The Duke of Darkness

by Cora Lee

  He put Sussex’s letter aside for the moment and opened the second letter. This one was from one of his ruffians, as George Grayson had called them, who had been out searching discreetly for Nick.

  “They’ve found him.”

  “Found who?”

  Rhuddlan looked up from the letter, frowning. “My people have found Nick.”

  “Wh-where is he?”

  “Deganwy,” he answered, mentally calculating how far away that was from Rhuddlan Hall. Around twenty miles as the crow flies; a day’s ride on horseback in good weather.

  Too close for comfort.

  “He was trying to find passage aboard a boat bound for Ireland, but my people were able to detain him before he could depart.”

  She paled visibly. “Perhaps they should have let him go.” When he raised a questioning eyebrow, she continued, “From Ireland he could have gone anywhere, disappeared into the world and never bothered us again.”

  Rhuddlan went to her, sliding his arms around her. “True. But now that he has been found and collected, I will know exactly where he is and who he is with at all times.”

  Her arms went around his shoulders and she held him tightly. “I think I prefer your way.”

  He sat down on the sofa with his arms still around her, settling her beside him. “So do I.”

  “What happens to him now?” she asked, laying her head on his shoulder.

  “There are basically two choices,” he began. A small voice in the back of his mind yelled that ladies were too delicate for such a conversation, but he silenced it. This lady was more than a match for what he was about to say. “I can have him arrested, then prosecuted for trying to kill me, among other things.”

  “Would it be a strong case?”

  He nodded. “After he ambushed us on the way home from Teverton Estate, there was plenty of evidence to gather. No verdict can be guaranteed, of course, but he would likely be found guilty.”

  Olivia made a little gasping sound, and he tightened his arms around her.

  “He’d hang,” she said in a low voice. “What is the other choice?”

  “That I discipline him myself, more or less,” Rhuddlan answered. “Strip him of his money and privileges, and send him away to a remote corner of the world where I hope he won’t do any more harm. If he were convicted by a jury, I could argue for his sentence to be commuted to transportation, but there’s no guarantee the judge would agree.”

  “That’s more humane.”

  “You’re worried for his treatment?” Rhuddlan asked, drawing away so he could see her face.

  She shook her head, grasping the lapel of his tailcoat between her thumb and forefinger. “More humane for you. How awful would it be for you if you had to advocate for your own brother’s execution.”

  “Awful for my reputation or my conscience?” he asked, only partly in jest.

  “Both, I imagine,” she replied. “But I meant your conscience. If Lord Nicholas were convicted and hanged, you’d carry the guilt with you for the rest of your life. And if he were acquitted and released, you’d feel guilty over that as well, for he would be free to continue terrorizing you and the people who depend on you.”

  “It sounds like an easy solution, doesn’t it? But what if he finds a way out of whatever hole I put him in and returns here?”

  This was the heart of the matter for Rhuddlan. It seemed that, no matter which alternative he chose, he was bound to carry more guilt and anguish over it than the one who actually committed the crimes.

  And there was only one scenario from which Nick could not return.

  “I don’t envy you this decision, that’s for certain.” She sighed and cuddled up against his chest once more. “What of the Duke of Cumberland? Have you any recourse against him?”

  He kissed her hair, glad she was with him for this. “Very little. I know he’s the one giving Nick ideas about how to conduct this campaign against me, and he’s likely providing supplemental funding as well. But I can’t prove it.”

  “So no prosecution of His Grace.”

  Rhuddlan shook his head and echoed her sigh. “No. The best Sussex and I have been able to manage is a few newspaper stories about Cumberland’s misdeeds, based more in truth than those he had printed about me. I fear there won’t be any further repercussions for him, and nothing to stop him from trying this a second time with someone else’s disgruntled heir.”

  “That’s nearly it, then, isn’t it?” She smoothed an imaginary wrinkle from the front of his tailcoat. “Sir George, Lord Nicholas, the Duke of Cumberland… Our collective enemies have almost all been dealt with.”

  He started to smile, relieved to have his life coming back under his own control once more. But the end of their joint nightmare would also mean the end of their brief spell of domesticity. There would no longer be a reason for Olivia to remain at Rhuddlan Hall.

  “There is one more thing,” he said, remembering a final promise he’d made her and had yet to keep.

  “What’s that?”

  “I promised to give you all the pleasure you could want once I’d healed.” He ran his fingers down her arm, bare below the small cap sleeve of her gown, and she sucked in a breath.

  “Yes, you did,” she said slowly.

  He couldn’t tell how she felt about this last loose end of theirs, but his own heart was already starting to pound in anticipation and he knew she could feel it under her palm. “The decision is entirely yours, Olivia. If you’d rather not…”

  She sat up and patted his nose gently, then touched a finger to the puncture wound on his thigh. “Have you healed sufficiently?”

  The puncture wound was still somewhat tender, but his leg had held up to his regular activity rather well. And the swelling in his nose had gone down by the time he’d returned to Rhuddlan Hall after his kidnapping.

  “I believe so,” he said, trying to keep his voice even.

  “That’s good.”

  The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, and his breath quickened. “Does that mean you want to lie with me?”

  “Yes,” she nearly whispered.

  “Tonight?”

  Their night together could be a sort of celebration of their resilience in the face of danger, as well as a private goodbye. And it would give him something to think about other than what to do with his brother while he waited for Nick and his escort to arrive, which would be a pleasure in itself.

  She nodded faintly at first, then with more conviction. “Tonight. Unless you plan to work later into the evening.”

  “Nothing could keep me from you, darling,” he murmured. “Shall I come to you at ten o’clock?”

  This time she shook her head. “Let me come to you. We’ll have more privacy in your bedchamber.”

  Of course. Mrs. Davies and Miss Hatch were quartered in the same wing as Olivia, and he shuddered to think of what would happen if either woman heard what he hoped to be doing with their neighbor.

  “As you wish.”

  Her breath caught, but she smiled. “I’d better let you return to your work, then.”

  She rose from the sofa, sliding her hand along his shoulders as she stood. He caught her fingers at the last moment and dropped a kiss on her knuckles.

  “Until tonight.”

  He waited for her to close the door behind her, then he lolled his head back against the sofa and blew out a breath. After he’d collected himself, he rose and walked to his desk to dash off a note to Sussex. Rhuddlan still wasn’t sure what punishment he could mete out for Nick, but one of Sussex’s ideas had potential.

  ~~~

  Olivia sat at the dressing table in her bedchamber later that night, wondering if she’d done the right thing in accepting Rhuddlan’s invitation tonight. She certainly wanted the night of pleasure he’d promised her—there had been little enough of that in her life, particularly since her fiancé’s departure. And she wanted pleasure with Rhuddlan. He was handsome, certainly, and she wouldn’t deny her attraction to him. But m
ore importantly he was considerate and thoughtful, and she knew she could trust him with something so intimate as her own body.

  Yet, there was a little voice inside her head—one that sounded much like her mother—that continuously decried her decision. What about her virtue? Her reputation? Who would wed her if she gave herself to a man not her husband?

  Olivia took the pins from her hair one by one, combing through her hair with her fingers as it came down and trying to silence the voice. Her virtue had already been given away, her reputation destroyed thanks to her own mother. No gentleman would wed her whether she went to Rhuddlan tonight or not.

  She took up her brush and gently worked out the tangles in her hair. She wasn’t so very worried about pregnancy, for she hadn’t become pregnant by her fiancé. They weren’t together enough times to conclude she was barren, certainly, but it was a possibility. And if she did get with child, she knew that Rhuddlan would care for both her and the babe.

  “Then it’s settled,” she told the brush as she placed it back on the dressing table. “I am going to enjoy my time with him tonight without reservation, and with no regrets tomorrow.”

  She rose from the dressing table and briefly considered donning a nightdress, but decided against it. She had only two, and they were both rather plain, more so than even her daytime clothing. Walking into his bedchamber in such a flimsy, unlovely garment would make her feel self-conscious, and that was one emotion she refused to feel this night.

  The clock on the mantle struck ten and she slipped from her chamber trying to appear nonchalant as she made her way to the master’s suite. She passed a servant or two going about their tasks, but managed to hold her head up and conduct herself as if she were unashamed of what she was about to do. She was unashamed and the closer she drew to his door, the faster her heart beat.

  Her knock was answered by Rhuddlan himself, who wore only his shirt, waistcoat, and trousers. He gestured her inside with a wide smile, and she tried not to stare at his bare feet—an intimate sight for an intimate evening.

  “I’m glad you came.”

  “Did you think I wouldn’t?”

  “I wasn’t sure, to tell you the truth,” he said, shutting the door and locking it. “Society makes this a rather bigger undertaking for ladies than for gentlemen.”

  “Ah, but I am no longer a lady. I am simply Olivia Stone.” She said it without bitterness or anger. For the first time since her mother’s betrayal, she was glad not to be constrained by Polite Society’s mandates for “proper” ladies. Tonight she was free to do as she pleased.

  And it pleased her to bed the Duke of Rhuddlan.

  “Well then, Olivia Stone, may I kiss you?”

  She went into his arms and lifted her face to his, matching his smile when he slipped his arms around her, running a hand through her loose hair.

  “It feels like silk,” he murmured as he brought his mouth down over hers.

  She laughed a little and broke the kiss. “It will be a mass of tangles tomorrow, so enjoy it while it lasts.”

  His bright eyes met hers and he nipped at her lips. “I intend to.”

  His mouth came down over hers, gently at first, then with more urgency. She tensed a little, anticipating the removal of her clothing, but it didn’t happen. Rhuddlan drew back a fraction of an inch, breathing heavily already but with a question in his eyes.

  She answered it with a smile, then captured his lips in a determined kiss. That seemed to be enough to satisfy his doubts, for he enthusiastically kissed her back, letting one hand slide across her body to cup her breast.

  She moaned against his mouth and banished the little voice to the Outer Hebrides.

  They spent several luscious moments kissing, learning the contours of each other’s bodies. When one of his hands did begin working the buttons down the front of her gown, her blood was already on fire.

  When enough buttons had been undone, he pushed her bodice from her shoulders and over her hips, sending her dress to the floor. Moments later her stays joined her dress and she stood there in nothing but her shift. His mouth found hers again and she could feel his heart racing beneath his shirt. She began working the buttons of his waistcoat, sliding it off his shoulders and down his arms.

  “Olivia,” he panted, breaking away. “When I’m inside you...”

  She could feel herself blushing at his words, even as she pulled his shirt over his head and palmed his bare chest. “You won’t be able to stop,” she finished for him, trying not to frown at the idea. It was something her fiancé said to her once when they’d anticipated their vows in an old gamekeeper’s cottage. He’d been gentle with her, and it had felt good, but he hadn’t been wrong about his lack of stopping power.

  He shook his head. “No. What I was going to say was that when I’m inside you, or at any point tonight, if you want me to stop all you have to do is let me know.”

  “Truly?”

  “Truly,” he said, meeting her eyes. Then he cupped her breasts, grinning when she moaned. “If this isn’t pleasurable for both of us, there’s no point.”

  “Then you’ll have to tell me what is pleasurable for you, so I can be sure to do it.” Her face was surely flaming now—talking about what they were about to do was very different than doing it.

  He slid one strap of her shift down her shoulder and dropped several slow kisses down her neck. “We’ll learn how to pleasure each other.”

  His skin was hot under her fingers as they trailed over his back, and he was breathing heavily again. She reached down and stroked the hard ridge hidden behind the falls of his trousers. “Do you like that?”

  He sucked in a quick breath, then grinned. “Yes.”

  She did it again and he captured her mouth, his stroking tongue echoing the motion of her hand. “Perhaps,” he said against her lips, “we should move to the bed.”

  “Mmhmm,” she said, kissing him again as he walked them toward the big bed.

  He lifted her up onto it, sliding the hem of her shift up as she settled onto the counterpane. His hands followed the hem and she shivered when his thumbs skimmed her bare breasts. Her shift went up over her head, then took its place on the floor, followed swiftly by her shoes and stockings.

  She sat there naked on his bed, that small voice in the back of her mind warning her again about how ashamed she should feel. But she didn’t feel ashamed, she felt hot and excited and ready.

  “Touch me, Rhuddlan,” she said breathlessly.

  “Where?”

  “Everywhere.”

  He obliged, palming her cheeks and leaning in for another kiss. His hands slid down her neck and shoulders, cupping her breasts again and giving them a slight squeeze.

  “Ahhh,” she gasped. A slight sense of frustration filled her when his hands continued to travel down her body, but it was quickly forgotten when his mouth replaced his hand and he sucked on her breast. Her head dropped back and her fingers slid into his hair. “Mmmm…”

  He placed his body between her legs and laid her back onto the bed, pressing himself where she wanted him most. He licked and sucked for a moment longer, then began again on her other breast. She spread her legs wider, then locked her ankles at the small of his back.

  “I want…”

  When she didn’t finish her thought, he gave her breast one last suck and met her eyes. “You want what?”

  “I want to move,” she said, lifting her hips. “I want you to press harder.”

  He obliged, rocking his own hips slowly as she began to move hers. “Yes,” she breathed. “Like that.”

  “Do you want me to kiss you?” he asked, smoothing her hair back from her face.

  “Yes,” she said again, “my mouth and my breasts.”

  He obeyed, capturing her lips once, twice, then running his tongue over her nipple before drawing it into his mouth. “Like that?” he asked, his mouth still against her body.

  Her hands slipped to his shoulders, her fingertips digging into his skin as her hips pi
cked up speed. “Like that,” she confirmed, as a familiar sensation began to build. “Oh God, like that.”

  He followed her lead and rocked faster, giving her what she needed. Her eyes closed and her head went back again, thrusting her breasts in the air as he moved from one to the other.

  She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this good.

  The sensation broke over her and she sucked in a breath, clutching his shoulders. “Rhudd– Rhuddlan… Yes…”

  He ground against her for a few more strokes before her whole body went limp, satisfied. “Oh, Rhuddlan…”

  She opened her eyes to find him staring at her, his mouth rapidly curving into a smile. “My God, Olivia.” He bent down and kissed her once more, one hand sliding down to grasp her backside. “That was…”

  “Good,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “Very good.”

  “And we’re only getting started.” He left her for a moment to draw back the bedclothes, then lifted her and placed her on the cool sheets. “Are you ready for more?”

  “I will be in a minute,” she said, grinning. “You?”

  He unbuttoned the falls of his trousers, letting his member spring free. Her eyes must have widened because he looked down and chuckled. “It will fit. I promise.”

  That made her laugh. “Oh, I know it will fit. I was just appreciating your form.”

  “Oh.”

  “Are you disappointed?”

  He shucked his trousers and climbed onto the bed and got under the sheet with her. “Disappointed?”

  “That I’m not a virgin,” she clarified, sucking in a breath when his hand slid down over her belly without warning.

  “No,” he replied firmly as his hand cupped her hip. “I don’t need to be your first. I just want to be your best.”

  His hand dipped between her thighs, his thumb grazing her nub, and her head lolled back against the pillow. “You’re doing rather well on that front,” she said. “What can I do for you?”

  He looked surprised by the question, even though she’d already mentioned wanting to do her share of the pleasuring. Had he not heard that in bed before?