Second Son of a Duke (3 page)

“Certainly, Teddy.”

She smelled like the rose garden after a light rain. The tension in her shoulders gave a little, so he rubbed her arm gently. They must have painted quite a picture, sitting in the middle of the staircase while masculine mayhem erupted in the library below.

“I used to want to run away,” he admitted, surprising them both with he admission.

Four

“Run away?” she asked.

He nodded. “But I can’t go. I can’t go anywhere. He won’t take the reins.”

Juliette lifted her head to look at him, aware of his arm holding her to his body. So serious he was, looking into the distance as if there were nothing there to look forward to. As it turns out, he wasn’t so self-sufficient.

Her husband needed her after all.

When their fathers died in a carriage accident, Derek became an unlikely duke and Peter became an unwilling earl. Nobody stopped to think about what Juliette and Teddy became—adults.

“Teddy,” she whispered. “I’m going to do something for you that no one has ever done before.”

His brows reached for each other in confusion and he swallowed hard. “What’s that?”

Juliette reached her fingers gently to his face, finally touching him. She brushed his thick brown hair on his forehead, and then let herself graze the line around his mouth ever so gently. “I’m going to make you happy.”

His eyebrows reached for each other in confusion and, truthfully, she didn’t really know what that meant anymore than he did. It was an idea that seemed a revelation of her heart, something she’d honestly not had in a very long time.

That night, lying in bed with her husband was more awkward than even the first night. The intimacy without real intimacy was staggering. She knew he’d expected her to move to her own chambers. Every night when he retired, he seemed surprised to see her there. He couldn’t be more surprised than she was though.

At first, staying with him through the night was a test of her mettle. She’d needed to feel like she’d chosen this path, though it was clear to everyone that she never had. Still, the stubborn streak that she’d acquired over the years forced her to control what was not in her control. Marrying Teddy had not been her idea, but she’d thought that by accepting it fully, she’d have a measure of management.

She was wrong.

She tossed and turned, sleep eluding her. Teddy slept mere inches from her, his warmth a tease of yearning. Would if be so bad if…after all, they were married…

She stilled and breathed rhythmically and slowly for a few moments, feigning sleep in case he was awake. And then, she rolled towards him and, God forgive her artifice, mumbled as if she were lost in dream. As if by instinct, Teddy adjusted to her, drawing her closer so that her head was on his chest and settling her comfortably against him. His heartbeat slowed a bit and his breathing returned to normal; her heart raced in return.

Awash in emotions as violent as the crashing waves of the sea battered her. She thought of Teddy’s face at the altar, when they realized what their brothers had planned, of his blank stare when he looked at a future of no choice and nothing for him in it. Then she remembered the dimple when he was raffish, the way he concerned himself with her comfort at all times, and how at this very minute, his body sheltered her from everything but him.

And now she knew where the earlier revelation on the staircase had come from. In a world full of uncertainty and chaos, she’d fallen in love with her husband.

As a young lass, she, like the other young girls, thought love would come with orchestra music and shine like polished gold and gems. Love would be loud and dazzling, overriding her senses with bursts of overstimulation. The events of her heart would be as spectacular as a coronation ball with champagne overflowing and sweet cakes everywhere.

How wrong she’d been.

She settled in further to her husband and let her feelings muddle like a good spiced wine. Love wasn’t a deafening crescendo; it was the steady cadence of deep breaths and a true heart. It wasn’t bursts of colorful silk; it was a play of shadow and light from a warm fire. Love didn’t smell like sweet treats and cologne. She inhaled his skin deeply; it smelled like pine and paper.

Love wasn’t all the things that made her nervous about life—instead, it was all the ideals she yearned for. A steady heart, a solid future, a reliable hand.

And laugh lines.

* * *

Where the devil was his newspaper?

In its place on the silver tray, were a blank page, his quill, and an inkpot.

Juliette entered the breakfast room with a jaunt in her step Teddy hadn’t noticed before. He recalled her warm, soft breath on his chest this morning and wondered if she’d be so animated if she realized how she’d been wrapped around him in her sleep.

Or if she knew what she did in his dreams last night.

He was sure the erotic dreams started with her unusual pledge to make him happy. When a man is holding a beautiful woman in his arms, be it on a staircase or in a bedroom, his happiness tends to be focused on matters the carnal variety. And while he wouldn’t turn down another chance to bed the enigma he’d married, his sense of honor dictated that she come to him more willing the next time. There would be pleasure in their coming together, or they wouldn’t.

Though that was much easier to stick to in a breakfast room than it had been in his bed with the woman curled into his side.

“Good morning, Teddy.”

“Good morning, Juliette.” He poured her chocolate. “I was just about to go off in search of our paper.”

“Actually, I had a hand in misplacing it today.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I’m plotting nefarious deeds.” She sipped gracefully. “I’ll need your help.”

“My help?”

“Oh, Teddy. You’re not going to start that again, are you?” She took pity on his consternation. “I’m nabbing you today, Lord Middleton.”

“I see.”

“No you don’t, but you shall soon enough. That paper is for you to list all the things you were planning on doing this day.”

Her eyes sparkled today. She was really enjoying herself. “I’ll need more paper then.”

“No, sir. You’ll have to get it all on the one. And be quick about it.”

He stared at the paper. “What are you about Juliette?”

“Make your list, Teddy.”

He did his best to condense his day to one sheet as she asked. Juliette took the tray from him and brought it to a footman. “Please see that His Grace is given this list at first sight of an open eye on him.”

This was curious indeed. She returned to the table, and he realized that the rustle of her skirts had become a sound he enjoyed. He’d never thought the mundane would come to mean so much in such a short time.

“Come, husband,” she said, reaching for his hand. “I’ve just handed the reins to the duke.”

A small panic tripped his senses. “Juliette, I appreciate the thought behind the gesture, but those are things only I can do.”

“Nonsense. The carriage is being brought out front as we speak. You needn’t worry about anything but walking out the door.” Her hand still stretched towards him, so he took it and she pulled him from his chair with a childlike glee. “Pity we won’t be here to see the look on his face.”

“Where will we be?” He really couldn’t leave, but he didn’t want to break the spell just yet. Her enthusiasm lifted his spirits.

“I can’t tell you.”

He laughed. He couldn’t help it. Juliette’s presence was like someone had opened the curtains and the sun was shining. “Why not?”

“I’m absconding with you. If you are a party to it, then you won’t be able to plead innocence.” She hadn’t let go of his hand and he was hardly going to mention it.

“If I’m innocent, what does that make you?”

“Scandalous, sir. Positively scandalous.”

She led him towards the door, her soft little hand in his. Teddy suddenly wished he could join her on what he hoped was her first kidnapping adventure. While he’d become aware of her wry sense of humor these last days, he’d never seen her relieved of her serious nature before. It was very becoming.

It was a pity he wouldn’t take advantage of it today.

“Juliette,” he cautioned, as he stopped walking. “I really mustn’t. I’m sorry, but I have work—” He didn’t know what he expected, a pout, maybe a sad face. Instead, she shrugged casually. “Again, I’m terribly sorry…if you’ve gone to any trouble…”

“Teddy, we’ve not had the smoothest beginning, but I think we’ve done quite well despite it. But the truth is, you really don’t know me very well. I’m undeniably obstinate; you really don’t stand a chance here. If I were you, I’d just get into the carriage now and save yourself the trouble.”

Was she goading him?

The pleasure he’d taken in her sunshiny disposition didn’t evaporate, but it did change. Goading him was she? Two could play at the game of getting underneath someone’s skin.

Something happened deep in his gut. A primal urge to muss up perfectly coiffed hair, to wipe off her smug expression, began to overtake him. What was left of his senses bade him to simply let go of her hand and begin his day in the study. Instead, he squeezed her hand and pulled her to him, enjoying the surprise in her features and the quick gasp she drew. Her breasts pressed against him, and the sharp teeth of lust began to make a meal of his normally staid nature.

He couldn’t think. He didn’t want to anyhow. He saw the moment her surprise gave way to stratagem, already trying to reorganize and that would never do. So he kissed her. Surreptitiously to throw her off balance, to give him the upper hand, he thought. But he realized when, Mother of God, she returned his kiss this time, that the tables had turned on his intention, for he’d never felt more off balance in his life.

Somewhere, deep in the recesses of Teddy’s mind, he knew her pliant lips were a symptom of her stubbornness to win this battle and not unequaled lust on her part.

He cared not.

While chocolate was never his choice of beverage, it tasted sinfully delicious on the lips of his wife. The moment he released his hands from her arms, she reached them around his neck and drew him deeper into a kiss that changed everything in his world.

Nothing about Juliette was brazen, yet the simple kiss stirred up every prurient thought he’d had since adolescence. Perhaps it was just the shock of her participating in the kiss, rather than wishing he’d just get it over with—but whatever it was, it set him afire.

His hands roamed over her back and then further until he cupped her bottom and realized he’d groaned aloud with the pleasure of it. What was happening to him, he wondered as he backed her into the sideboard. He’d nearly talked himself into hoisting her onto it when good sense intruded.

Her good sense, not his.

She pulled her lips away and whispered, “Teddy.”

His groin tightened at the sound of his name from her mouth. Since she pulled her mouth away, he went for the small patch of soft skin behind her ear, taking delight in the small shiver that wracked her body. She was as soft as the rose petals she smelled of.

“Teddy,” she repeated, pushing him gently. “We’re in the breakfast room.”

Somehow, her words cut through the murky haze that addled his good sense. He loosened his grip, but couldn’t completely let go. “I’m sorry, Juliette. You must think me a cad.” If his heart would slow so he could hear above the roar of his own pulse, he might actually move aside, but for the moment he needed to prop himself on her. With his head on her chest, of course. He’d never pass a rosebush again without instantly hardening.

She bent her neck and whispered in his ear. “Come to the carriage with me.”

And there it was. Had the kiss been a ruse to get her way? Was she so stubborn that she would pretend passion to get him to go with her? Which was the real Juliette-the ice maiden from his wedding night or the woman he kissed into a sideboard? “Why is it so important to you that I go away with you, Juliette? I can’t just walk away from my responsibilities here.”

She jerked as if he’d hit her. “One afternoon. I’m asking for one afternoon that you let the duke handle his own affairs so that you can handle yours.”

“Mine,” he repeated, at least he didn’t repeat it as a question.

“We’re tied now, Teddy. This marriage began as a whim, but it’s real. We’ve had no time alone, little conversation—”

“I’m sorry,” he interrupted. “You’re right, of course.” He’d spent his whole life watching over Derek’s responsibilities—it was shameful that he’d been neglecting the only one that was truly his now. “I should have arranged a wedding trip, even if it was a short one. It’s commendable that you are willing to treat this marriage with as much respect as you have.”

“I don’t want to be commendable, Teddy. I want to be your wife.”

He nodded. He could see this was important to her. He’d just work harder tomorrow if he had too. And he would have to. Because there was no way Derek would accomplish any of the tasks, and he wasn’t sure he’d want him to at this point. Derek would likely find a way to derail Teddy’s efforts.

And he really wanted to know if she were as stubborn as she claims, then what possessed her to say “I do” at the church?