A Duke in Shining Armor (6 page)

  
             
He teased her nipples with his fingers and lavished kisses down her neck until he reached her breast and suckled one through the cloth of her dress. She sighed in bliss as his hand reached down to lift her skirt up to gain access to her heat and gasped against him as he inserted a finger deep into her.  “I want you so badly.” He groaned.  He teased and tormented her until she was riding his hand and moaning so loud he pressed his lips to hers to absorb the sounds.

 
             
She felt a building in her stomach and her movements became more frenzied until at last she exploded and came crashing down.  Clint held her up and planted small kisses across her face.  “I love you.” He whispered in her ear.

  She leaned back and with eyes wide and gaped at him.  “You do?” she asked. 

“Yes, I think I have loved you from the first moment I saw you.  You are all I think about.  I want to make you happy and give you the life you deserve.”

 
             
He lifted her chin and stroked her face.  “Do you think you could grow to love me also?”

She threw her arms around his neck and held him as tightly as she could.  “I already do.  I love you so much.”  Before she could stop it a sob escaped her throat. 

He held her back and looked at her in question.  “I hope those are tears of joy.” He asked playfully.

She laughed through her tears and nodded her head yes.  “Can I come to your room tonight?” He asked as he took her hand and lowered it to his trousers and pressed her fingers to his erection.  “I can understand if you would like to wait until we are married first.” He assured her.  “I planned on us being married as quickly as possible.”

She shook her head, still too afraid to speak.  When she gathered her composure she kissed him again slowly and ran her hands down the front of his shirt before she told him, “Don’t be late.”  He watched her walk back to the house enjoying the sway of her hips in her pretty pink dress.  He knew this day would be the longest day he had ever encountered until he had her wrapped in his arms and was buried deep within her.

             
He headed back to the house with the intent of talking to his mother today about making Emily his wife and future duchess, when he ran into a very defeated Juliet leaving.  “What is wrong?” he asked his distressed sister.

“Men are fools!” she exclaimed and stuck her hat over her hair forcefully.  “Jon is the biggest fool of them all.”

She pushed passed him and headed for the walking path beside their home.  He rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a minute and wondered what on earth was going on between Jon and his sister.  He made a mental note to catch up with Jon later to find out.  He made his way through his family’s lavish townhouse and stopped to gaze at a portrait of his father on the wall.  He felt a deep regret his father was no longer living and was not there to meet his lovely Emily.

  He got excited picturing little baby girls with brunette ringlets like their mother.  He had found his love match, what more could his mother want?  He finally found his mother in the sitting room with Mrs. Ellenburg and Elisabeth looking as if she was biting at the bit to escape.  He asked the two ladies to excuse himself and his mother for which Elisabeth shot him a grateful look and hurried from the room.

 
             
He sat down next to his mother and took her by the hand.  “Mother, I have something to tell you.” His mother looked at him expectantly when he paused before saying “I love Emily Mother; I want to make her my duchess.”  His mother set down her fabric she had been stitching and took him by both of his hands. 

“Well, then make her your duchess son, I would be thrilled for you to have a love match such as that of mine and your father.”  She chuckled, “I guess I just always imagined you marrying Elisabeth since you were always chasing each other around as children.”

  He smiled at his mother and gave her a quick kiss upon her cheek.  “Thank you, Mother for giving me your blessing, it will make Emily feel wonderful and ease her mind about marrying me.”  He left his mother’s sitting room with a smile across his face and headed down the hall to inform both of his friends about his engagement.

Chapter 7

At long last nighttime fell and everyone in the townhouse were settling down for the night except for Clint and his friends.  Elisabeth had informed her all three had left together early in the afternoon and had not returned yet.  After teasing her for keeping such a careful eye on Tom, she went to her own room and had Alice help her into her simple cotton nightgown.

  She told Alice she wanted to read for a while before retiring and bid her a good night.  As soon as the door shut behind her maid she jumped up and ran over to her clothes stand and dug around until she found the revealing pink negligee Bethany had talked her into buying.  She put it on and brushed her hair until it shone and waited for Clint’s arrival. 

She must have dosed off while waiting because the soft turn of the door knob jolted her awake when Clint crept into her room.  “I am sorry I am late, I had something that would not wait.”  He reached her in two long strides and helped her from the chair and she heard his quick intake of breath as he realized what she was wearing.  “Bloody hell woman, I am trying to make this as easy and as pleasurable as possible for you and wearing things such as this will make me go mad before I have you.”

             
She cut him off by kissing him and burying her fingers into his hair.  He lifted her and wrapped both of her legs around his waist and placed her upon the bed.  He painstakingly took every piece of clothing off slowly and rewarded each spot of exposed skin with a kiss until she was naked in all her glory spread before him.  He took off his shirt and pants with lighting speed and rejoined her on the bed.

             
He placed a hand upon her hip and turned her to the side so that she was facing him.  “I want you so bad, sweetheart, but I have got to make sure you are ready before I take you, I don’t want to hurt you.”  She looked down at his staff and gingerly took it into her hand.  He jerked and groaned with his eyes closed.  She immediately pulled her hand away, but he grabbed it and lowered it back down and moved her hands up and down in a rhythm that she soon took over.

Clint stopped her when he was afraid he would spill himself in her hand like some school boy.  He flipped her onto her back and suckled and caressed both of her breasts until she was moaning with want.  He inserted a finger into her wet canal and rubbed another finger across her feminine nub.  When he knew she was on the brink he positioned himself between her legs.  He entered her swiftly and he felt the slight resistance of her maidenhead before it broke and he impaled her fully.  He held his breath and looked into her eyes to see if he had caused her pain.  She answered by rocking her hips into him.  He set a fast pace and she met him thrust for thrust.

  He drove into her over and over before feeling her clench around him and a shudder went through her body.  He followed her home and groaned as he released his seed deep into her womb.  He rolled to his back and brought her to him and held her close to his chest.  When he caught his breath he chuckled and said, “That did not go exactly as I had planned.”

  “What do you mean?  Did I not do it right?” 

He burst into laughter.  “It was more than right.”  He released her from his hold and rose from the bed.  He walked over to his discarded pants and retrieved something from his pocket.  She gasped when he lay back down next to her and removed a solitaire diamond ring from a velvet box. 

“I meant to give you this before we made love, but I was not expecting such a temptress to be waiting for me.” 

He placed her ring upon her finger.  “It is beautiful.  I am still wondering when I am going to wake from this wonderful dream.” She breathed in wonder.  His response was to kiss her again.

             
They proceeded to make love again and he playfully teased her by changing positions to allow her to straddle him and ride him giving her full control.  Emily rode him hard and wept as the pressure built up and would burst, and when she would slow down he would take her hips and thrust deep into her over and over until she was grinding him with a vengeance to reach blissful release.

             
When he thought he had been satisfied and would go into a light sleep he would feel her body pressed against his and wake up rock hard.  He took her two more times during the night.  Clint knew he could take her again, but he was worried he may cause her some discomfort in the morning.  His appetite for her was insatiable.

 
             
Right before dawn he awoke and stroked her hair and she curled her body in a cat like stretch against him and he felt himself go hard yet again.  He rose from the bed and went to the washstand and cleansed himself.  He rinsed out the rag and approached her on the bed and gently spread her legs and cleaned her.  She felt her face go hot from the redness of embarrassment; she could not believe she was allowing him to touch her so intimately.

             
He kissed her softly on the forehead.  She watched him as he silently got dressed.  She rose from the bed and adorned a simple white shift.  He kissed her one last time and bid her to get a few more hours sleep before they had to leave to go visit her relative.

He was trying to be discreet as he snuck down the hall with his shoes in his hand when he heard someone clear their throat.  He turned and found Jon with a knowing smile upon his face.  “Enjoy your night ol chap?” he asked with humor in his voice.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” was the terse reply.

             
Jon chuckled and slapped him on the back.  “Do not fret that I will say anything my friend, but now that I have you alone for a minute, please tell me what in the devil I have done to Juliet to cause her to treat me so badly.”

Clint threw his head back and laughed.  “Jon, if you do not know by now, you will never figure it out.” 

He left his friend staring after him with a dumbfounded look as he went into his room to prepare for the day. 

*****

After breaking their fast, Clint and Emily wasted no time in leaving for their journey to visit her relative.  She was so nervous she felt sick and Clint gave her a reassuring squeeze as they approached the dainty little cottage her family resided in.

The door flew open before they could even knock and a stout grey headed lady ringing her hands in her apron stepped out and greeted them both.  Before Clint could make the introductions she put her hand up to stop him.  “I know exactly who she is your grace; the resemblance to her father is uncanny.”

Emily was confused.  Did this woman know who her real father was?  They were shuffled into the small kitchen where they found that her cousin had been busy planning for their arrival.  Delicate pastries were placed within hands reach of them as they sat down. 

The elderly lady reached for Emily’s hand and squeezed it.  Emily felt herself tear up at the love and warmth she saw in the woman’s eyes.  “My name is Harriet Moncrief child; my father and your grandfather were brothers.  I have never married, and so wished when Matthew died he had left your care in my hands.  The Duke has given me a brief account of what has happened with you and your mother’s people.”

Emily looked down at the hand that held hers that was withered with age.  “I overheard my aunt and uncle talking.  They say Matthew Moncrief married my mother because he was a fool and she had a child upon her unmarried.”  She felt she should put this straight out there for this kind woman to know before any kind of misplaced conceptions between them developed. 

The older woman surprised her by wrinkling her nose in disgust at the mention of her aunt and uncle.  “Hogwash!” she exclaimed.  “Your father and mother loved each other very much, you may have been conceived before for the wedding night, but I can assure you that Matthew and Marjorie Moncrief endured many hardships to be together.”

  Emily was confused.  “The Moncrief’s have never been considered vastly well off, and Marjorie’s father and good for nothing brother Albert hated the fact that Marjorie loved your father and to add insult to injury your father made a name for himself as well as a pretty decent fortune without their help.”

  Harriet sighed and with sympathy she continued.  “Your father had only recently allowed them to dabble in his business and found out too late some of the business transactions your grandfather and uncle had arranged were made under shady circumstances. One of the last shipments of cargo your father sold had actually been stolen goods.  This is why you and your family were attacked and so many were killed that day.

             
Some of the scoundrels caught your grandfather and killed him before the law caught up with them and by that time Albert had went into hiding with your inheritance.  Unfortunately, your father and mother thought they could trust Albert and Evelyn and left you in their care, and were dead before anything could be done to change it.”

             
Emily was stunned.  Her mother’s own brother and father were to blame for her rape and murder.  All this time she had lived with her aunt and uncle she suffered abuse and was made to feel as if she were a burden when in fact they were living off her inheritance that was in turn tainted with the blood of her family?  Emily was furious.  Somehow she would make her aunt and uncle pay for their treachery.