Page 234 of Desires of a Duke Collection

She didn’t say anything.

Why wasn’t she saying anything?

She was just staring at him with those luminous violet eyes, covered in a sheen of water. Jonathan wasn’t sure whether she was happy or upset or unsure.

“Calli?” he said, squinting up at her. “Are you—”

“Oh, Jonathan,” she whispered, tugging him to his feet. “Are you sure?”

“Am I sure?”

“I’m not exactly duchess material,” she said, laughing self-consciously. “My family are thieves, if you haven’t realized that by now. I come from nothing. I am no one.”

“You are Calli — hopefully soon to be Calli Saville, Duchess of Hargreave,” he said fiercely, insistently, needing her to understand. “If you will say yes. If you can’t — I understand. I’m not the easiest of men, I know that. I work too hard, too often, forget to enjoy life. But you have shown me what is most important. I love you, Calli. No other woman will ever take your place in my heart. It’s just not possible.”

She stared at him then, clutching the sleeves of his jacket as though she needed to hold onto him to stay upright.

And then she launched herself into his arms and kissed him with all of the ferocity he knew she held deep within her.

Finally she eased back from him, staring up at him with a smile on her face.

“Is that a yes?” he asked, raising his brows, to which she laughed.

“A thousand times yes,” she said, before leaning in to kiss him once more.

It didn’t last long as a knock sounded on the door, and two voices called within.

“Did she say yes?”

“Are you going to be married?”

“Yes,” Jonathan said, finally allowing the smile of happiness and relief to grow on his face. “She said yes.”

Another frame filled the doorway — one as tall as Jonathan, and even broader. Calli’s brother looked at the scene in front of him, his face uneasy for a moment. Jonathan met his eye and gave him a nod — a nod that told him that yes, he would take care of his sister, that there was no need to worry.

Finally, the man’s lips tilted upward into the smallest of smiles — although it was, nevertheless, a smile. Jonathan would take it.

“Xander,” Calli said, leaving Jonathan for a moment to extend her hand to her brother, “come in.”

“I was just having quite an important lesson on the frogs that now live in the pond outside,” Xander said, to which Calli laughed before she looked down at the children, an answering smile on her face to theirs.

She placed a hand on Jonathan’s chest, and he knew what she was thinking — by marrying, they were not only committing to one another. They were committing to this family. Jonathan had always been scared to allow his heart to become this full, had always been sure that something would come along and take it all away if he allowed it to do so.

But now… now he knew that love was stronger than that. And he had Calli to thank for it.

“Well,” Xander said as he looked at the pair of them, “This will be a wedding unlike anything London has ever seen before.”

“Yes,” Calli said as she smiled up at Jonathan, and he ran a hand over her curls, “It most certainly will.”

***

Calli had been right.

St. George’s had likely never seen such a wide array of guests as they had when Calliope Murphy wed Jonathan Saville, Duke of Hargreave. How the nobility would have felt to know they were actually sitting but a pew away from some of London’s most prolific of thieves, Jonathan wasn’t sure.

But he wasn’t about to tell any of them.

He and Arie had sat down after the proposal to discuss the arrangement. Calli had felt it quite unnecessary, but Arie had insisted, and Jonathan had agreed it might be prudent.

The arrangement, however, had nothing to do with the marriage.

No, it was about Arie’s ‘business’ and how it would affect his sister in the future.

The terms had been simple. While Jonathan would never prevent Calli from seeing her family, she was to have no part in their thievery. Arie would not share his plans with her, nor would ask for her support in anything. Calli and Jonathan’s connections would not be used to help Arie gain any advantage, and nor would they ever come after any of Jonathan’s friends or family.

Arie hadn’t seemed thrilled with some of it, but he had, eventually, agreed.

After giving Calli away, he had sat with his arms crossed and stared Jonathan down, but Jonathan had barely noticed. Not when he saw Calli. She was every bit the Greek goddess he had always thought her to be, shocking the ton by wearing her hair flowing down her back in loose curls. Her long white dress, airy and flowy, made him think of her tossed back among his sheets, and he had to concentrate to remember where he was and the importance of this part of their union.

The rest would come later.

It went by quickly, the only part Jonathan truly remembered was the end — when he whispered “I love you” to his new bride and then escorted her out of the church.

For the first time in his life, everything was finally as it was meant to be.

***

“Was that not the most entertaining breakfast?” Calli asked as Jonathan opened the doors to his bedroom, a place Calli remembered with the fondest of memories. She walked over to the bed, trailing her fingers down the coverlet, remembering… and anticipating.

“The part where Matthew placed pudding on your sister’s dining chair, or when Xander began to openly flirt with the Marchioness of Crawford?”

Calli turned as Jonathan shut the door, finding that he was already removing his cravat.

“I was thinking more so of when your mother began to question Arie about what he did for a living. She would make the most proficient of investigators. Even Arie was sweating.”

“Or when Damien used the serving spoon for his soup.”

“Or when my husband made the most beautiful toast. One that nearly had me rising from the table and leading you up here hours ago.”

Jonathan’s chuckle was not exactly humorous, but rather… seductive.

Calli lost her own smile as she swallowed hard.

“Having children in the house did not exactly make it easy for me to sneak you away, although I tried awfully hard throughout the day.”

“I know you did,” she said, trailing a finger over his chin, where the slightest bit of stubble was already beginning to make an appearance.

“For a man of such control, you weren’t exactly… subtle.”

“No man could be. Not with you.”

She smiled widely at him as she stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting her head back to look up at him.

“Why, thank you, Your Grace.”

“Is there really need for such formalities here, Your Grace?”

“I think not,” she said, tsking like any good governess would do. “No formalities here. Most especially that cravat.”

She began to tug at it, struggling slightly, but he allowed her to continue until finally she had completely freed it and thrown it on the floor.

“Just the cravat?” he asked teasingly, although his eyes flashed.

“Your boots most certainly have to go.”

“Certainly.”

He crouched down and swiftly unlaced them, kicking them off before holding out a hand to her. “Your slippers.”

“Very well,” she said, and caught her bottom lip between her teeth as he slid them off slowly and sensuously.

She continued to instruct him until he was clad in only his breeches, and she swallowed as she stared at him, tracing a line down the indent between his muscles.

“I feel rather underdressed,” Jonathan said, stepping toward her.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Perhaps by dressing a slight bit more informally yourself,” he said, sliding his hands along her side before slipping them behind her, finding her buttons and pushing them through the small hooks.

She arched into him, allowing him to do so, until the dress pooled at her feet in a white silk waterfall.

“No stays,” she said, lifting her hands. “Rather informal, wouldn’t you think?”

Jonathan didn’t answer her, his ability to speak apparently having fled as he took her in his arms and kissed her, lavishing her with his tongue, his lips, promising her forever and more.

Calli nearly dissolved at his touch, losing all her thought as he tugged her backward toward the bed behind her, before laying her down upon it.

They broke from one another to divest themselves of the rest of their clothing before she scooted backward on the bed and they continued their loving exploration.

Whereas the last time had been a discovery of one another and shock at the fiery explosion that had erupted between them, now it was a demand for more, along with the knowledge that this was not the last time — it was only the beginning.

Jonathan readied her with his mouth, his fingers, until Calli was writhing beneath him, desperate for more, for all that he could offer her.

And finally when he entered her, she wrapped her arms around him, knowing she was complete, that she had found herself and her purpose.

As they came together in joyous celebration, she knew that nothing was ever going to be the same again — and she couldn’t be happier about it.