The Duchess in His Bed by Lorraine Heath

Author:Lorraine Heath
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-08-19T16:00:00+00:00

Her words bludgeoned him. He’d been correct from the beginning. All she desired of him was his cock. No, that wasn’t quite true. She wanted his seed.

She was a widow, a very recent widow. He’d never asked if she had children; she’d never spoken of them. He didn’t ask now, but merely stated fact, as her reasons crystallized. “You didn’t give your husband an heir.”

Slowly, she shook her head, finally unplastered herself from the door, walked to the sitting area, and lowered herself into a chair near the fireplace. Against his better judgment, he dropped into the one opposite hers. He preferred standing when fury had ahold of him, but his anger was abating. Damn her for that, for making him care about her troubles. “Surely the next in line will ensure you are provided for.”

“Lushing was the last. He had no surviving brothers or male cousins, distant or otherwise, to take his place. His titles will be declared extinct. His entailed properties will go to Her Majesty’s Treasury. I inherited a dower house, and he set up a trust. The interest will see me in good stead but it’s not enough.” She shook her head. “It’s not the money. It’s the prestige, the influence. My sisters have not yet had their Seasons. I want them to make good matches but without the dukedom”—she spread her arms—“I am naught. I have no power.”

“I suspect you have more than you think.”

With sadness etched over her features, she stared at her clasped hands.

“What of your brother? The responsibility of seeing to their welfare falls to him, surely.”

She lifted her gaze to his, her somberness tightening his heart, which irritated him. That he should allow her to affect him at all after what she’d done. He’d rubbed his wrists raw striving to get out of the bindings, had nearly wrenched his shoulder from its socket in his contortions to free himself. If not for his gaming manager knocking on his door and his yelling for the man to come in, Aiden might still be writhing about, feeling helpless and humiliated.

“The Earl of Camberley. Unfortunately, my father left the estate in shambles. It is not a particularly respected title. All my siblings are dependent on my position. And it is greatly diminished unless I become the mother of the next duke.”

“That was the reason you came to the club to be bedded.”

Her cheeks turning a soft pink hue, she nodded. “I thought if I could get with child within the month, before my next menses, I could pass it off as Lushing’s. It might arrive a tad late, but sometimes children do. Or perhaps I could find a way to make it come early. If I give birth to a son, all would remain as it was.”

“And if you bring a daughter into the world?”

“While the title will still go into extinction, the terms outlined in the entailment would allow her to inherit all Lushing’s assets and properties. Property is power. Lushing taught me that.

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