Page 16 of Secrets of a Duke’s Heart (Wayward Dukes’ Alliance #25)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“J ude! I mean, Your Grace, I…” Clarissa trailed off. Rain pelted down, plastering the duke’s hair to his skull and turning his cravat translucent.
“The rest of your party is indoors. The young girl said a lady was lost in the maze. I just arrived ten minutes ago. I rushed out to help. I never expected it to be you.”
Clarissa didn’t know whether to laugh, curtsy, cry, or all three. “My cousin?”
“They said another man was out looking for you. Prescott, I assume.”
She wished this reunion was taking place anywhere other than in a rainstorm. A streak of lightning split the sky and turned the whole world a sickly shade of green. The duke jerked his gaze skyward.
“This way. I trust your cousin had the sense to take cover by now.” Jude took her hand and dragged her toward a round white shape not far in the distance. Within seconds they were inside a pavilion. Rain poured down from the circular roof in a curtain of water. If she could stop shivering, Clarissa might have found the situation romantic. Instead, all she felt was wet, cold, and embarrassed.
No, scratch that. She also felt awkward and apologetic, yet at a loss for words to express any of it.
“I didn’t think you were due back until tomorrow,” she blurted out. “Thank you for coming to find me.”
“This isn’t the first time a visitor has gotten lost in that blasted maze. I ought to have it ripped out.” He shook his head like a dog, spraying droplets everywhere. She laughed and backed away.
“I wouldn’t have intruded upon your privacy if I had known you’d be home.”
“Clarissa. You are never intruding.”
Heat rushed into her cheeks. “I was so cold and dismissive when we parted. I cannot imagine you felt any desire to see me again.”
“Oh, but I did. Very much. In fact, I have thought of nothing else.” He took a single step closer to her, then stopped. “I think of you every minute of every hour of every day. As hard as I have tried to forget what an utter ass I was to you in Cavalier Cove, I find that only constant activity brings any degree of solace. If I can distract myself with work, I can briefly escape being haunted by my many failings. But as soon as I stop moving, it all comes rushing back.”
“You weren’t an ass,” she said in a rush of breath without flinching at his crude language. “Not to me.”
“I lied to you.”
“To protect Harriet.”
He met her gaze with eyes full of wary hope. The yearning she read there made her heart ache.
“I understand now, Jude, why you are reluctant to get close to people. You lost so much of your family. Tragedy after tragedy. I can see how it would be easier to hold everyone at bay. Besides, you couldn’t tell anyone who you really were without exposing Harriet’s true identity.”
He shook his head. “That’s not quite right. You’re right about the source of it, however, protecting Harriet was only part of it. I loathe admitting to anyone that I am a duke. One day, I was an ordinary second son with chums at school. The next, I was called home and told I was a duke now, responsible for the welfare of what remained of my family. I lost friends over it.
“Thus, whenever I am presented with an opportunity to live as if I am not a peer of the realm, I take it. I don’t like to be treated differently because of what I am. I was afraid to lose the easy rapport we developed so quickly. By the time things had progressed between us, I knew I had to tell you, but I messed that up badly.”
“I could have reacted better,” she said remorsefully.
“I spent weeks hoping you would fall pregnant. I cannot describe the state I was in after receiving your letter.”
“Oh, Jude.” She rushed forward. He caught her in a tight embrace. “I was devastated, too. I hoped there would be a reason for you to want me as your wife. When you asked to see me in London, I knew it would be too painful to watch you court other ladies. I thought it was best to make a clean break.”
“How could you possibly think I would have courted anyone but you?”
His strong arms around her were a shield from the raging world. Sheets of rain poured down from the roof of the pavilion. Thunder and lightning dueled overhead, shaking the ground beneath her feet. There was nowhere she would rather be than here, pressed hard against his front, her heart beating as fast as a hummingbird’s wings.
“I don’t know,” she confessed. “No one has ever wanted me enough to fight for me, Jude. It was impossible for me to imagine that a duke, of all people, would be the one.”
They both chuckled, an airless sound of sheer relief. Boldly, she twined her arms around his neck.
“That damned title gets in the way far too often,” he grumbled, then bent his head to kiss her softly. A question. One she answered by tilting her face upward for another, and another. More followed in frantic succession.
“Would you allow me to help carry the burden?” she asked in between kisses.
“I would make you my duchess a hundred times over, Clarissa.”
He fisted her skirts and shoved them high on her thighs. Cold air rushed up her bare legs. Her back hit a wooden beam supporting the roof. Water sprayed the back of her neck, the chill exhilarating. A sharp contrast to the heat of his body at her front. She threaded her fingers through his hair to anchor him to her lips. His rampant cock nudged her stomach.
Any lingering misgivings about becoming his duchess melted away. She could face any challenge for the prospect of having him like this, every single day. This love was a ferocious thing, clawing at her, insatiable for his touch. Nothing else mattered.
“I would give you so many heirs,” she panted as he shrugged out of his jacket and waistcoat. “Starting now.”
“There is still the issue of permission. I have sent an inquiry but have not yet heard back.”
“You asked about me even though I turned you down?”
He nodded. “I wasn’t giving up. I was biding my time.”
“Was this entire visit a setup?” she demanded, tossing aside her soaked spencer. It landed with a wet plop next to his outerwear.
“Yes, I specifically ordered the rainstorm. Atmospheric, don’t you think?” he deadpanned.
Clarissa laughed and hopped into his arms, trusting him to catch her. He did, with a grunt, and captured her lips in another devouring kiss. He braced her against the beam long enough to unfasten his trousers and slicked the head along her slippery center.
“Is it too early to start making heirs?” he asked in a tone that was a low roll of thunder.
“Never. After all, you are getting old to become a father,” she teased. “Forty, if I remember correctly? Did I miss your birthday?”
“It’s next week, minx.”
He entered her in a single thrust, pinning her like a butterfly to a board. She strained to take him, feeling herself stretch to accommodate his girth. His mouth was on her throat, sucking and nipping the delicate flesh. Need sizzled along her skin, her spine a lightning rod for the currents of desire racing through her. He withdrew and plunged forward again with a low moan.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Like that.”
He gave her everything and more. Pleasure rose until it overflowed her edges, brimming with possibility. She loved him, for all his faults and flaws, just as he loved her.
“Be my wife, Clarissa, I beg you.”
“Yes.”
“Mine for always.”
“Yes,” she said again, barely a breath before the crest broke over her and she came, her back tense and thighs tight around his hips. His rhythm broke. Hot seed flooded her. Clarissa clung to him like he was life itself. The peak faded slowly. He withdrew and gently set her on the ground but did not let her go. He kept touching her wonderingly, as if he couldn’t quite believe she were real.
“You’ll really marry me?”
“Yes, of course. We went over that.”
“But I haven’t asked your father.”
“He’s dead. There is no one to ask. If it makes you feel better, my cousin has already implied he would grant his permission, should you seek it.”
“I did, back in Cavalier Cove. I ought to ensure he hasn’t changed his mind.”
The rain dwindled into a gentle mist. Such violent storms rarely lasted long. They stood side-by-side, watching the afternoon sun attempt to peek through the roiling clouds.
“Thaniel hasn’t changed his mind,” she said, squeezing his hand. They stood there, gazing out at the grand estate that was their home, together, for a long time.