Duke Of Deception (Wentworth Trilogy)

by Stephie Smith

  She knew from the heat of her face that it was scarlet with embarrassment. She reached for something, anything, to wrap around herself but found nothing. “Why are you here? You have been sleeping in your own bed for the past few nights.”

  “It seems I’ve changed my mind about that. I find I’m lonely without my bride. From what I’ve witnessed the past few moments, it would seem my bride is lonely too. Come here, Lucy,” he commanded.

  “I think not. I’m exhausted and need to sleep.” Lucy started toward the bed, but his growl had her turning to face him. “I’m n-not ready, and you promised,” she began unsteadily before she was cut off by his low roar.

  “Not ready, madam? Not ready? I think you are more than ready. I said come here!”

  With great trepidation, she walked the few steps to him. Her legs were like jelly; she wished she had never disrobed. She had wanted to consummate their marriage, but not like this.

  She came to a wobbly halt in front of him. “We have an agreement.”

  “Closer.”

  Derek’s voice was hoarse and strained as he tried to control himself. Now that the moment was so near, it seemed almost unreal, until he felt the heavy ache of his manhood, grown rigid with lust. She stood before him in feminine perfection, her long hair cascading over her shoulder, one silky tendril curling around her breast. He would not be able to stop himself this time, and why should he? She was giving freely to others what she denied her own husband, but it would go on no more.

  The creamy skin of her belly was mere inches from his face and just below, the dark triangle of curls seemed to beckon him closer. A sudden surge of pure lust sent him to his knees.

  Groaning, he wrapped his arms around her, laid his cheek against the softness of her skin, and drank in her scent deeply. She tensed as though trying to pull away, but he held her tightly against him. He greedily cupped her bottom, squeezing the soft flesh gently as he nuzzled her most sensitive place. He felt her resistance dissolve, and then her fingers were threading through his hair and she clung to him, moaning softly in surrender.

  Her musky scent, the wet heat of her sex, caused Derek’s thoughts to flee. Unable to control himself a moment longer, he lifted her from the floor, his hands still cupping her bottom, and thrust his tongue into her cleft and withdrew, stroking her, tasting her, again and again. He reveled in the way she moved against him, wildly now, wantonly. His tongue found her swollen bud of desire, and he suckled gently, forcing himself to maintain control against her gasps and moans of pleasure, which threatened to send him over the edge.

  He felt as though he were a starved man presented with a feast he had only begun to lay siege to when she collapsed against him, crying out his name, her feminine muscles spasming under his sensual assault. The thought that Lucy had found her release with his mouth on her almost brought on his own release, and so he stood and swept her up into his arms.

  He strode to the bed, laying her gently upon it. What had started in anger had turned into a yearning and a lust unlike any he had ever known. He wanted to make Lucy his wife, his true wife, and she obviously wanted that too. He tried to shed his clothes quickly and gave up, ripping the buttons from his shirt. He unlaced his pants and shoved them down over his hips. His cock, thick and heavy with desire, sprang up, hard and throbbing.

  Lucy gasped, her eyes wide and unblinking as she stared at his body. “It’s too big,” she cried out, her voice filled with fear. “Please Derek, it will never fit. It’s much too big!”

  A wild fury swept through Derek, wiping out everything else as he heard Lucy say the same words she’d spoken to her lover in the stable. Pants around his knees, he realized he had not removed his boots, but his lust raged uncontrollably and this time, by God, he would find his release inside his wife. Their marriage would be consummated before he left, and other lovers be damned.

  Falling clumsily onto the bed, his breeches caught around his calves, he spread her legs roughly, and with one deep thrust, buried himself in her, his sex contracting over and over as a powerful orgasm overtook him. Dully, in the back of his mind, he registered that he’d encountered her maidenhead and rent through it viciously. Even as his pulse slowed, shame and regret coursed through him as he realized what he’d done, that he’d judged her unfairly, jumped to conclusions, and taken by force something he’d wanted her to give willingly. Not only that, but he had broken his word, something he had never done in his life.

  He lifted himself, watching her wince in discomfort as he withdrew, and saw her tears. Rolling to one side, he pulled her to him, cradling her in his arms while he whispered, his voice anguished, “Lucy, dear, sweet Lucy, forgive me. I thought… I thought… ”

  What could he say to her? That he thought she had other lovers and wouldn’t care if he consummated the marriage without regard to their agreement? That he thought she didn’t deserve to be treated with respect and tenderness? He could say nothing, he realized, nothing that would make up for the terrible thing he had done. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

  Lucy clung to him, drawing an uneven breath, and wiped her wet cheeks, not even sure why she was crying. It wasn’t from pain; it hadn’t hurt nearly as much as she had expected. And it wasn’t from fear. She had never really been afraid of him—perhaps afraid of what was to come, but never of him.

  What then? Why was she crying? Was it from shame? Regret? Anger that he’d broken his word? She honestly did not know. She was no longer in charge of her emotions. If she were, she wouldn’t allow herself to feel this way.

  Sad because she’d have no warm memories of making love with him to think back upon during the lonely months ahead.

  Sad because she had fallen in love.

  Sad because he didn’t love her in return.

  Chapter 23

  Derek stood naked at the window, watching Lucy run to her lover. The pebbles raining lightly upon the windowpane had awakened him too, but he’d waited to see Lucy’s response. Jealousy snaked through him. She had left his bed for another’s.

  Only a few hours ago he’d berated himself for his jealousy, angry for allowing it to dictate his reprehensible conduct, but now as he watched her fling open the door to the stable and hurry inside, those thoughts were dismissed. What did it matter that she had been a virgin? Obviously, she and her lover had avoided intercourse, but the fact remained that she was meeting the man in the middle of the night.

  He battled with himself, making every effort to bridle his jealousy, but suspicion sneaked through his thoughts. Why would she go to the stable in the middle of the night? If something were wrong, would she not awaken him as well? Her soothing voice, softened by affection, came back to haunt him as he recalled her promise to her lover that once Derek was gone, she would be all his.

  He picked up his discarded clothes from the floor and threw them on, fuming all the while. He had deflowered her, making it easy for her lover, and the thought that someone else would be the first to bring her pleasure without that impediment chafed at him. It should have been him, would have been him, if he hadn’t allowed his baser emotions to get in his way.

  He shoved his feet into his boots and went after her, determined to put an end to this business once and for all. He’d be leaving in the morning, and he wouldn’t have some stable boy taking in his absence what belonged to him.

  *****

  Inside the stable, Lucy ran to Kachina’s stall, fear clutching at her heart as soon as she saw Colin’s white face. “What’s wrong?”

  “My lady, she’s in a bad way. She’s been straining, but nothing’s happened. Now she’s not even trying. I don’t know what’s wrong, but she’s in pain, that much I’m sure of, and she’s weakening.” Colin looked as though he’d been crying, and Lucy had a feeling that before the night was over, she would be crying again too.

  She knelt in the straw beside the small mare, her anxiety mounting as Kachina stared back with glassy eyes. Five years ago she’d sat on this very floor while her father expertly turne
d a foal that was in the wrong position, and she suspected that Kachina’s foal was in the wrong position as well.

  Desperately she sifted through the hazy memories of that day, but what little she could remember didn’t help. She’d watched her father with adoring eyes, never doubting for a moment his ability to manage the birth. He hadn’t explained anything to her; his words had been reserved for the mare, soothing her, calming her while he assisted in the birth. How she wished he were here now, not only for Kachina and her foal, but for herself.

  Tears formed a lump in her throat, and she swallowed hard as she tried to ignore her emotions. Kachina’s life was at risk, and there was only one person who might be able to help. Why she thought that, she wasn’t sure. Derek hadn’t mentioned his experience with horses, but somehow she knew he would be able to manage this situation just as her father had. “Talk to her, Colin. I’ll be right back.”

  She bolted outside, running headlong into Derek with enough force to knock them both apart. “Oh! I was just coming to get you. How did you know I was out here?”

  “A better question is why are you out here in the middle of the night?” Derek growled.

  “I need your help. Kachina is foaling and something is wrong. Do you know anything about it? Please, we’re desperate.”

  Derek grabbed Lucy’s arm and strode toward the open door, pulling her with him. “Who’s ‘we’?”

  “Colin and I,” Lucy replied, struggling to keep up with Derek’s long strides. “He’s been sitting with her all night. When I came out before dinner, I thought she was having labor pangs, but it’s her first foal, and we weren’t sure how long the pains would last. But something is definitely wrong. Can you help?” Lucy’s voice broke as she tried to choke back her tears.

  “No promises,” Derek said as they approached the stall, “but let’s see what we’ve got here.” He quickly washed his hands and forearms in a bucket of water and inserted a hand into the birth canal.

  A million thoughts fired through his mind, but he tried to forget about them and concentrate on the mare. There would be time to think this through later. He hoped to God he hadn’t misinterpreted the earlier situation with Lucy in the stable. Surely he couldn’t have imagined she was meeting a lover when all she was doing was checking on a pregnant mare. It was unthinkable that he could have judged her so badly.

  But, no, she had been talking to her lover. She said he was too big and she called him sweetheart. She’d said Derek would soon be gone and then she’d be all his. He’d never forget those words if he lived to be a hundred, but he had to put it aside for now. The horse needed his full concentration.

  As Lucy had said, something was wrong; the foal was turned around. The presentation was normal for a breech, and if the mare weren’t exhausted, her condition wouldn’t be serious.

  He glanced at the eyes of the mare. Though they were a little glazed, she seemed to be aware of her surroundings and she responded slightly to Lucy’s soft murmurings. Sometimes a mare perked up when the foal began to come out, and he hoped that would be the case here.

  “Colin, I need some clean rope. Fetch it, separate a good strand and soak it in the water.” As he waited for the stable boy to carry out his instructions, he reached inside to check the foal’s position again. It was large for such a small mare. No wonder the poor mother was exhausted.

  “I’ll need your help,” Derek told Colin as he tied a slipknot in the end of the wet rope. “When I tell you to, I want you to pull carefully with a gentle, constant pressure.”

  Inserting his hand again, he pushed the loop over the fetlock and nodded toward the free end of the rope. As Colin took hold of it, Derek began to push the hock back into the womb. “Now, pull, but carefully and slowly.”

  Colin did as he was told and within a few seconds, a tiny hoof appeared.

  “All right, stop and let me slip the loop over the other hoof. There, let’s do it again.” A moment later a second hoof appeared.

  “This is where we could use a little help,” Derek murmured softly to the mare. “Colin, take a leg and we’ll pull together. If Kachina has any energy left in her, she’ll help us along.”

  Carefully, the two began to pull. Kachina raised her head as Derek had hoped, taking an interest in the proceedings. One giant effort issued from her, and a perfectly formed colt was thrust into Derek’s arms. He quickly cleared away membrane and mucus from the colt’s nostrils. The colt began to kick free, breaking the umbilical cord, and Derek let go as the colt scrambled to his feet.

  Lucy scrambled to her feet too, her eyes shining bright with tears of joy. The look she gave Derek was one of awe and admiration, but rather than boost his ego, it only made him more ashamed.

  “He’s a strong one, but we should stick around and make sure Kachina licks him and gives him his first milk,” Derek said. “She may be too exhausted to do it on her own. If you’d rather wait here without me,” he said quietly to Lucy, “I’ll understand.”

  It wasn’t much in the way of an apology, but it was all he could come up with. If she didn’t want him around, could he blame her? He still needed to think things through. Had he overheard her talking to a lover, and had that lover been Colin? Looking from one to the other, it was an incredible thought. Colin seemed to have a childlike adoration for Lucy, and now it appeared that the boy’s worshipping gaze encompassed Derek too. Surely that wasn’t the look of a lover.

  He hoped to God he hadn’t made a mistake, then realized how ridiculous he was being. He hoped to God he had made a mistake, for that would mean Lucy had met no lover in the stable. It would also mean he had no excuse for the terrible wrong he had done her, if he’d ever had one before.

  “I’d like for you to stay,” Lucy said, her voice as soft as a whisper. “Will you stay, please?”

  Derek nodded, glad for the chance to make sure Kachina expelled the afterbirth and regained her strength. “Thanks,” he said to the stable boy. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  Colin shook his head. “No, thank you, sir. I don’t know what we would have done without you. It’s been a night I won’t soon forget.” The boy turned to Lucy. “M’lady, just in case you want to visit Ahote on your way out, I left a couple of apples for you.” With a lopsided grin, Colin spun on his heel and left.

  “That’s right!” Lucy exclaimed. “As the proud papa, Ahote should surely get some reward.” She grabbed one of the apples, tucking it into a pocket. Immediately, though, she pulled it back out and shook her head. “Oh, no, this won’t do. He has a very naughty habit of nosing into my pockets for his treats. It’s bad enough when I’m wearing a gown with a larger pocket, but in this case, I shan’t even let him attempt it. His muzzle would never fit in this pocket. It’s much too big!”

  She chuckled as she took an apple in each hand and headed toward the stallion’s stall, leaving a thunderstruck Derek behind.

  *****

  It was dawn by the time they left Kachina and her new colt. Derek’s head had been reeling ever since Lucy left to give Ahote his treat, and now he had a terrible headache. The apology he offered when she returned from her visit to the stallion had sounded weak even to his own ears because he couldn’t, of course, tell her what had caused him to become so enraged at her protests that he was too big, and without doing so, he couldn’t explain his behavior.

  Still, he asked that she forgive him for his conduct, that she try to put it behind them. That part of his speech, at least, had sounded sincere, and he meant every word of it. He did hope they could both put it behind them. The incident was regretful, not only because he was ashamed of his behavior, but also because she would probably be afraid of him from now on. She needn’t be. He hadn’t said as much, but he would not go to her again until she asked him to. He owed her that much.

  She had merely listened, her blue eyes dark and somber, and then had agreed to forgive him. He only hoped he could forgive himself.

  Lucy stole a glance at Derek as they neared the kitchen door.
Even in his hastily pulled-on clothing with his mussed hair and a jaw shadowed from want of a razor, he looked incredibly handsome and infinitely masculine, and for the first time she wondered what her future would be like if he didn’t return to America. Wondering about that was pointless, though. When he had whatever he was after, he would be gone and she would be alone.

  Still, the situation with Kachina had added another dimension to him, and she couldn’t help but feel a deep admiration. He’d been in such control, so strong and wise and patient.

  He’d been kind with his apology to her too. She had no doubt he meant what he said, and she saw no reason to carry a grudge about the consummation of the marriage. An Englishman would never have agreed to her request to begin with. Her insistence on a month-long reprieve had been childish, spurred by fear; she had built up the consummation so much in her mind. In truth, she’d spent most of the evening wanting it to happen, had spent most of the past few days wishing it could, and even though it hadn’t been a pleasant experience, she felt only relief now that it was over. What he had called a grave injustice to her now seemed to be little more than another display of his bad temper, and if she knew him better, she was sure she would understand why that had happened.

  It didn’t matter though. She would never have the chance to know him better. He was leaving in a few hours, and she would probably never see him again.

  Chapter 24

  On the deck of the Siren, Derek watched in silent approval as Morgan led the men through the gunnery drill. This would be the last of such exercises, for they had parted with as much shot as Derek had a mind to. He was pleased with the results of it, though, just as he’d been pleased with the results of the sail exercises they’d conducted since their departure. He knew the value of men working together as one. He would not be caught unaware.

  He inhaled the salty air, noting the clouds gathering on the eastern horizon. The exhilaration that usually accompanied him at sea was missing, and he realized it was because his life was no longer about building ships, about embracing the challenges of his business and taking pleasure from the knowledge that each new design showed an improvement over the last. Perhaps wrapped up in that satisfaction had also been the thrill of realizing his boyhood dream of sailing the seas, a dream that had cushioned him against the loneliness of his years at Harvard after he finally came to terms with the knowledge that his father had no desire to see him or to correspond with him at all.