Son of a Duke (34 page)

She smiled against his mouth and then pulled away.
 

"Good morning, Mr. Black."
 

"Good morning, Mrs. Black."
 

He cupped her buttocks to hold her more snuggly against him and increased his pace.
 
Nora's eyes closed, and she purred.
 

Nathan felt his control slipping and pivoted to bring her beneath him.
 
He reached down to where they were joined and stroked her sensitive nub.
 
She shattered in his arms, and he followed on the wake of her orgasm, spilling his seed into her.
 
He fell onto his back bringing her with him so that she draped across his chest, her head falling just below his chin.
 
Her thighs fell on either side of his, and he kept his hands firmly on her buttocks to keep himself in her.

"Nora?" he said before she had a chance to really settle.
 

"Mmm?"

"I love you."
 

"I know," she mumbled against his throat.
 

He sat up.
 
Nora grabbed at his shoulders as if to steady herself.
 
He kept his hands firmly on her hips to keep her from squirming.
 
He did not need distraction right now.
 
Her hair had fallen over one side of her face, and she brushed it back to see him.
 

 
When he was sure she was paying attention, he said, "You know?"

She nodded.
 
"You're not a man to seduce a woman such as myself unless he loved her."
 

"Seduce a woman?
 
Excuse me, but I believe I was the one being seduced."
 

Nora thought a moment.
 
"Well, perhaps, once.
 
But you clearly started it every other time.
 
And I know you wouldn't have done that if you didn't at least care.
 
A little." She lifted her shoulders in a small shrug.
 

"I care a good deal more than a little," he said, his tone harsher than he intended.
 

Nora bit her lower lip, and he felt like a cad.
 
But then he realized she was trying not to smile.
 
He frowned at her.
 
She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, crushing her breasts against his chest, and he resolutely ignored how damn good it felt.
 
They were having a serious conversation, and she was not going to distract him.
 

"I care a lot more than a little.
 
I love you, and well, that's that."
 

He sounded like a fist rate idiot, but really how did one profess one's love to said love when said love was straddling one, naked, in a bed?
 

"I love you, too.
 
Now is that settled?"
 

He leaned back a bit to get a really good look at her.
 
"Yes, I suppose it is."
 

"All right, then we have something else we need to discuss."
 

He raised his eyebrows.
 
"We do?"

"Yes."

"Right now?"
 

"I think the sooner we talk about it the better."
 

He felt a lick of fear work its way up his spine.
 

"What do we need to talk about?" he asked.
 

"Samuel."
 

"What about Samuel?
 
I love him, too, in case you're worried-"
 

She shook her head.
 
"I know that, and it's not about Samuel existing in our lives, it's Samuel as a thing."
 

"Samuel as a thing?"

Nora nodded.
 
"Samuel is my son.
 
Samuel was a result of..."

Nathan paled.
 
"One time.
 
You were pregnant after one time."

Nora nodded.
 
"Yes, I was.
 
And I might be inexperienced, but I'm fairly certain I know how this works, and I was just wondering if we should perhaps be a little more cautious."
 

Nathan started to nod but stopped.
 
"Why?"

It was Nora's turn to back up.
 
"Why?"
 

"Why not?
 
Why can't we have a baby?" Nathan asked.
 

"You want to have a baby?" Nora asked, her eyes wide.
 

"I want to have a baby with you," he corrected.
 

"Oh."
 

"You don't want to have a baby with me?"
 

Nora nodded furiously.
 
"I do.
 
I do want to have a baby with you, but," she looked down, pink staining her cheeks, "how are we going to take care of a baby?"

He brought his hand up to lift her chin.
 
He wanted to be looking at her when he said this.
 

"I'll take care of us."
 

She shook her head again.
 
"You can't, not all by yourself.
 
I'll have to find a post now as it is, but with a baby-"

He covered her lips with his thumb.
 
"My father.
 
I'm going to ask my father for help."
 
He felt his breath catch, but he forced air into his lungs.
   

Nora's lips parted under his thumb, and her eyes widened even more.
 
"I didn't think you would do that," she finally whispered.
 

"For you and my family, I would."
 
He forced more air into his lungs.
 
He could not hold his breath waiting for her response since she had suddenly gone still in his lap.
 
If he was going to wait for a reaction, he was going to have to breathe.

"Nora?" he prompted when she had remained still for longer than he had patience for.
 

"I love you," she whispered.
 

He nodded quickly, urging her to go on.
 
She did not, so he answered with, "I love you, too."
 

She shook her head slowly, left and right, and whispered again, "I love you.
 
I love you very much."
 

Nathan smiled, "And?"

"That's it."
 

"That's it?"
 

She nodded slowly, up and down.
 
"You said that was it."
 

He nodded, mimicking her slow movement.
 
"That is it."
 

He kissed her, pouring himself into it as she met him with the same force.
 
He fell back against the pillows, her hair cascading around them.
 
Nathan grabbed her arms and levered her back up away from him.
 

"Have you ever had the opportunity to ride a horse?" he asked.
 

"A horse?"
 
She raised her eyebrow at him.
 
He was getting to like that eyebrow.
 

"Yes, a horse."

"No, I haven't.
 
Why?"
 

"I think you should learn."
 
He adjusted her, settling her more tightly against him.
 

The look of confusion quickly disappeared from her face.
 
"Oh."
 

"I think we should begin our first lesson right now."
 

"I think so, too," she agreed.
 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Nora hid the yawn with her hand and walked into the morning room to find a stranger helping himself to the eggs.
 

"Excuse me," she said pertly, lapsing back into housekeeper mode.
 

The man turned around.

And smiled.
 

"Good morning.
 
You must be Nora.
 
Mrs. Black lately, I hear."
 
He set down his plate and came over to her.
 
"I'm Matthew Thatcher.
 
I pulled your husband out of that gaming hell a few nights back."
 
He extended his hand.
 

Nora shook it firmly and nodded.
 
"You're from the Colonies."
 

He laughed softly.
 
"I'm American, you mean."
 

Nora nodded more quickly.
 
"Oh, yes, of course.
 
American.
 
Feels strange to say that."

"It's even stranger correcting people."
 
He smiled again and went back to his eggs.
 

Nora helped herself to tea and sat.
 

"So, Mr. Thatcher, what brings you to England?"
 

"Oh, you can just call me Thatcher.
 
I needed a change of scenery."
 
He piled even more food on his plate, which had Nora staring.
 
Mr. Thatcher was quite a large man, probably the same size as Nathan, so he probably needed all that food.
 
But that logical reasoning still did not stop Nora from staring.
 
She caught herself, though, before Mr. Thatcher turned around to take a chair at the table.
 

"A change of scenery?
 
You came all the way to London for a change of scenery?"
 

"Actually, I went to Dublin first, and then Glasgow, and then York and now I'm here."
 
He raised his eyebrows briefly and settled into his food.

"Have you found London's scenery to be to your liking?"
 

He looked up at her.
 
"I'm enjoying it right now."
 

"Watch it, Thatcher.
 
She's mine."
 

Nora turned around in her chair to see her husband standing in the door with his fists on his hips, a furious expression on his face.
 

"Oh, please," she said under her breath and rose to fix Nathan a plate.
 

"What are you doing here, Thatcher?" Nathan asked, walking over to shake the man's hand and slap him rather hard on the back.
 

Nora set the plate down and pushed Nathan towards it.
 
He would not budge and instead raised a single eyebrow at her.
 
She knew that look and did not like what it meant.
 

"What?" she asked.
 

"You eat it," he said and pushed her into the chair with the plate of food before going to help himself at the sideboard.
 

She picked up her fork before she realized he was ordering her around and stopped to look at him.
 

He sat in the chair beside her and leaned over to discreetly pat her stomach under the table.
 
She looked down where his hand briefly rested and then swung her gaze back to his.
 
He smiled softly at her.
 
She nodded and started eating.
 

"Your father asked me to come," Thatcher said from the other side of the table.
 
"I hear your brother's run off, and his wife has followed him."
 

Nathan grunted as a response.
 

"Do you work for the War Office as well?" Nora asked.
 

Thatcher shook his head laughing.
 
"God, no.
 
Not technically anyway.
 
I am what you would call a private detective, I suppose."
 

"I see.
 
And what is it you privately detect?"
 

Thatcher thought a moment.
 
"I'm not sure I should tell a woman."
 

Nathan raised his head from his food.
 
"You can tell this woman."
 

He pointed at Nora with his fork.
 

"Tell this woman what?" Jane asked sailing through the door and heading straight for the food.
 
She backtracked abruptly, and a huge smile bloomed on her face.
 
"Thatcher!"
 

Thatcher stood.
 
"Ma'am," he drawled before grabbing Jane in a crushing hug.
 

Nora forgot her fork was halfway to her mouth and stared.
 

When Thatcher finally let go of her, Jane fanned herself.
 

"You Americans," she mumbled.
 

"What's going on here?" Richard demanded.
 

Nora turned around again to look at the door.
 
Richard was the exact image of his son moments before.
 

Nathan swallowed his food.
 
"He's making the rounds, Father."
 

"I see."
 
Richard stomped into the room.
 
"Why don't you make the rounds somewhere else?" he said, coming to stand between Jane and Thatcher.
 

"But you invited me," Thatcher said.
 

"Oh, that's right.
 
I did.
 
My fault, then."
 
Richard shrugged and slapped Thatcher on the back.
 

Nora started to become curious about this back slapping ritual these men types seemed to embrace.
 

"Mama?"
 

Nora turned to find Samuel tugging on her sleeve.
 
She looked down at her son and immediately brought up her hand to brush the hair from his forehead.
 

"Is something wrong?" he asked.
 

Nora's brow furrowed.
 
"Wrong?
 
Why would anything be wrong?"