A Duke in Shining Armor

by Macy Barnes

  Right before dawn he awoke and stroked her hair and she curled her body in a cat like stretch against him and he felt himself go hard yet again. He rose from the bed and went to the washstand and cleansed himself. He rinsed out the rag and approached her on the bed and gently spread her legs and cleaned her. She felt her face go hot from the redness of embarrassment; she could not believe she was allowing him to touch her so intimately.

  He kissed her softly on the forehead. She watched him as he silently got dressed. She rose from the bed and adorned a simple white shift. He kissed her one last time and bid her to get a few more hours sleep before they had to leave to go visit her relative.

  He was trying to be discreet as he snuck down the hall with his shoes in his hand when he heard someone clear their throat. He turned and found Jon with a knowing smile upon his face. “Enjoy your night ol chap?” he asked with humor in his voice.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” was the terse reply.

  Jon chuckled and slapped him on the back. “Do not fret that I will say anything my friend, but now that I have you alone for a minute, please tell me what in the devil I have done to Juliet to cause her to treat me so badly.”

  Clint threw his head back and laughed. “Jon, if you do not know by now, you will never figure it out.”

  He left his friend staring after him with a dumbfounded look as he went into his room to prepare for the day.

  *****

  After breaking their fast, Clint and Emily wasted no time in leaving for their journey to visit her relative. She was so nervous she felt sick and Clint gave her a reassuring squeeze as they approached the dainty little cottage her family resided in.

  The door flew open before they could even knock and a stout grey headed lady ringing her hands in her apron stepped out and greeted them both. Before Clint could make the introductions she put her hand up to stop him. “I know exactly who she is your grace; the resemblance to her father is uncanny.”

  Emily was confused. Did this woman know who her real father was? They were shuffled into the small kitchen where they found that her cousin had been busy planning for their arrival. Delicate pastries were placed within hands reach of them as they sat down.

  The elderly lady reached for Emily’s hand and squeezed it. Emily felt herself tear up at the love and warmth she saw in the woman’s eyes. “My name is Harriet Moncrief child; my father and your grandfather were brothers. I have never married, and so wished when Matthew died he had left your care in my hands. The Duke has given me a brief account of what has happened with you and your mother’s people.”

  Emily looked down at the hand that held hers that was withered with age. “I overheard my aunt and uncle talking. They say Matthew Moncrief married my mother because he was a fool and she had a child upon her unmarried.” She felt she should put this straight out there for this kind woman to know before any kind of misplaced conceptions between them developed.

  The older woman surprised her by wrinkling her nose in disgust at the mention of her aunt and uncle. “Hogwash!” she exclaimed. “Your father and mother loved each other very much, you may have been conceived before for the wedding night, but I can assure you that Matthew and Marjorie Moncrief endured many hardships to be together.”

  Emily was confused. “The Moncrief’s have never been considered vastly well off, and Marjorie’s father and good for nothing brother Albert hated the fact that Marjorie loved your father and to add insult to injury your father made a name for himself as well as a pretty decent fortune without their help.”

  Harriet sighed and with sympathy she continued. “Your father had only recently allowed them to dabble in his business and found out too late some of the business transactions your grandfather and uncle had arranged were made under shady circumstances. One of the last shipments of cargo your father sold had actually been stolen goods. This is why you and your family were attacked and so many were killed that day.

  Some of the scoundrels caught your grandfather and killed him before the law caught up with them and by that time Albert had went into hiding with your inheritance. Unfortunately, your father and mother thought they could trust Albert and Evelyn and left you in their care, and were dead before anything could be done to change it.”

  Emily was stunned. Her mother’s own brother and father were to blame for her rape and murder. All this time she had lived with her aunt and uncle she suffered abuse and was made to feel as if she were a burden when in fact they were living off her inheritance that was in turn tainted with the blood of her family? Emily was furious. Somehow she would make her aunt and uncle pay for their treachery.

  She would never hear another unkind word spoken towards her parents by the two people who stole her livelihood. After another hour of talking with her dear newfound cousin, Clint and Emily made their way back to the townhouse after promising Harriet they would visit often.

  Clint stroked her back as he watched her face for any sign of what she may be thinking or feeling. He finally broke the silence. “Are you okay love?”

  Emily looked out the window and took a deep breath before looking back at him. “I need your help with some things. Business matters. I want to find out if my aunt and uncle purchased that club with my parent’s money and if so I want it reverted back to me. I want an accounting of every shilling they have spent of my family’s money on themselves. I will not have them arrested for their deceptions, but I want their debts worked off to me over time.”

  She clenched her teeth in anger. “Unlike they have shown me, I will have mercy for them and allow them to keep their freedom.”

  Clint embraced her and stroked her hair. “I will handle your aunt and uncle, you need not worry about anything other than planning our wedding, I have told my mother of our plans to marry and we have her blessing.”

  “Oh, Clint this is wonderful. I am so glad your mother is not against you marrying me. I love you, and I cannot wait to be your wife.” She kissed him with all the love and joy she felt in her heart.

  Clint chuckled against her lips. “You just make sure that this wedding happens as soon as possible love.”

  Chapter 8

  The days turned into weeks when at long last three months later the wedding day arrived. The house was alive with preparations for the ceremony. Elisabeth and Juliet were in the dressing room helping Emily into her gown and gushing over her beauty.

  Emily giggled as she looked at the vision that stared back at her in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed a beautiful pink, and her hair was styled in long ringlets. She caught Juliet’s eye in the mirror and gave her a smile. “You just wait until Jon sees you in that dress Juliet; I bet he will think of you as a child no more.”

  Juliet rolled her eyes. “I have all but given up on that buffoon noticing me, all he can do is chase off suitors at functions as if I am his kid sister.”

  Elisabeth sighed and fussed with Emily’s hair some more. “At least he knows your name.” she said grumpily. “I cannot even get Thomas to stay in the same room with me.”

  Emily turned around to take both of her new found friends by the hand. “Do not rush it, in time these men will wake up and see what is right before them. After all, I have paired it so where each of you is escorted by the man of your choice today.” She said with a sly grin. “Elisabeth, Clint told me that Tom has been burnt badly by a woman in his past, do not give up on him if you feel that he is your match.”

  She then turned to Juliet. “My sister, I am so happy to call you that. If you have loved Jon for all these years continue to do so. I want each of you to know the kind of love that I have found.” She kissed each one of them on the cheek. “Now, let us go see if my groom is ready to get married.”

  The ceremony was beautiful. Clint kissed her thoroughly and they were pronounced man and wife. Everyone was happy and mingling after the wedding and she could not help but notice that Jon could not take his eyes off Juliet. When a young bachelor approached her and asked her to dance she saw Jon glower at
the man.

  She smiled to herself; she knew that everything would soon fall into place for her friends. Even Elisabeth would find love in the darkness and pain that was the Marquis of Ridgewood.

  Emily bypassed the wine that was passed around the table during the celebration. She cupped her stomach lovingly as she thought of the babe that rested in her womb. Her dream of having a family of her own was a reality. She looked over at her husband. He was her Duke in shining armor. He had rescued her from darkness and gave her life and knew she would love him for the rest of her days.

  The celebration continued on until most of the guest had departed and Clint was sure that he was not going to be able to wait any longer to get his bride alone. He bid his mother a good night as she had a very tired Olivia sent to the children’s quarters and anxiously ran up the stairs to their bedchamber.

  Emily was a vision in the off white cream nightdress she had purchased recently from Bethany. He reached in his jacket and retrieved a stack of papers and knelt before her at her dresser. “Before I get carried away, I want to give you your wedding present. This is the deed to the gentlemen’s club that should have been rightly yours. Your aunt and uncle are merely employees there now, no longer living a life of leisure on your rightful inheritance.”

  She stared at the papers and saw that her name was scrolled over it several times and looked back at her handsome husband. She leaned forward and kissed him burying her fingers in his hair. She wanted to get lost in him, to never lose this feeling of love and contentment he gave her.

  She broke off the kiss to tell him with a smile, “I have a wedding present for you also, but I am afraid will we will get to meet him or her for another six months.”

  He stood and grabbed her and held her close. “A child?” he asked. She nodded with tears in her eyes. “Thank you.” He whispered passionately.

  “Thank you for saving me and making all my dreams a reality.” She whispered tenderly as she kissed him again and soon they were once again lost in a passion that many only have heard of.

  Coming the summer of 2012

  Book 2 of the Regency Heroes Series

  Conquering a Viscount

  I hope you enjoy the following preview of Juliet and Jon’s story as much as I have enjoyed writing it!

  Thanks for reading my work!-Macy Ann

  London, England 1814

  Juliet Wells stopped struggling and stared at the ground. How in the devil was she going to get down from her window without anyone seeing her? The middle child of the late Duke and Dowager Duchess of Norchess, Juliet was now ten and six years of age had been sneaking out of the London town house window of her bedroom for as long as she could remember. Of all these times, never, not once had her dress got caught on anything when she made her escape.

  But, today was different. She was dangling outside of her bedroom window; her dress ripped and hung on something in the window frame. She could feel a cool breeze on the back of her legs and knew she her backside was exposed. She tried to figure out how long she had been hanging, a half hour? Well, that meant she had another half hour before someone noticed her absence.

  Her brother, the Duke of Norchess Clinton Wells had married the Lady Emily Moncrief recently and her mother had been wrapped up in the wedding affairs and luckily it had taken her focus off Juliet for a while. She usually snuck out for an hour at a time, and her mother was oblivious to it. She began wiggling her body again in a back and forth motion trying to tear the fabric of her dress when she heard her mother calling her name in the bedroom. She held her breath and ceased to move. She let out her breath in a whoosh when she heard her mother close the door, she was safe for the moment.

  She resumed her struggling for a few more minutes, when she paused as a scent caught her nose. Someone was smoking. And it smelled as if they were very close to her. She tried to peer through the trees to discern who the figure was standing at the end of the house.

  Bloody hell, of all the rotten luck! It was Jonathan Radcliff, the Viscount Cornwell her brothers lifelong friend, and the love of her life. He was ignorant to the fact that he had Juliet’s affection, and so far she had not been able to make him see her as anything other than a kid sister.

  She was ten years old when she started having feelings for him. She loved his sandy blonde hair and his green eyes that always seem to have laughter in them. He was tall, but not as tall as her brother Clint. He was well built and his legs were splendid in the right pair of breeches. She had imagined herself in his arms on more than one occasion.

  Although she was not exactly sure of what went on between a man and woman, she knew she wanted him to be the one to teach her. If he caught her dangling with her bloomers showing he would chastise her like a child. She went very still.

  Hopefully he would finish his smoke and go back into the house so she could get herself down without embarrassment. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she watched one of the kitchen maids come from the house and wrap her arms around his waist in a familiar fashion.

  He said something to her, to which she giggled and he patted her on the behind and sent her scurrying off. That despicable cur, their help was not even safe around the man.

  Why did she have to be cursed with a love for this man? She made a vow to herself at that moment. She would not chase after him anymore. She would suck up her feelings and allow her mother to arrange her courtships so that she would make a suitable marriage. And God help the poor girl who got stuck with Jonathan Radcliff as a husband.

  Jonathan Radcliff, the Viscount Cornwell took a long drag off of his cigarette he was enjoying and wondered how long he should let Juliet hang from her window. He had saw her almost immediately and decided to take his time helping her. She had been unusually hateful to him over the past week.

  He told himself that he was scaring off her suitors as any older brother should while Clint was otherwise occupied with his new wife, not because he was jealous. From the corner of his eye he took in the creamy expanse of her legs and allowed himself to admire the curve of her buttocks that were exposed. She had really grown into a lovely woman.

  He felt himself become aroused and cursed. Damn it, he was not supposed to have an attraction to her. He had only begun to notice her as a woman at Clint’s wedding. She was stunning in her gown of deep mauve and her dark hair styled in curls that had drifted down to the creamy indention of her breasts.

  He felt arms circle him from behind and turned to find a kitchen maid by the name of Annie rubbing her body seductively against him. She cupped his arousal and purred. “Is that for me?” He smiled at her. “Will you ever cease your relentless hounding of me?”

  She laughed. “Only after you give in and give me a taste.” He patted her on her rear end and motioned for her to go about her business.

  Was he imagining it or was he feeling daggers being shot at him from the trees. He sighed and turned towards her. “Would you like help Jules or are you going to hang there all day?” He thought he heard a very unlady like curse.

  “You insufferable cad!” she seethed. “How long have you known I was here?”

  He threw his cigarette to the ground and stomped it. “Oh, just long enough to take in the sight of your beautiful legs and wonderfully round backside.” Why had he said that? He cursed inwardly. He stepped forward and tugged her dress until the fabric gave and she landed in a heap on the ground. She stood up in a huff. She was stunning even in her anger and torn dress. She was all of five feet tall but that didn’t stop her from kicking him as hard as she could in the shin.

  “Ow, what the hell did you do that for Button?” he groaned as he rubbed his shin.

  “Don’t call me that!” She struggled to fix her dress so that she might make it into the house and back into her room unnoticed. “I can’t believe that you would leave me hanging there just to make sport of me!” She was thoroughly angry. He didn’t care for her feelings at all!

  She straightened her shoulders and prepared to walk around him. He stopped
her and turned her around. Her dress was caught in her bloomers. She felt his touch at the top of her waist and it was like molten fire. She heard his intake of breath, and knew that he was aware of the sexual tension that vibrated from her body. He drew her closer to him and his mouth was dangerously close and hot on her neck.

  His hand lingered and she thought he might caress her before she heard him curse and snatch her dress lose and cover her. She spun around to face him her chest heaving from her sharp intake of breath. She wanted this man. And from the look in his eyes, she knew that he was finally aware of it. He leaned in as if to kiss her but drew back almost as quickly.

  She ran past him and flew up the side stairs into the house. She didn’t stop running until she was safely behind her closed bedroom door. Jon ran his hand threw his hair and gritted his teeth in frustration. Damn his traitorous body. He was rock hard and throbbing with need. He couldn’t deny it anymore. He wanted Juliet Wells and he wanted her badly. From the cloudy passion he saw in her green eyes, she wanted him also.

  This was a dilemma. Clint was his best friend. If he ravished his sister he could more than likely kiss his friendship goodbye. He wanted no wife at this time, and he would have to marry Juliet if he seduced her. Maybe it was time that he went back to his home to start handling his affairs and take over his responsibilities before a spunky petite brunette made him through all caution to the wind.

  He turned and made his way back to the house. He would just tell Clint that with him being married now it was time for him to make his departure. He had just reached the front stairs to the townhouse when a scream sounded from the second floor.

  He took off running in the direction of which the sound came from. His first thoughts flew to Juliet. He had to make sure she was safe. He nearly collided with her as they reached the stairwell at the same time. “What is going on, I heard screaming!” she asked him.

  He pushed her to the side. “Stay here.” He ordered. Clint came barreling down the hall. They each took the stairs running. They found a pale faced Emily with her hands to her mouth. She was staring in horror at Clint’s little sisters nurse Mary lying in a pool of blood outside of the child’s bedroom.