Page 44 of My Secret Duke

A fterward, it felt like a blur. Ivo carried Olivia back to the house because she didn’t seem to want to let him go, and he certainly didn’t want to let her go. Charles followed carefully behind, not as sure as Ivo at making his way through the marsh that had been his childhood playground. The water had risen as high as it would go, and Ivo knew Olivia would have drowned if they had not found her when they did. But he had found her, and she was safe in his arms.

Back at the house, everyone was waiting, relieved, tearful, asking questions none of them felt able to answer. Ivo carried her through the front door and into the warmth of his house. He sat down close to the fire, still holding his love, and she pressed her face into the curve of his neck and clung.

“I’ll see a bath prepared,” Adelina said. “She must be chilled to the bone.”

“Poor child!” his mother declared. “What sort of creature would do such a thing?”

“Rendall,” Gabriel murmured. Then, his dark eyes fixed on Ivo. “Was it him?”

That was when Olivia finally spoke, lifting her head as she told them haltingly what she knew. About the man who turned his back on a happier life, on his wife and child, to return for revenge. She had barely finished when Carlyon’s voice reached them from the door, saying that Bourne had arrived with two of his men, and they had news. Not wanting Olivia to have to be subjected to their stares in her sodden state, Ivo ordered for them to be told to wait in his study. Charles went out to them, followed by Gabriel and Freddie.

Ivo pressed his lips to Olivia’s matted hair. “I need to speak to Bourne,” he whispered. “Let your sisters take you upstairs.”

Reluctantly, she released her hold on him. Vivienne slipped an arm about her, ignoring her filthy gown, and with Justina and Roberta, she moved toward the door. Once there, Olivia paused, and turned back to look at him, seeming to steady herself.

“None of this was your fault,” she said, as if she knew he was already blaming himself. “He could have stayed and had a good life in France, but he came back instead. His revenge was more important to him than his own happiness.”

When she had gone, Ivo put his head in his hands. No, it wasn’t his fault, and yet his thoughtless actions had contributed to it. With a deep breath, he stood up, his body aching from the rigors he had put it through on the marsh. Worth it , he thought. He had saved the woman he loved. Another moment, and it might have been a different story.

In the study, Bourne stood waiting. “Your Grace,” he said. “Rendall is dead. We saw him at a distance, and he saw us. He jumped into one of the deep channels and was taken under. We did not see him again.”

“He drowned himself?”

“He was raving. Foolish words I will not repeat.”

Ivo tried to imagine a man so twisted with hate he would do such things.

“He was never your father’s son,” Bourne added into the silence. “I knew his parents. His father died when he was a child, but Jacob was his image. It was all a fiction he clung to.”

“And yet,” Ivo said quietly, “I could have been kinder.”

“If you had, he might have thought that was an invitation to latch onto you and your family.” Bourne shrugged. “Best to let things go, sir. You have your woman back, and you are free of his threats.”

“He is dead, you are sure of it?” Gabriel demanded. When he was assured of Rendall’s demise, he seemed to relax. “It is over.” His dark gaze found Ivo. “You have my gratitude, Northam. My sister would not be safe upstairs without you.”

Ivo wasn’t sure what to say. He opened his mouth to take the blame, but Freddie cut him off.

“Men like Rendall can’t be controlled or their behavior predicted,” he said firmly.

Charles clapped Ivo on the back. “She’s safe,” he said quietly. “I, for one, would like a drink to celebrate. And just so you know, don’t ever expect me to set foot on that bloody marsh again.”

Ivo snorted a laugh, and then they were all gathering around him, patting his back, encircling him in congratulations. When a glass was put in his hand, he raised it high.

“To my future wife!” he said.

Gabriel met his eyes and there was a pause, and then he raised his own glass in the toast. “To Northam and Olivia.”

It was all the encouragement Ivo needed. His heart overflowed.

Olivia woke with a start. It was dark, apart from a candle left on a table by the door. She had insisted on it, not being able to face the night. The room was quiet, Edwina curled up on one side of her and Georgia on the other. They had not wanted to leave her once she had bathed and changed into her nightdress.

Olivia smiled to herself. She had been well looked after by her family and Ivo’s, and she was grateful. But right now, all she wanted was him.

Cautiously, she rose, leaving the sleeping girls, and made her way to the door. The passage was empty, the doors to the bedchambers closed. She realized she should have discovered which room was his before she ventured out here. Silently, she made her way along the carpeted passage, holding her candle high, and it was only when she saw another slightly ajar door that she stopped. Could that be Ivo’s room? She suspected he had left his door open on purpose, in case he was needed.

She peered inside—quietly, she thought—but she must have made some sound because whoever was in the bed sat up.

“Olivia?”

Ivo. “Yes, it is me.”

She closed the door, but she could still see the shape of him from the light coming through the window, where the curtains were drawn back on a view of the garden and the starry sky. The rain had long ago gone, and all was calm again. It was almost as if none of it had ever happened.

She gave a shiver. She had been told that the man, Jacob Rendall, had drowned after he left her. He had not wanted to face the consequences of his actions. Was it wrong of her to be glad he was dead and could no longer hurt them?

“Olivia?” Ivo called again softly. “Are you well?”

She made her way to the bed and climbed up, crawling across the mattress to reach him. It was a very large bed. He reached out, caught her in his arms, and held her tight, breathing in the sweet scent of her clean hair.

“I needed you,” she said.

“I needed you too, but you were too well guarded for me to slip into your room,” he admitted.

For a time, they were silent. He nuzzled against her ear, then left a trail of kisses over her cheek and neck. She ran her fingers through his hair, enjoying the silky curls, twisting them gently around her fingers.

“What is it, sweetheart?” he murmured. “Rendall is gone. Bourne saw him go. There is nothing more to fear.”

“I’m not afraid,” she said. “Well, a little. The memories will probably be with me for a long time.” The next words were blurted out. “When can we marry?”

He tipped up her face and kissed her gently on the lips. “Gabriel gave me his blessing. I suppose we’ll have to wait a decent amount of—”

With a cry of joy, she climbed onto his lap, straddling him, her hands clasping his face as she rained down kisses upon him. Laughing, he seemed to bask in her attention. “I was worried too,” he admitted. “I thought he might blame me.”

She gazed into his eyes. “Do you know I told Rendall about Gabriel, how he hasn’t allowed his beginning to darken his life and has gone on to be happy and successful? He didn’t want to listen. He was set on his course.”

Ivo grimaced. Then, “Enough about Jacob Rendall,” he said briskly. “When do you want to marry?”

Olivia supposed “as soon as possible” wasn’t the right answer, but it was the truthful one. If she had her way, she would marry him at once. It was partially to do with what had happened on the marsh, though that would pass with time. But it was also because she was deeply and irrevocably in love with this man. Attending social engagements, taking her place in the ton, would not be nearly as much fun if Ivo was not with her.

“Before Christmas,” she said. “I don’t want a long engagement.”

He grinned. “Hmm, my mother will be over the moon. Two weddings to think about.”

“I’m not sure what Grandmama will say, but after what she told me about her own marriage… At least I will be marrying a man I love.”

He wrapped his arms about her and rolled her over onto the bed, his body on top of hers. Her nightdress had rucked up, and he slid his hand up her thigh, lifting her leg over his hip so that he could nestle closer.

Olivia felt the hard shape of him against her, and everything else flew from her mind. This last month without him had been a long one, and she could not wait any longer. Their lips clung, and their kiss deepened before he bent his head and found her breast through the thin cloth. He ran his tongue around her aching nipple, sucking it into his mouth so that when he stopped, the cool air on the damp material made her ache with desire.

“Do you want me to stop?” Ivo asked. “I can wait, sweetheart.”

“No. You may be able to wait, but I can’t.”

He laughed softly as he slid down over her body, slowly, teasingly, until she was arching against him, urging him to reach the heated place between her thighs. When his mouth closed on her, she bit her lip to stop the cry, worried it would bring someone running. She was soon close to her peak, making the most unladylike noises, her body begging for release.

And then he stopped. Disgruntled, Olivia leaned up on her elbows to stare down at him. He gave a wicked grin and crawled over her, and she saw the hard length of him between them, nudging the curls between her thighs. She forgot about being peeved then, as he cupped the globes of her bottom in his hands, and lifted her to the right angle for his body to join with hers. Slow and careful, deeper and deeper, until she was gasping and clinging to him.

The world sparkled about her as she soared. Ivo groaned as he too reached his climax, and then his mouth was on hers as their kisses turned to murmurs, and then to replete silence. And they lay together, dreaming of the years to come.