“Yes, sir.” One of the sailors began using a length of rope to secure Carl’s hands and feet.
“Captain, with your permission, we’d like to move the prisoners to the other boat and escort him back for trial.” Alex addressed the other man, not looking at her.
“Not at all.” The Captain turned to her. “Glad to see you are feeling better this morning. Last night, I was more than a little afraid you wouldn’t live.”
For the first time, Alex’s eyes lost their hardness, fear replacing it. She sighed in relief. “Thank you for your concern, I was afraid myself. Your visit last night may have saved my life.”
“It was Masters that pushed it. Said you were a friend of his and that you were in trouble. Guess he was right.”
“He was,” she answered softly. Alex’s eyes grew weary again. Her insides clenched. She longed to throw her arms around him and tell him that there would never be another but she didn’t dare. Once they were alone, she would tell him everything.
“Perhaps we should move the lady to the other boat?” A dark haired man nearly growled, his voice was so rough and deep.
“I agree. Rose had a nasty bump to the head. She is only just recovering,” Chris added. Rose would have kicked him if she were able. He needed to be quiet now. Alex had always seemed jealous of the other man but now, it was awful.
“Your assistance is not required.” Alex let out a growl of his own.
Rose peeked a glance at Chris. He was assessing the other man with narrowed eyes. Her insides fluttered with nerves as Chris spoke. “Alex, this is ridiculous.”
“Is it coincidence that you are here?” Alex stepped up till he was nose to nose with the other man. Anger and tension marked every line of his face. She wanted the Alex back that was kind and caring. She liked a man that could defend her when she needed it but now he was just being ridiculous and pigheaded.
“Alex, please.” Rose raised a shaking hand but it was too late.
Chris gave Alex a shove backwards to create some space between them. “I don’t know what has gotten into you but you’ve got to stop this. I was following Carl at your request.”
His words were cut off as Alex swung his fist into the other man’s nose. “Alex!” she cried.
Chris stumbled back, blood spewing from his nose. He recovered his feet quickly and shifted his weight to go hurtling back towards Alex. Covering her mouth with her hands, Rose bit back a sob. Her head spun as a dizziness overtook her.
Alex landed with a crash against the deck, with Chris on top of him. But he quickly, maneuvered to the top. Raising his fist, he made to hit Chris again. Rose blinked, a darkness covering her eyes. “Alex,” she moaned a plea this time.
His eyes focused in on her, shock registering there before Rose saw nothing else, a darkness overtaking her.
TAMING A DUKE’S WILD ROSE
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Rose woke slowly to the sound of hushed voices. Some words floated through her haze. “…lack of food… head injury… with child…” She drifted back to sleep.
When she woke, Isla and a beautiful redhead were next to her bed. Without a word, Isla raised a glass to Rose’s lips. “Doctor Thompson said you should drink plenty and eat too.”
Rose gingerly pulled herself up. “Thank you.” She took a long drink. Looking at the table, she saw a meat pasty sitting on a tray. It looked like the most delicious thing she had ever seen. Reaching a shaking hand out, she grasped it and brought it to her lips. “This is delicious.”
“I’m so glad.” The redhead gave her a glowing smile. “It seems as though you have been through quite an ordeal. I’m Piper Maddox.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. It has been trying.”
“Tell us what happened.” Isla reached for her hand but her face was pinched. Ignoring it, she proceeded to tell her friend all that she been through.
The two women sat in stunned silence. “But how did Mr. Masters know where you were?” Isla asked.
“He was following Carl and stumbled across my kidnapping. He was helping Alex but…”
“What happened?” Isla looked at her lap as she spoke.
“Alex is jealous. He doesn’t trust me―“ She couldn’t finish. It was too painful. A sob rose in her chest but she pushed it back down. She wouldn’t cry.
“Doesn’t trust you to what?” Piper gave her a smile of encouragement.
“Well, he doesn’t trust me at all. As he grows more jealous, he is not the man I thought he was. I choose the wrong man every time.” It was Rose’s turn to look away.
“He is having trouble trusting that you will love him. He is not the only one who is having trouble with trust.”
“I trust Alex!” she cried.
“Do you trust yourself?” Piper got up and crossed the room to fetch a blanket before Rose could answer. Biting her lip, Rose contemplated Piper’s words.
A knock sounded at the door and Piper moved across the room to answer. She opened the door and allowed Chris to step in. Rose’s shoulders fell. She couldn’t help it, she had hoped it would be Alex.
”Are you feeling all right?” Chris crossed the room to sit beside her.
“Just tired. And hungry.” She closed her eyes. It wasn’t entirely true. A sadness was falling about her like a cloak. Alex’s distance felt unbreechable and in her heart of hearts she worried he was correct. She shouldn’t be trusted.
“Try not to worry. It will all work out. He’ll come around. He’s just…”
“It’s all right. You don’t need to console me. I just need to talk to Alex. If he would just visit--” Rose stopped, realizing she was saying too much. “Thank you for your help.”
Chris paused before giving her a small smile. “Of course. He’s forgotten it, but he wouldn’t have had me do anything else besides help you. He’ll remember that very soon.”
Rose nodded, she hoped he was right. She closed her eyes against the possibility that he would not remember the promises they had made or the feeling that they had. Drifting off to sleep once again, she wondered if Alex would come see her.
***
Alex stood outside the door of her room, his hands clenched. It was completely obvious that Chris and Rose were not having a conversation of lovers. In fact, they were only talking of him.
He had been publicly jealous and he had shunned Rose when she had needed him most. What was more, he hadn’t even rescued her, Chris had been the one. His teeth ground together. He didn’t deserve to have Rose as a wife. He was too damaged.
Pushing the door open, he gave Chris a glowering stare and the other man crossed his arms but he remained silent as he exited the room.
He gave a nod to Piper as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to Rose. She barely stirred. He brushed her hair back from her face, watching the long gold tendrils slip through his fingers. “I should end it and leave her with someone who can love her the way she deserves.”
The chair Piper had been sitting on scraped back, and she came to stand at his side. “You will break her heart.”
His heart constricted at the thought, “It is temporary―“
“She loves you and it won’t be.”
“I can’t trust her the way she needs me to. I’m too scarred, inside and out…”
“I told you last night to try and be the man she needed you to be. You’re not trying. You’re letting your own fears dictate your behavior.”
“You’re right and you are only proving my point.”
“No, you are proving mine. Do what is best for her and everything will fall into place.” Piper turned and left the room.
He turned back to Rose, her luscious lips puckered in sleep. He touched them with the pad of his thumb. What if he spent all of their marriage in a fit of jealous rage? Would that make them happy? Piper was wrong, his insecurities ran too deep.
He stood. It would be best for her to be loved by a man who could give her the support she needed to get over
her own fears.
In his mind, he said goodbye.
***
Rose opened her eyes as she watched him walk out the door. Tears threatened to spill over but she refused to allow them. Reaching for the tray of food still sitting next to her, she forced herself to eat some more food. She would need her energy.
Piper returned to the room, surprised to see her awake. “Oh, Rose,” she breathed.
Rose shook her head. “He loves me. At least I know that.” She shook her head to clear her sadness. “But he has no idea how stubborn I can be, although my father did try to warn him.”
“What do you need?” A slow smile spread across the other woman’s face.
“First, a bath, then, a nightgown. Something sheer. And of course, keys for the rooms.” Rose took several more bites of her food, no longer forcing it down. She was excited now. Alex would have no choice when she was done and her weapon would be the truth.
Isla and Piper spent all afternoon making her irresistible. Her hair was washed, dried and brushed into a soft glowing sheen. Her body was scrubbed pink and then draped in a sheer nighty. Perfume was sprayed in a cloud around her. By nightfall, she glanced in the mirror to see a beautiful goddess where she should have stood. “Is that me?”
Isla laughed. “If I ever I am trying to woo a man, you must do this for me.”
“I doubt we will have to, men fall at your feet.” Rose winked at her friend.
“Unless they are falling at yours.” Isla gave her friend a wink but there was worry around her eyes.
Rose bit her lip. She would have to see her friend again soon. Isla had been there for her and rose would return the favor.
Piper handed Rose a dressing gown to cover the sheer fabric. Then, she pressed a key into her hand. “I would suggest getting yourself situated in his room before he returns from dinner. And if I could give you a word of advice, don’t let him talk too much. The more room he has to disagree, the more difficult your task will become.”
Rose nodded, hugging each of her friends, and then slipped out the door, key in hand. She crept down the hall. Piper had told her that his room was just a few doors down and she found it easily as she pressed the key in the lock and twisted it until the door opened.
Slipping the dressing gown from her shoulders, she draped it across a chair. Lighting a few candles, she pulled back the coverlet on the bed and arranged herself upon the sheet. Now that she was here, her heart beat wildly. Taking a few deep breaths, Rose relaxed back into the pillow, settling herself in to wait.
She nearly jumped when the door almost immediately opened. In the flickering light of the candles, his eyes found her immediately and his mouth tightened. “You need to go back to your room.”
“Alex,” her voice whispered out. “Close the door before someone sees.”
A deep frown marked his brow but he did as she asked. “I mean it, Rose. We cannot do this―“
“Again?” she asked standing. “We’ve already done it, remember. I am ruined or have you forgotten? You can’t take it back and I cannot marry another.”
“He’ll forgive you―“ He stopped speaking as she gasped.
“You really plan to not marry me. After what we did and what we have been through?” Her insides clenched to hear him say it and she fought back her nausea. No longer sure of her plan, her hand came to her stomach.
“Rose, I can’t be the man you need. It’s not you but I just can’t trust anyone.”
“It’s not you?” Her temper flared. “I’ve said that before and do you want to know a secret? It was them.” Her hands came to her hips. She forgot that her nightgown was sheer and she sauntered towards him. “One was too needy. Another too lazy. Both were too easily wooed by my father’s money. So I know that it is me. You don’t trust me because you think I am too fickle but you are wrong, Your Grace.” She had reached him now and her finger came out and poked him in the chest. His eyes smoldered with what she thought must be anger but she pressed on anyway. “I will never feel about another the way I feel about you. You have tamed my wayward heart and now you don’t want it anymore. I won’t force you to marry me but I’ll never marry another. I want you to know that. I am yours whether you want me or not.”
His hands grabbed her waist and for a moment, Rose thought he would push her away. Instead he pulled her body close to his, burying his face in her hair. “Of course I want you.” His arms snaked around her pressing her closer still. “But I will drive you mad with my insecurities and―“
She stopped him with her lips on his. “Stop trying to make my decisions for me. What will drive me mad is if you continue to treat me like a child.” Her lips pursed and his eyes grew darker still.
“You’re no child,” he whispered in a husky breath. Then he brought his lips down on hers.
In all of their other interludes that had been a tender restraint but not in this kiss. It burnt with passion and Rose had never wanted him more. Her hand twined in his hair, tugging at the strands until her fingers slid down his neck to the buttons of his shirt. Breaking contact only long enough to shrug off his jacket and his shirt, he grabbed her again, gathering the hem of the nightgown in his hands until it came to her thighs.
Sliding his hand underneath her buttocks he squeezed and then lifted while she wrapped her legs around him. Her neck arched as he burned a trail of kisses down its slender column and then further still down her chest until his lips came to her already hard peaks. He took one in his mouth, despite the fabric that still covered it and she cried out at the sensation, desperate for more. Her fingernails scraped down his back as he suckled harder and his hand came to the soft juncture between her thighs.
They both gasped as his finger slid easily inside her. “Rose, you are mine. No one else’s,” he ground out between kisses.
“Yes,” she moaned as her head shook back and forth. “And you are mine. There is no one else for me. Just you.”
His finger slipped out and she began to protest but she realized that he was working the buckle of his pants. The moment his member sprung free, it met the softest part of her flesh, like a beacon being called home. With the slightest wiggle on her part, he sank deep inside her.
“You would deny us this?” she gasped as he lifted her up and slid back down.
“I am a fool,” he groaned.
“Say it again.” She smiled for a moment but that quickly turned into a heated kiss.
“I am a fool. Can you forgive me?”
“Only if you swear you will make an honest woman of me,” she managed to say as he thrust deep inside of her again, nearly stealing her breath.
“I swear. Do… you… promise… that… it… is… only me?” he spoke in a halted tone as though every word difficult to push out.
“I promise. And I will spend every night reminding you of that promise.” With a definite rip, he tore the front of the gown and his lips came down on her bare breast. She cried out, unable to hold back as her insides shuddered and her limbs shook.
***
Alex picked his head up to watch her face as her body trembled in his arms. He was still holding Rose and in that moment, he made a vow that she would never leave them again. Whatever wars he had to fight, however many dragons needed to be slain, no matter the inner demons that plagued him, he would conquer them all to keep her by his side.
As her tremors subsided, he carried her to the bed, gently laying her down. In watching her, something in him had shifted. His desire still burned but a fierce tenderness overtook him. He slowed the pace, watching to make sure she was experiencing pleasure. She gave him a soft, satisfied catlike grin. “That was amazing.”
His lips captured hers. “Would you like to experience it again?”
“Didn’t we just say that we would be together? Of course I plan…”
“I meant right now, my darling.” His lips slid down her neck to her neglected nipple, the one he had yet to give attention. Her body immediately tightened around his. He couldn’t help but
grin, just a little. He was learning the secrets of her body and nothing gave him more pleasure.
“Oh… my….” She held his head closer as he body began to rise with his.
He held her body close in his arms as they climbed higher and higher. Alex could feel the end, and he held on, desperate to bring more pleasure to Rose. It was his unspoken word that he would give everything he could, deny himself anything he needed to in order to bring her happiness.
“Alex,” she cried as her body spasmed again. No longer able to hold it, he too fell into bliss.
He collapsed to the side, pulling her along with him. Tucking her up against him, he cradled her body. His mind searched for the words that would tell her he would never make this mistake again. But before he could get them out, he heard her soft sigh. Twisting his head to look at her, Alex smiled. She was fast asleep in his arms. With that, he kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes. He fully intended to sleep like this every night for the rest of his life.
He woke early, though he could not place why. Warmth surrounded him and with a comfort that bellied his sudden wakefulness. Rose stirred next to him and the reason for his contentment became apparent. An insistent knock sounded at the door and the reason for his wakefulness also became clear.
Slipping out of bed, he grabbed his breeches from the floor and shoved his legs in them. As a knock sounded a third time, he yanked open the door, stepped out and softly closed it behind him. Barrett, Chris, and the doctor stood before him.
Dr. Thompson spoke first. “Your Grace, I went to check on Lady Rose but―“
Barrett interrupted, crossing his arms over his chest. “It is a false alarm. Lady Rose is safely ensconced in His Grace’s chamber.”
“Oh dear, well, that explains a great deal.” The doctor shifted his weight.
Taming a Duke's Wild Rose: Taming the Heart Series Book 2 Page 12