And if she couldn’t? Then she would not allow it to mar her happiness. And she was happy. She had never thought she would enjoy being a duchess, but James made every day an adventure and every night a passionate exploration.
As if conjured by her thoughts, she felt him wrap his arms around her from behind and press a kiss to her cheek as he drew her back against his strong, broad chest. She felt the ridge of his erection pressing into her backside, and laughed. It seemed she would have to take care of that before they joined their guests, and she thrilled at the idea.
“They are waiting for us,” James said.
She ground back against him just a little and elicited a deep moan from him that made her smile. “Obviously they’ll have to wait.”
She expected him to draw her back into the parlor and take her, but instead he remained where he was, holding her close. She turned in his arms and looked up to find him smiling.
“What is that look for?” she asked as she leaned up to brush her lips against his.
“I’m happy, Emma,” he said softly. “I was incomplete and never knew it. But you came along and now…now I’m whole.”
A lump filled her throat at the sweet confession and the pure happiness on his face when he said it. “I feel the same way,” she said. “And I…I have news that will make us more than complete.”
“News?” he asked, tilting his head slightly. “What news is that?”
She caught his hand and drew it down, pressing it to her belly gently. “A baby,” she said, watching for his reaction.
To her delight, his face lit up and he dropped his other hand to her stomach as he stared at her in shock. “A baby?”
She nodded. “Are you happy?”
“Happy?” he repeated with a loud laugh. “I’m over the moon, Emma. All my happiness, all my world…it starts and finishes with you. And I can think of no better gift than a child to complete this happy union.”
He caught her in his arms then and kissed her, at first gently, but then more deeply and passionately. As he guided her back into the house, into a parlor where he would prove his love for her once again, she couldn’t help but beam.
This was her life. One she might not have ever imagined, but made her happier than she ever thought she could be. And one she intended to celebrate with the man she loved.
Enjoy an exciting excerpt from
Her Favorite Duke,
out June 6th
Simon shut the terrace door behind himself, then sucked in a great gulp of cool air. Since his conversation with Christopher, he had felt this weight pressing down on him, crushing him. He hardly recalled the last twenty minutes. Hardly recalled the dances or his partners.
He didn’t recall anything except for the pounding refrain that echoed in his head. Margaret. Margaret. Margaret.
He deserved to be called out for his obsession. He deserved to be abandoned. And yet he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about her.
“I should leave,” he murmured. “Go away for a few months or a few years.”
He’d often thought that same thing, but he never followed through with the plan. Maybe it was time to finally do what was right. He bent his head and stared at his fingers, clenched against the stone wall of the terrace. He’d have to make a good excuse to go. He certainly couldn’t tell Graham and James that he was desperately in love with Margaret.
He was still pondering that notion when he heard a faint sound echo from a darkened corner of the terrace. He turned, looking around as he did so. He was alone out here, or at least he’d thought he was. But now that he was attending, he heard more sounds. Sounds of…weeping.
He moved forward, toward he darkened part of the terrace that was away from the windows and doors, away from where anyone would find a person.
“Hello?” he called out as he stepped into the darkness and stopped, allowing his eyes to adjust now that light no longer filtered from the house. When they did, he gasped.
A woman sat at a table in the shadow of the house, her head resting down on her arms and she was crying.
He rushed toward her. “I say, are you all right?”
For the first time, the unknown lady seemed to recognize his presence. She jerked her head up, turned her face toward him and he screeched to a half.
“Meg?” he whispered.
She didn’t rise, but just stared up at him, her eyes unreadable in the half-dark. “Of course it would be you,” she said, her voice thick with tears before she set her head back down.
He should have walked away. He should have gone inside and found her brother or her fiancé and let one of them comfort her as was appropriate.
But Meg had always been his friend, as well as his obsession. And he wasn’t about to walk away in her time of need.
He took a seat at the table, sliding it closer so that their legs brushed beneath the tabletop. Slowly, gently, he slid an arm around her shoulders and guided her toward him until she rested her cheek against his chest.
She let out a shuddering sigh and the feel of her moving against him shot through him, waking every nerve ending, forcing him to face how desperately he wanted and adored her.
“What is it?” he asked, shocked he could form words when he was so damned aware of her in his arms.
She lifted a trembling hand and rested it against his heart. Certainly, she could feel it pounding, even beneath all the layers of his clothing. He absolutely felt the pressure of each and every one of her slender fingers.
“It’s nothing,” she said, her tone a little calmer now. “I was just overwhelmed for a moment.”
He looked down at her and caught a whiff of the honeysuckle fragrance of her hair. God how he loved that smell. He’d planted fourteen honeysuckle bushes around his estate in Crestwood five years ago just to have a tiny piece of her there with him.
“Did someone say something untoward to you?” he asked. “Because I’ll go in there and-”
She tilted her face up toward his and his heart stopped. Her lips were three inches from his. Close enough that he could feel the faint stir of her breath against his mouth. Close enough that kissing her would be easy.
God how he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to do more than kiss her.
She swallowed, her eyes going a little wild as she gently extracted herself from his arms, stood and walked out of the dark and into the safety of the light from the house.
“No one said anything,” she whispered, her voice barely carrying.
He should have thanked her for moving them back into safety. What he wanted to do instead was catch her by the velvet sash around her waist and draw her back into the corner of the house.
He got up and followed her.
“You and I have been…friends…for a long time,” he choked out. “You know you can tell me anything.”
She stared up at him and then her hand moved. He watched it as she lifted it and pressed in against his chest once more. Her fingers slid up and she brushed just the tips along his jaw. There was no breath between them, no space and in that moment, there were no lies.
He could see something he’d spent years convincing himself didn’t exist. Meg wanted him.
She pulled her hand away with a soft sound in the back of her throat and whispered, “I can’t tell you everything, Simon.”
“Meg,” he ground out, moving to take her hand.
Before he could, the door opened behind them. Meg spun away, turning her back to him, her slender shoulders lifting and falling on panting breaths.
“Ah, there you two are.”
Simon turned to smile as James stepped out onto the terrace with them. “James.”
“We’ve been looking for you. Come inside, will you? We’ve an announcement.”
Meg turned around and Simon caught his breath. She had composed herself to the point that no one would ever guess she had been weeping in the corner not five minutes before. She smiled brightly at her brother.
&
nbsp; “Of course, James.” As she passed Simon, she shot him a brief look. “Thank you for the-for the talk, Crestwood.”
Other Books by Jess Michaels
The 1797 Club
For information about the upcoming series, go to www.1797club.com to join the club!
Her Favorite Duke (Coming June 2017)
The Broken Duke (Coming September 2017)
The Silent Duke (Coming November 2017)
The Duke of Nothing (Coming January 2018)
The Undercover Duke (Coming March 2018)
The Duke of Hearts (Coming May 2018)
The Duke Who Lied (Coming August 2018)
The Duke of Desire (Coming October 2018)
The Last Duke (Coming November 2018)
Seasons
An Affair in Winter (Book 1)
A Spring Deception (Book 2)
One Summer of Surrender (Book 3)
Adored in Autumn (Book 4)
The Wicked Woodleys
Forbidden (Book 1)
Deceived (Book 2)
Tempted (Book 3)
Ruined (Book 4)
Seduced (Book 5)
The Notorious Flynns
The Other Duke (Book 1)
The Scoundrel’s Lover (Book 2)
The Widow Wager (Book 3)
No Gentleman for Georgina (Book 4)
A Marquis for Mary (Book 5)
The Ladies Book of Pleasures
A Matter of Sin
A Moment of Passion
A Measure of Deceit
The Pleasure Wars Series
Taken By the Duke
Pleasuring The Lady
Beauty and the Earl
Beautiful Distraction
About the Author
Jess Michaels writes erotic historical romance from her home in Tucson, AZ with her husband and one adorable kitty cat. She has written over 50 books, enjoys long walks in the desert and once wrestled a bear over a piece of pie. One of these things is a lie.
Jess loves to hear from fans! So please feel free to contact her in any of the following ways (or carrier pigeon):
www.AuthorJessMichaels.com
Email: [email protected]
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Jess Michaels raffles a gift certificate EVERY month to members of her newsletter, so sign up on her website: http://www.authorjessmichaels.com/
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