Son of a Duke (40 page)

She said, "Nathan?"
 

"What the bloody hell are you doing with my gun, woman?"
 

Nora turned her head against the cushions of the sofa, a hot hope spiraling through her.
 

Nathan was attempting to dislodge his elbow from his own dead man.
 
He tripped over the carpet when the dead man suddenly let go and half fell into Nora on the sofa.
 
He knelt on the carpet beside her, smiling goofily.
 

Nora did not know what to say.
 
Too many emotions were hitting her at once.
 
They were safe.
 
Nathan was alive.
 
Chesterfield was dead.
 
She was married to the man she loved, and they had the rest of their lives in front of them.
 
What did one say?
 

"He peed on me," she said.
   

Nathan's eyes traveled down the length of her.
 
"Yes, I'm afraid that tends to happen when people die.
 
They lose muscle control."
 

"Oh."
 

Neither of them said anything.
 
They just stared at each other smiling like fools.
 
And Nora was completely all right with that.
 

But then Richard cleared his throat.
 
"I think we'd best be getting out of here before some nosy neighbor shows up."
 

Nathan looked around as if he had realized for the first time that his father was there.
 

"What are you doing here?" he asked, standing up and drawing Nora with him.
 

"Saving your ass."
 
He nodded at Nora.
 
"Pardon my French."
 

Nora just kept smiling.
 

Nathan looked behind him where the very dead Duchess of Chesterfield was lying in a pool of her own blood.
 
"And shooting duchesses?"
 

"Only ones who are going to shoot my son," Richard answered.
 

Nathan nodded, took Nora's hand, and walked out of the room.
 

"So what are you doing here?" Nathan asked, once they were moving swiftly along the corridor, and he could expect his father to give a clear answer.
   

He kept Nora tucked under his arm, and Nora did not mind at all.
 

"Samuel is quite the spy, Nora.
 
The butler at Archer's townhouse told us the French want Alec."
 

Nathan nodded.
 
"Archer said the like."
 

Richard stopped.
 
"Archer?"
 

Nathan stopped as well but did not relinquish his grip on Nora.
 
Nora unconsciously snuggled closer.
 

"He's in the basement.
 
Or dungeon rather.
 
I'm sure someone will find him eventually."

Richard nodded and continued moving along the corridor leaving the treasonous spy to his fate.

Now they only needed to get to Alec before the damned French did.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Nora tied the bow of her now clean apron at her back.
 
The material snapped with starch.
 
She smiled appreciatively and turned away from the mirror to find Nathan staring at her from across the small inn room.
 

"You're beautiful," he whispered, as if saying it too loudly would make her vanish.
 

She walked over to him, slipped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest.
 

"And you look rather fetching in that livery, Mr. Black."
 
She tilted her head up to look at him.
 

He was smiling.
 
"You think so?"
 

Nora purred in her throat and felt Nathan's reaction stirring low against her stomach.
 
She laughed.
 

"You always look rather fetching but even more so in the Duke of Lofton's colors."
 

She laid her head back down, and Nathan nuzzled her hair.
 

"Are you sure about this, Nora?
 
I don't want to put you in any danger."
 

Nora only smiled.
 
Her son was a great spy now.
 
Having found out the plan in store for the Earl of Stryden, Nora had been assured that he was safely tucked away in York under the watchful eye of a formidable woman known only as Great Aunt Lydia.
 
And Nora and Nathan were to act as servants for the Duke and Duchess of Lofton as they traveled on their belated honeymoon.
 
Not that Nora would have to do much acting.
 
But Nathan had been against the whole thing.
 
He did not want to put Nora in danger.
 
And of course, Nora had steadfastly refused to let her husband go on this journey alone.
 
The Earl of Stryden was her family now, too.
 
And she was going to do everything she could to find him before it was too late.
 

And so Nathan was dashing in his livery, the reds and blacks of the Duke of Lofton's colors.
 
And Nora was back in her housekeeper's uniform.
 

And they were holding onto each other, because they had been separated for far too long.
 

"Nora?"
 

"Mmm?"
 

"Why were you wearing two dresses?"
 

Nora blinked.
 
Of course Nathan would have seen that she had been wearing two dresses.
 

"I needed the layers to conceal your pistol.
 
I used the apron pocket to hold it, but the rest of the material kept the bulk of it hidden."
 

"Oh."
 

"Nathan?"
 

"Mmm?"
 

"I love you."
 

He did not say anything.
 
His heart beat against her ear, and Nora listened to it as his breathing countered it.
 
The rhythm of his breathing was interrupted as he eased her away from him.
 

"Nora, why did you marry me?" he asked, once she was looking up at him.
 

She looked down at her hands where they had come to rest against his chest.
 

"I trusted you," she whispered.
 

Nathan's finger under her chin raised her eyes to his.
 

"You trusted me?" he said.
 

She nodded.
 
"I had not trusted anyone in a really long time.
 
And I knew I could trust you.
 
I could lean on you if I had to."
 

"And that's...all?"
 

Nora blushed before she could help it and pushed against Nathan's finger so she would not have to look at him.
 

Nathan laughed.
 

"What is this?
 
My brave wife has suddenly gone shy on me?"
 

Nora tried to squirm away from him but ended up in his lap on the bed, giggling.
 
Nathan was laughing, too, trying to hold onto his squirmy wife.
 
The poor, cheap inn's mattress sagged under their combined weight.
 

Nora forced herself to look at him.
 
"No, that might not have been all."
 

"What else?"

Nora looked down again, gathering her courage before she started, looking him in the eye.
 
"That night in the library, after you had been shot, I...I...I wanted things."
 

Nathan raised an eyebrow.
 

"I wanted to know what it would be like to kiss you.
 
And it was the first time in my life that I had ever thought that about any man, and...and...and it was the first time I actually felt like a woman.
 
You made me feel like a woman."
 

Nathan's smile made her stop.
 
Maybe she had said enough.
 

"Is that all now?" he asked.
 

She nodded, not trusting her voice.
 

"Are you sure?"
 

She nodded again.
 

"Nora?"
 

"You didn't blame me for what...what happened to me."
 

Nathan stared at her.
 
"Other people blamed you for being raped?"
 

Nora nodded, knowing her voice would not hold when she felt the tears burning in her eyes.
 

"Nora."
 
Nathan cupped the side of her face, and Nora nuzzled his palm, the tears disappearing at his touch.
 

"That first night when you talked to Samuel, I knew.
 
I knew that you did not judge me and...find me lacking."
 
She barely got the last out and felt deflated in Nathan's arms.
 

"You did not ask Chesterfield to rape you, Nora.
 
No one can blame you for what happened.
 
And if someone does, I'll give you my gun and you can shoot them."
 

Nora did not know whether to choose tears or laughter.
 
So she kissed him instead, savoring the sweet softness of his lips.
 
But Nathan pulled away too soon.
 

"All right, if you can confess, so can I."
 

Nora felt a trickle of fear at the back of her throat.
 
Confess to what?
 

"That first night?
 
When you were bandaging my arm?
 
I wanted things, too.
 
You were so beautiful and brave in the firelight, and I wanted you.
 
Wanted you in my bed, in my life, just wanted you.
 
I wanted to see your face everyday, to feel your strength.
 
I wanted to make you happy.
 
I want to have you here to shoot the bad guys when I can't," he teased.
 

A laugh burst nervously from her lips.
 

Nathan continued, "Have I made you happy?"
 

And that was when Nora started to cry.
 
Not just little whimpers, but full out sobs.
 
Nathan's face went white in terror, and she reached up to touch it, as if her soft caress would make him feel better.
 
He reached up and snatched her hand, gripping it hard in his.
 

"Nora, what is it?
 
What did I do?"
 

Nora just shook her head because she was crying too hard to speak or even smile.
 
Her lips wobbled around on her face.
 
Finally she just laid her head on his shoulder and nuzzled her nose into his neck like she liked to do.
 
Nathan stroked her back, and the sobs eventually died away.
 

When she could draw a full breath, she said, "Do you know when I first realized I loved you?"
 

She heard the tentative smile in Nathan's voice.
 
"No."
 

"When you stepped out of that carriage holding my son.
 
You were ten different shades of purple, but you didn't seem to notice because you were cradling Samuel like he was the most precious thing in the world."
 

"He is one of the most precious things in the world," Nathan said, quietly interrupting her.
 

Nora sat up.
 
"One of them?
 
What else is precious?"
 

"You," he said, falling back on the bed and rolling her beneath him.
 

"Nathan," Nora began to admonish him for wrinkling her uniform, but the wicked glint in his eyes had her quickly changing directions, "Do we have enough time?"
 

Nathan looked up toward the clock on the wall by the door.
 
"I would say we have about, oh," he looked down at his wife and a smile spread across his face, "all the rest of our lives."
 

And then he kissed her.
 

And she let him.

~

Don't miss the next Spy Series book:

For Love of the Earl:
 

Book Two of the Spy Series

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Thank you for reading
Son of a Duke: Book One of the Spy Series.
 
Please consider leaving an honest review where you purchased this book.

Other books by Jessie Clever:

Inevitably a Duchess: A Spy Series Novella

For Love of the Earl: Book Two of the Spy Series

A Countess Most Daring: Book Three of the Spy Series

To Save a Viscount: Book Four of the Spy Series

Shake Down Your Ashes