliza held her at arm’s length to take her in fully. “Caterina?”

  Catalina shook her head, wiping away the tears that had traitorously escaped. “Catalina,” she said weepily. “Eliza.” She took a step back and looked at her grown sister. Eliza was a woman now, a beautiful, bright, delicious woman. Catalina stepped back and gave Ana a gentle touch. “This is your Aunt Eliza,” she said.

  Eliza cooed over the young girl, before turning back to Catalina.

  “You’re to be our house manager, then?” she asked, unable to keep the tears at bay.

  Eliza nodded with excitement. “I’m still in my mourning period, and there’s very little I’m allowed to do by societal rules.” She laughed at Catalina’s obvious expression of distaste for society’s rules. “But there’s plenty I can do to prepare for opening the home.” She looked at the three of them, then gathered Catalina’s and Armand’s hands into her own. “She always said she would marry you,” Eliza told her brother-in-law with pure joy in her voice.

  Armand smiled, a warm, melting smile to Catalina’s mind, and then turned to face her. “Then I am all the more foolish for having waited so long to return her affections,” he said, in that deep tone of his. “But we have no worry of that anymore, have we, Captain?”

  She shook her head, the sensation of a warm glow deep in her belly all too impossible to ignore. Their affections for each other had only grown and strengthened these last years, proof of which was swimming around in her belly and most certainly the cause for her teariness. But she would tell him later.

  For now, Catalina was simply happy to stand in their new home for wayward souls, her dearest sister, her loving husband, and her darling daughter, together—a true family again at last.

  A word about the author…

  Holland Rae is the author of several works of erotic and romantic fiction in both the contemporary and historical genres and enjoys pushing the limits of freedom, feminism, and fun in her stories. She has been an avid writer for many years and recently moved back to her home state of New Jersey from Boston, after completing her education in journalism and creative writing.

  In her free time, she loves to travel and spent several months living in a 14th-century castle in the Netherlands. When not exploring the world, she likes dreaming up stories, eating spicy food, driving fast cars, and talking to strangers.

  Find Holland on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HollandRae/

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/@RaeRomance/

  Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hollandraeroman/

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  Or at https://HollandRae.com

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