I've Got My Duke to Keep Me Warm (The Lords of Worth) by Kelly Bowen

Author:Kelly Bowen
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: Fiction / Romance / Erotica, Fiction / Romance / Historical / General, Fiction / Romance / Historical / Regency
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2014-12-16T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Iain stayed to help Jamie enjoy the food Gisele had brought up earlier. As soon as they were done with the meal, Jamie left, dawdling in the stables and annoying the grooms, allowing Gisele and Iain to say their goodbyes in privacy. When he returned, Iain was gone, and Gisele was tidying, her eyes a little red, but her shoulders straight.

“You’ll miss him,” Jamie said, wanting to go to her, but unsure if it was his comfort she needed right now. She had just said goodbye to a man she had cared about her entire life, and intruding on that seemed wrong.

“Yes.” She smiled sadly. “But it’s the right thing to do—for both of them. Iain is right. The life Helena has been living is no sort of life at all.”

“How did Iain come to marry Helena?”

Her smile lost its sadness. “After the explosion, the duchess sent Helena to a friend’s manor in Bath to work as a governess. She didn’t call herself Helena, of course, but Iain would visit regularly just to check on her.”

“Ah.” Jamie toyed with the crystal cups on the sideboard, thinking about the hold the marquess had on Helena even now. How Valence’s heinous actions years ago were still creating ripples in the lives of his victims.

It was, he realized with sudden clarity, what had brought Gisele to his bedroom that morning.

He hadn’t fully recognized her motivations at the time, but he had recognized her need.

He had seen her need to prove to herself she had the courage to give her body in trust, without that gift’s exacting a cost to her own identity. It was why he had given her absolute control. So that Gisele might understand that the passion between them was not something to be feared. So she might understand that no man could ever own her, any more than one could own the sea or the moon or the stars.

Before this morning Gisele had denied herself the possibility of happiness and pleasure, not because she was indifferent, but because the marquess and her father had taught her that everything came with a price. Jamie would teach her differently if it killed him. He smirked inwardly at the thought.

She’d come damn close to it this morning. And he couldn’t wait to try again.

He set a glass down and turned to face her. Gisele was watching him expectantly. He sighed, knowing they had put this conversation off for as long as possible.

“I might have to kidnap Lady Julia,” he said, aiming at levity.

His comment earned a faint smile before it faded. “So you met her.”

“Yes.”

“And did you sweep her off her feet?”

Jamie schooled his features at the last second. Was that jealousy he detected?

“She doesn’t seem the, er, sweepable type,” he said with regret.

“What does that mean? Did you dance with her?”

“Yes.”

“Did you kiss her?” The question was brusque.

Jamie was almost enjoying this. “I did…”

Her face pinched.

“… not kiss her.”

“You’re a bastard.” She made a face at him, finally recognizing his guile.

“Yes, I am indeed,” he replied cheerfully, his heart lighter than it had been in a very long time.

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