To Bedevil a Duke
Page 9
“If and I have not agreed to anything as yet, your grace, but if I do, will you promise not to tell me what I can and cannot do. Will you promise me that if I wish to travel, visit friends abroad that I shall be allowed to? That I will not be made to sit at home, alone night after night while you wile away your time at houses of ill repute. That you will love me, stay true to me from this day forward.”
He nodded, stepping closer still. “We shall put all those promises in our wedding vows.”
Darcy smiled, hope making her eyes well up with tears. “Then yes, I shall be your wife.”
Athelby laughed, his shoulders slumping in relief before he pulled her against him and kissed her. Devoured her would be a better term and one that surprisingly had the guests cheering and shouting congratulations while he kissed her still, held her steadfast against him and wouldn’t let her go.
“Your grace, I do believe you’ve forgotten yourself and where you are,” the Marquess of Aaron whispered to them both.
Darcy chuckled and pulled from the kiss but not Athelby’s embrace.
“And what if he has. We’re to be married so what does it matter?”
Athelby went to speak, but Darcy placed her fingers over his lips, not willing to hear exactly all the silly little tonnish rules they were breaking and who would be quite put out with them over the next few weeks and months. If anyone chooses to be insulted by two people agreeing to love and marry one another then that was their problem and not hers to worry about.
“Shall we leave, your grace?” Darcy grinned, thoughts of them being alone in the carriage, of having Athelby in her bed for the rest of the evening making her impatient to depart.
He tucked her arm into the crook of his and made their way across the ballroom floor. They stopped at Lady Ainsworth’s side, Darcy’s godmother and Athelby’s grandmother wiping away tears with her handkerchief.
“Oh, my dears, I’m so happy.” Her ladyship kissed them both and clasping her hands before her. “I knew you were perfect for one another and I knew it was only a matter of time before you saw it yourselves.”
Darcy looked up at Athelby and smiled. “How wise you were, godmother. If only we were quicker to realize ourselves.”
Others congratulated them on their way to the entrance hall. Darcy wrapped her cloak about her and waited for Athelby’s carriage to come around front.
“Is the duke of Athelby’s rule breaking going to continue this evening?”
“What did you have in mind?” he asked, leaning down to whisper the words against her ear, causing a shiver to run down her spine.
“That you come home with me and warm my bed.”
The duke’s gaze burned with hunger and it spiked her own need. He stormed from the entrance hall and yelled for his vehicle to hurry up. Darcy grinned and followed. Oh yes, maybe the duke of Athelby was up for some mischief after all.
Chapter 9
Athelby snapped the door to the carriage shut and wrenched Darcy onto his lap, taking her lips with a hunger that was as foreign and welcome to him as ever.
She kissed him back with passion, and his cock hardened, strained against his breeches. Darcy wiggled against him, and he could not wait to take her, he had to have her now.
Desperate to feel her, he ripped at her gown, pulling it out of the way as she came to straddle his legs. Darcy was wet, so deliciously wet for him that he groaned as he ran his hand over her core, teasing, flicking before slipping two fingers inside.
She moaned, her own hands busy untying his front falls. His phallus, hard and heavy sprang into her hand, and she teased him, wrapped her beautifully clever fingers around his member and slid up and down.
“Fuck, Darcy,” he gasped, pulling her atop him and impaling into her hot core. The carriage rocked along as Athelby pitched into her. Their love making was frantic, the carriage full of gasps, moans, and declarations for more, harder, faster, deeper…
Mine. Mine. Reverberated about in his mind. The woman in his arms was going to be his wife, his duchess. How the knowledge warmed his soul.
She rode him, took her pleasure, coming apart in his arms and he soon followed her into bliss. To imagine endless nights and days to come, years of her beside him, attending events, balls, family obligations, while knowing always she was his made his eyes well. He blinked, not believing the duke of Athelby would succumb to such emotions.
Darcy watched him, wiped a small tear that had escaped from his cheek and met his gaze. “I love you, Cameron, so very much. I’m so glad of that night where you finally kissed me. You said earlier that you believed you’ve always loved me, well, I may have stated that I disliked your ways, your rules, but I’ve never disliked you. Deep down I’ve always wanted to know what you’d be like if I peeled off your layers, got to know you again and then debauched you as I so longed to do.”
Athelby chuckled. “Debauched? I suppose yes, you’ve totally ruined me as I’ve ruined you. I love you, Darcy, so very much that I cannot see my way forward without you beside me.”
“And you will not, for I’m going to be your wife, and will corrupt you even more and maybe even spoil you so you’ll never be able to live without me again.”
“Shall we put those declarations in our wedding vows as well? Best I find to start as we mean to go on.”
Darcy smiled, kissing him with a sweetness that made him ache. “We shall.”
Epilogue
Four years later…
Darcy strolled toward the duke who sat sprawled on the lawn of their London estate, their two children giggling and running about him every time he made a lunge to grab and tickle them until they couldn’t take it any longer.
Their birth had not been easy, and she thanked God every day that even though they could not have any more, that they were blessed with two delightful, happy, healthy children.
Darcy came up to them and clasped Henry from behind, whisking him into the air and making him squeal. “I’ve got you,” she said, kissing him multiple times on his neck and cheek before putting him back down where he resumed his game with his father. Darcy sat and pulled Henrietta onto her lap, cuddling her and giving her too her fair share of kisses.
“Are you having fun with papa? I wanted to tell you that cook has made up some ices for you in the kitchen if you wished to have some.”
The children squealed and ran off as if the devil himself was on their heels, their nursemaid not far behind.
“You scared the children away,” Cameron said, leaning over and pulling her down to lie beside him.
Darcy laid over his chest, looking up at him. “I did, didn’t I?” she chuckled. “Is it terrible of me that I don’t feel the least guilt about that?”
“You’re a minx, but then, I would not have it any other way.” He pulled her up toward him and kissed her.
Darcy deepened the embrace, having been away all afternoon at house calls.
“Let’s leave for Ruxdon early, and get out of London. I’m tired of the season and all that we’re obligated to do during it. If we go home, we can do as we please, and with summer not far away, maybe we could even take the children boating for a day.”
Cameron rolled her onto her back, pinning her to the ground with one leg scandalously between her own. She gasped, clutching at his hair and kissing him again.
“We’ll leave the day after tomorrow, but you’re aware grandmother will wish to come? You know she never likes to be separated from the children. She adores them so.”
“I do not mind, and with her at Ruxdon it’ll give us some time to be alone…” This time Cameron shifted fully on top of her and Darcy gasped. “You cannot lie on me like this here. Someone may see us.”
He was unmoved, except for one part of his person that was moving and growing at a very rapid pace. “What do you expect, the Duke of Athelby has been corrupted by a de Wolfe. There is no saving me now or halting my desires. You did say you wanted to know what it would be like married to a debauched duke.”
“I
did say that didn’t I?” she sighed and gave herself up to kissing him, teasing him just as he liked. There were many things she now knew the duke loved, and in turn, she adored that she was the woman to give him love and pleasure. That he loved her in return and gave her freedom that she’d so longed for.
He groaned, the kiss turning from sweet to molten when Darcy shifted beneath him, placing him directly at her core and not in the least backing away from his need.
“Upstairs duchess. Now.” Cameron stood, pulling her to follow him.
She did, only too willingly. Marriage to a debauched gentleman did make for enjoyable afternoons. And an enjoyable life, actually.
Introducing… To Madden a Marquess
Lords of London, Book 2
She saved his life, but can she save him from himself?
Hunter, Marquess of Aaron, has the ton fooled. Outwardly he’s a gentleman of position, with good contacts, wealth and charm. Inwardly, he’s a mess. His vice—drinking himself into a stupor most days—almost kills him when he steps in front of a hackney cab. His saviour, a most unlikely person, is an angel to gaze at, but with a tongue sharper than his sword cane.
Cecilia Smith dislikes idleness and waste. Had she been born male, she would already be working for her father’s law firm. So, on a day when she was late for an important meeting at one of her many charities, she was not impressed by having to step in and save a foxed gentleman rogue from being run over.
When their social spheres collide, Hunter is both surprised and awed by the capable, beautiful Miss Smith. Cecilia, on the other hand, is left confused and not a little worried by her assumptions about the Marquess and his demons. It is anyone’s guess whether these two people from different worlds can form one of their own…
Coming July 31, 2018
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From Entangled Publishing
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Heiress Series
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TO BEGUILE A LADY (Nov 2018)
TO WAGER WITH LOVE (TBA 2019)
Also by Tamara Gill
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HIS LADY SMUGGLER
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Time Travel Romance
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Lords of London Series
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TO MADDEN A MARQUESS (Pre-order 99c)
TO TEMPT AN EARL (Sept 2018)
TO VEX A VISCOUNT (Dec 2018)
Daughters Of The Gods Series
DAUGHTERS OF THE GODS ~ SERIES BUNDLE
BANISHED~GUARDIAN~FALLEN
About the Author
Tamara is an Australian author who grew up in an old mining town in country South Australia, where her love of history was founded. So much so, she made her darling husband travel to the UK for their honeymoon, where she dragged him from one historical monument and castle to another.
A mother of three, her two little gentleman in the making, a future lady (she hopes) and a part-time job keep her busy in the real world, but whenever she gets a moment’s peace she loves to write romance novels in an array of genres, including regency, medieval and time travel.
www.tamaragill.com
tamaragillauthor@gmail.com