Page 37 of The Duke is Wicked
“Finn Alexander, that’s a horrid statement. I may go sleep on the settee.”
“Oh, no, you won’t.” He hugged her, pressing his lips to her brow. “I understand it’s hypocritical coming from a viscount’s supposed byblow. It’s just, we’ve seen what you’ve faced by marrying me. Being given the cut direct on the street, invitations drying up like we stood in the middle of the Mojave.” His tone was light, but sadness bled in like rain through a cracked window pane.
Pressing her cheek to his chest, she listened to his steady heartbeat and thanked God she’d found him. Did her husband honestly imagine his lack of a pedigree mattered when they were weeks away from starting their family, when she loved him more than any person on the planet? “The duke needs someone unconnected to this life, Finn.”
“The League?”
Victoria laughed softly. “No, of course not. Delaney’s an asset to the League and will be an asset to her husband if he’s gifted, once she admits being gifted herself. I mean with society. Sebastian needs someone who loves him for everything else. Maybe going so far as a woman who wishes hewasn’ttitled, who considers the dukedom a detriment. There isn’t a woman in this country who could completely overlook it and be honest with herself. And him. Who better than an American who doesn’t respect a meaningless system? I was torn for one blinding second when Sebastian asked me to marry him. Imagine being a duchess!”
Finn leaned in, capturing her mouth in a kiss that left them both breathless. “Must we gothere?”
“We owe him. He publicly supported our marriage, held a ball in our honor, has been a true, the truest, of friends. He considers you a brother.”
“Stopped a fight I got into over you at the Blue Moon and forced me to propose, if you want the full truth of the matter.”
Victoria tilted her head until she caught her husband’s rich indigo gaze. “What’s this?”
Finn flashed his charming smile, his dimples winking in the meager moonlight. “You could force yourself to step away from me for a moment. A hundred yards should do it. Then I’ll read his mind and tell you exactly—”
“No mind reading. If Lady Nuisance isn’t the one for Sebastian,hehas to figure it out. Plus…” Victoria curled into his body, her smile growing. “Maybe our newly named Kitty will decide she doesn’t want a duke before the duke gets to the asking.”
“You have that devious tone in your voice, the one that frightens me.”
Victoria giggled, horrified to hear the sound arrive, knowing Finn wouldn’t let it pass. She was not the giggling type.
“Out with it, Tori.”
“Well…” Victoria walked her fingers across his chest. “The temperature also rises when Case Temple and Honoria Kitty Hazelton are in the same room, much like the duke and Delaney orangery situation. As humid as a hothouse, both couples. Steaming up the windows at breakfast while trying to appear unaffected.”
“That would solve part of the problem. Case running away with the chit.”
“Oh,” she whispered, and pulled Finn’s hand atop her belly. “He kicked.”
Finn stilled, his fingers trembling when he placed them over hers. “Or her.”
Victoria giggled again, delighted to the tips of her toes. “I can’t wait. Another month, and we’ll be parents. I’m deliriously excited to meet the little tot.”
Finn dropped his brow to her shoulder. “I’m terrified, Tori.”
Victoria took his face between her hands and brought his famous gaze to hers. “You’re the gentlest man I know. Generous and kind. You’ll be a brilliant father. Trust me on this. Look at how much Julian’s children love you.”
He swallowed, his cheeks blanching. “What if he reads minds? Or she has your gift and blocks us all? What if these curses continue into the next generation? What if I don’t know how to be a father? Except for Julian and Humphrey, I never really had one.”
Victoria considered this for a moment, finally deciding none of it mattered with the enormous love they held for each other. “Julian and Delaney are starting to research inheritance in the historical texts. Maybe you and I should be a part of this project now that we’re having our own family.”
“Family,” Finn murmured in disbelief. His hand was warm on her belly, curving around her, possessive, protective, adoring. He would make a doting father, as he was a doting husband.
“If we find we need to give Sebastian a push…”
He laughed, his shoulders shaking. “I knew my girl was in there somewhere, plotting away. Good old-fashioned meddling, nothing supernatural about it.”
Only if necessary,Victoria decided,only if necessary.
Chapter 11
Aflash of emerald caught Sebastian’s eye through the library window. Delaney’s gown, as lush as the lawn she stood upon. He could just make out the archery range if he squinted and leaned to the left. She rarely wore vivid colors, and he’d almost remarked on her choice when he’d bumped into her leaving the breakfast room, but she’d swept past him with a closed expression and a vacant hand gesture he wasn’t sure how to interpret.
Now, she stood, mere yards from his window, feet braced, bow slung over her shoulder, her skirt whipping in the wind. The gift he’d impulsively given her, then wished he could sneak into her bedchamber and take back, dashing in circles around her legs, a tether of some sort tied about the puppy’s neck and trailing behind him. The day was somber, stormy, the clouds backing her near the color of her eyes. Intrigued, he watched her tilt her arrow in someone’s direction, a playful joust. Followed by a teasing smile he could easily make out even at this distance.