Dashing Dukes and Romantic Rogues

by Caldwell, Christi

  His touch was gentle but his face was dark with anger. “I…I…was just walking by.”

  Then he dropped his chin into the crook of her neck and gathered her closer. “You could have been hurt.”

  Rose blinked. Why wasn’t he more concerned about the fact that she’d overheard him planning a robbery? The knowledge was destroying her from the inside out. He was the one man who’d understood her need to find the jewels who seemed to delight in their exchanges rather than be threatened by them.

  He sparked such strong need in her but now, she couldn’t possibly continue to pursue a relationship with him. “Thank you for keeping me safe,” she said through a shuddered breath. “I should go.”

  He pulled his head back and looked down at her, his eyes narrowing. “You, my little troublemaker, are not going anywhere.”

  That snapped her out of her grief and replaced it with anger. She pushed at his chest. “You are calling me the troublemaker?” she hissed. “I heard what you were planning.”

  “You were eavesdropping,” his voice dropped low and deep.

  She straightened, which barely brought the top of her head to his shoulder. Tipping her head back she gave him what she hoped was a fierce glare. “Don’t judge me. I am not the one committing—”

  But his hand at her mouth stopped her. He pulled her back into the library, as she struggled to get away, and then pushed the door closed with his foot. “You are the smartest woman I know. Surely you can’t think I would plan an actual criminal act with the door ajar.”

  That made her stop struggling. Because now that he mentioned it, he was far more intelligent than that.

  “It’s a trap that His Grace helped me set. If you’d like to ask him, feel free. Bridgeton will be caught stealing from the safe and will be imprisoned and then your jewels returned.” His brow furrowed. “I know you’ve had some questions about my moral compass, I can’t blame you. But I did think you were one of the few people who thought me smart enough to form a better plan than plotting in front of an open door.”

  She raised her hands up to grasp his wrist. Tears stung at her eyes, though she tried to push them away. Because all along, he’d been acting for her benefit. He was trying to get her jewels back. It made so much more sense than him planning a foolish robbery. Slowly, she pulled his hand away from her mouth. “You’re right. I do think you’re far more intelligent than that.”

  “Thank you for that.” He cupped her cheek with the hand that had been covering her mouth.

  She took a breath. “I would normally have noticed your actions did not suit your character but I’m afraid my own emotions are clouding my judgment. I feel a certain amount of,” she stopped, searching for the word as her heart hammered in her chest, “affection for you and it keeps me from seeing everything clearly.”

  His eyebrow raised, just one. “You feel some affection for me?” Then a slow grin pulled up the corners of his lips. “I feel a certain amount for you too. Which is why I have asked you to stay out of trouble. Not that you are listening to me.”

  “This truly was an accident. I was just walking by when…” But her voice trailed off as his gaze darkened.

  “Still, you made a promise,” his voice had grown deeper, more intimate. “And now you owe me a kiss.”

  She caught her breath. Because he was so handsome and he understood her and what she wanted and needed. And because she loved him like she had never loved anyone else. “You’re right. It’s only fair that I pay what I agreed to. Best that we act in good faith from here on out.”

  “Good faith?” There was an edge to his voice that she didn’t understand but she didn’t have time to ask as he spun her around and then pressed her back against the door. “Lift your skirt.”

  She swallowed down a lump as her pulse beat wildly. “I thought my payment was a kiss?” But without meaning to, she began gathering her skirts in her hand, letting them shimmy up her legs.

  “It is,” now there was a growl to his voice that she responded to in the most basic way. It was exciting and a pulse of need formed deep between her legs.

  He lifted her skirt as well, skimming up her knee and then her thighs. Her breath came out in short gasps. “But what does that have to do with my—” She stopped when his fingers brushed her most intimate area. She moaned and her head fell back thudding against the door.

  “You must try to be quiet my love,” he whispered close to her ear. “I will explain everything to you after but I want you to have options and, if we are caught, there will be none.”

  What did he need to explain? She couldn’t think as his fingers began a rhythmic movement against her soft folds. He dipped down and before she could ask what he meant with his words, his head disappeared under the folds of her skirt.

  His arm hooked under her knee and as he placed it on his shoulder, the soft press of his tongue touched her most intimate area.

  A cry rent from her lips as she clutched at his head now completely covered by her layers of skirt and petticoat.

  “Quiet,” he cautioned.

  He repeated the movement and wonderful ache made her knees weak as she bit at her lip to keep from moaning. “I now…understand…the appeal…of a rake.” She managed to gasp between breaths.

  He laughed and the vibration against her swollen flesh made her shudder with pleasure as she pressed closer. Never had she felt anything close to this. And as he moved faster, he inserted a finger deep inside her. “Will,” she murmured while she clung to his head, his shoulders. Her pleasure intensifying until she felt as though she might break apart.

  But rather than ease back he increased the tempo and she ground against him looking for some sort of relief.

  Just when she couldn’t stand another second, her insides convulsed and her pleasure broke in the most satisfying way. It was devastating and wonderful and it wiped her mind of every thought. She slowly floated down from that mind-numbing bliss.

  Rose didn’t realize she’d been sinking to the floor, until Will pulled her skirts off his head and hooked his arms underneath her to carry her to a settee. Her head rested limply on his shoulder.

  He kissed her forehead as he sat down with her in her lap. “I’m sorry to jump straight into this conversation, but I don’t know how much more time we have alone.”

  Conversation? She blinked a few times to try and clear her head. “What is it?”

  “I want,” he paused. “I want you to know the truth about me. All of it.”

  That rid her mind of its haziness and she sat up in his lap. “The truth?”

  “You deserve to know.” His face tightened. “You’ve been right about a great many things. I would never have allowed myself to be taken in by Highwater. It wasn’t an accident I was at the auction where your mother’s jewels were sold.

  Cold fear washed over her as she tried to remain calm. “It wasn’t?”

  “I am not a thief, Rose. Nor am I a destitute. I don’t have a gambling problem nor do I drink excessively. Well, occasionally, I suppose but that is beside the point.”

  “What then?” She deliberately closed her mouth realizing it was parted in suspense.

  He grimaced. “I am spy for the Prince Regent, or I was. I created that image of a degenerate earl to gain access to the more paltry side of high society. The auction where your jewels were sold, a set of rubies belonging to the Prinny himself were also for sale. I was there to track them and to make sure that the criminals responsible were brought to justice.”

  Rose jumped from his lap. It wasn’t that she was angry or upset. Well she was a little of both. But it was as though she’d been struck by lightning as all the details clicked into place. How had she not realized sooner that he would have been working with the law not against it? “I am such a fool.”

  “You’re not.” He stood too.

  “It was all there. How could I not have seen it?” Her hands trembled as she clasped them together and she began pacing in front of him.

  “No one saw it.
Not even my parents when they were alive, not my closet friends, and some of them are quite intelligent. My mentor, the Earl of Coventry, didn’t know and he is one of the sharpest men I’ve ever known.”

  She covered her mouth with her hands, shock rippling through her again. “Your parents didn’t know?”

  “No one knew.” He stood too, taking a step toward her. His hands moved slowly out as though she were a frightened animal he hoped to calm. “Only you saw behind my mask. Rose, after this latest case, Prinny decided I should retire, I was going to fight to remain but more and more—” He stopped as the knob on the door rattled.

  “Oh,” she said, her hands coming to grip her cheeks. She was alone with a man. She had no idea what she might look like but she could only assume that it was dreadfully disheveled.

  “On the settee,” he hissed.

  “What?” She didn’t have time to say anything further as reached for her, swung her around and set her on the settee.

  “Lie down,” his voice was somehow both a whisper and yet still commanding. Her immediate thought was that if she were lying down it would only implicate them the more but he, she had to admit, had for more experience than she, and in a matter such as this, Rose trusted him.

  She trusted him. To tell her the truth, and to get her mother’s jewels. She trusted him to make her feel alive again, more alive than she had in years. And she realized, more than anything, she wanted to trust him with her heart.

  The door opened and Will issued a final command, “Close your eyes.”

  She snapped them shut. His hand touched her forehead and her cheeks as male voices, filled the room and then went silent.

  “Bloody hell, Addington,” Lord Perrault asked. “Is everything all right?”

  “Fine, I think.” Will rumbled with concern. “She’s coming to, now.”

  “What happened?” Another voice rumbled. Rose thought it was His Grace, but she couldn’t be certain.

  “She became overset and fainted. Would one of you retrieve her father while the other chaperones us? We wouldn’t want this damaging the lady’s reputation.”

  “Of course,” Perrault cleared his throat. “I just saw him in the breakfast room. I’ll be right back. Should I also get some smelling salts?”

  “Just her father,” Will answered in clipped tones.

  Silence filled the room as soon as he was gone. Rose found it extremely difficult to keep still, wanting to know who was in the room and what was happening. “Does she know?”

  “Yes, I just told her.” Will’s hand stayed on her head. He flipped it over to stroke the back of his fingers along her cheek.

  “Did your revelation cause her to faint?”

  She was nearly certain that it was the Duke of Landon’s voice.

  “No. Rose, you can sit up.” She did as he bid and opened her eyes swinging them first to Will. His look was soft, somehow, tender. Then she looked to the duke.

  He crossed his arms about his chest, narrowing his gaze at them. “My courtship with Tricia was not the most proper but, honestly, the two of you are skirting disaster here.”

  Will stood, blocking her from the other man’s view. “When you tell the woman you wish to marry about your former life as a spy, it requires a certain amount of privacy.”

  Shock rippled through her as she looked up at the back of his head. “Marriage?”

  But neither man heard her as Landon returned, “Fine, but the library in the morning is not a very private place. You, of all people, should have a better sense for these things.”

  “I appreciate your help, but I do not need your advice.” Will growled back.

  She stood, touching Will’s back. She didn’t want to hear them now, she had her own questions. He turned his head back to her and she asked again, “Marriage?”

  “Marriage?” Another voice asked from the door.

  She recognized this voice all too well. Her father’s clipped tone sent a frisson of fear along her spine. He had reached the library rather quickly. Her hand fluttered to her hair, and to her disappointment, she realized that several strands had come out of her coif. “I…I…” she stuttered, having no idea what to say. She was speechless, which happened far more often than she cared to admit with Will.

  “I proposed. But Rose has yet to accept.” Will straightened his shoulders.

  “Was anyone in attendance when you made this proposal?” Her father asked as he entered every word clipped.

  It had been a long time since she’d heard her father like this.

  “I was,” Landon chimed in. Apparently he was going to protect her, despite his irritation.

  “Rose,” her father rumbled. She was still largely hidden behind Will and she would rather prefer to stay there. She wasn’t afraid of her father by any means but it was embarrassing to step out in front of them all looking this way.

  Will turned to her, tucked her hair back, then threaded her hand into the crook of his arm. She didn’t dare look at anyone as they turned. “I rather shocked her and she has yet to answer. I wish to give her all the time she needs to think it over to make her decision.”

  “Good of you.” Her father’s voice dropped even lower. She stole a quick glance and his face was pinched, his brow set low. “Don’t you worry about your own reputation?”

  “Not at all.” Will and she moved toward her father until they stood in front of him.

  “Rose.” Her father gave his own thigh a tap, the sound cutting through the tension in the room. “We’re leaving.”

  Rose unthreaded her arm from Will’s so her father might escort her out of the room. But she had the oddest feeling that she didn’t want to let Will go. Not ever.

  Chapter Ten

  After Rose walked away, it took every ounce of Will’s self-control not to chase her and pull her back to his side.

  Rose belonged with him.

  That wasn’t the way in which he had meant to propose. A problem he needed to correct in short order.

  Perrault walked back into the room. “Lady Roselyn is gone? Is she all right?”

  “She’ll be fine.” Landon didn’t smile but his eyes danced as he said, “She was shocked by the thought of marrying this one.”

  Perrault let out a bark of laughter. “That is shocking.” His gaze swept over Will. “You are considering marriage? Has your situation really gotten that desperate?” Perrault scratched his head. “I thought it might have with the recent scandal and your request to actually attend a house party.”

  Will gritted his teeth. It had never bothered him before. Not until Rose. Once someone had looked closely enough to realize that he was intelligent and capable, he found being with people who assumed him an idiot to be terribly frustrating. “My proposal was based solely on Rose’s merits.”

  Perrault raised his brows. He’d been an acquaintance for more than ten years and their conversation had always remained light. “Of course it was.” He winked, then he turned to Landon and slapped him on the arm. “Just don’t give him the code to my safe.”

  Will had to fight not to hit the man as he stared at him. Landon had already given him the combination, which he, in turn, had passed onto to Bridgeton so that the baron might be caught in the act.

  It was Landon who responded. “I would trust Lord Addington with my life, along with my safe.”

  Perrault raised his eyebrows. “Right.” Then he gave Will a smile. “Jolly good fellow.”

  Landon had the advantage in this conversation. He knew that. But all the same, Will liked the man immensely in this moment. “Is everyone ready for the hunt?” The gameskeeper had likely been out since before dawn, making this mid-morning hunt possible.

  “The best part of a house party if you ask me.” Perrault grinned.

  Landon looked from one man to the other. “Right.” He turned toward Will. “Speaking of trust. Can I trust you to lead me through the hunt? I’ve never participated in such a formal one.”

  “Never?” Perrault practically yelled. “You
’ve been missing out.”

  Will attempted not to roll his eyes. “Of course, Your Grace.” He and Landon had decided to circle back to the house. They would catch Bridgeton and send for the constable. Will had to confess, he didn’t usually participate in that part of the process. It was how he kept his cover. He hoped everything went smoothly, though he would be ready if it didn’t.

  “Well, in that case. I’m off to change. See you in the field in just a bit.” Perrault exited, with a merry whistle as he walked down the hall.

  “Dreadful,” Landon followed the man’s path with his eyes. “He’s your friend?”

  Will nearly grinned. “Acquaintance. Most people treat me like that. Unless they want something from me.”

  “And Lady Rose? How does she treat you?” Landon looked back at him.

  Will took a breath. “Like she sees the real me.”

  “Ahhh.” Landon gave him a smile. “Let’s get her diamonds back shall we? It will make your proposal so much stronger.”

  Yes. It most certainly would. And he would do whatever he needed to make Rose his wife.

  * * *

  Rose lay on her bed. She never rested during the day, normally hated when she was forced to do so, but today, it felt divine.

  Her head swirled with all that she’d learned.

  Will was a spy who had always been working as a force of good rather than as a criminal. Her heart had known that long before her mind had caught up.

  And he wanted to marry her. Did she want to marry at all? Did she want to marry him? The answer to both questions was yes. She wanted to because it was him. After Dudley, she thought never to marry again.

  But with Will, everything was more. Her depth of emotion, his level of understanding. She’d be a fool to let him get away.

  She sat up, got out of bed, and crossed the room to look out in the garden. She knew the men were assembling for the hunt and she was glad for an excuse to stay in. The women would either picnic as they watched or do feminine activities within the house, neither of which she could stand in this moment. She’d rather be restless alone.