The Pirate's Duchess: A Regent's Revenge Novella (7 page)

Blackmoor. Heir to a manse above the cliffs that cries no more.

Throughout his life, the staff and tenants on his estate had been loyal to his father. In his father’s absence, nary a one had abandoned Prudence . . . except him. Had his decision, the deathbed vow he’d given his father, Eggleston’s letter, the map he’d hidden under lock and key to protect her, and his dishonesty transformed a solitary caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly? As the Black Regent, he’d set out to ruin Underwood’s financial realm, to expose the marquess’s evil, making it harder for the man to do his worst. His plan had worked until now, until Prudence had exposed his trump card. Where would this dangerous situation lead them? Would Tobias lose Prudence when all he’d ever sought to do was protect her?

Tobias escorted his wife past the capstan with its large ropes, cannon, gun tackle and equipment to his cabin door, looking back at her occasionally to ensure she hadn’t lost her way. Nothing in this ship condemned him but her presence. Within this hulking vessel, he wasn’t an outsider but a living, breathing part of a greater plan, a leader of miscreants who fought for more than themselves—the lives of his father’s friends, their heirs, villagers who bore the brunt of Underwood’s deceitful, tightfisted tactics. To him,
this
defined his duchy. His father had exhausted legal channels to stop Underwood, to no avail. Tobias had chosen to fight fire with fire, sailing into perilous waters, attacking Underwood’s ships, dividing the spoils among those less fortunate, and making a mockery of revenue men who’d sought to stop his quest for revenge. He’d embraced impossible odds and sacrificed his own happiness for the downtrodden, hungry miners, jobless fishermen, and smugglers trying to make good.

Prudence’s derision was a price he was no longer willing to pay, however. He was like any other man, desiring the comforts of a woman. Not just any woma
n—
his wife. If it took a lifetime to make amends, he’d breathe his last breath ensuring Prudence would love him again. Or he’d let her go, allowing her the freedom she deserved to love someone else, no matter how it hurt him. He’d done enough . . .

He rolled his shoulders, released a sigh, and opened the bulkhead door to his private domain. He stood aside, allowing Prudence to move past him. She inched forward slowly, and he watched her eyes digest the mahogany-paneled bulkhead, large stern windows, glass-encased shelves, spyglass, cutlass, and dagger fixed to the wall. The swinging lantern hanging over his desk and two chairs kept time with the living ship breathing beneath their feet.

“Impressive,” she said, unclasping the cloak Mrs. Denny had lent her. She folded the wool and laid it over the back of a chair, then walked toward the set of three windows. She knelt on the window seat and absentmindedly stroked the black damask curtains. The distracting action threatened to undo him. He wanted to heal her heart, comfort her soul, and feel her hands caress him the same way.

“So this is where you’ve been for the past two years,” she said, her voice cutting and sharp.

He removed his cloak and laid it on the desk. “When I was at sea . . . yes.” He unbuttoned his greatcoat.

She nodded, refusing to meet his gaze. “Help me understand why you chose this ship over me, Tobias.” He’d earned her resentful voice and he didn’t like it.

“I didn’t choose the
Fury
over you, Prudence. How I wish you’d understand. Someone has to stand up to Underwood, to come to the aid of the men he’s destroyed.”

“And has your decision brought you joy?” She turned away from the windows. A rosy flush crept up her bosom and rose to her face. This confrontational woman was a stranger to him, a seductive siren waging war on his senses.

“You have every right to be angry with me.”

“I am.” She sighed heavily. “And I cannot quite figure out how to address my anger. I cannot ignore you. I cannot escape you.” Her honey-brown eyes glinted like daggers. “What can I do?”

“We are alone now. Rail at me. Hit me some more if it will make you feel better.”

Slowly, she rose from the window seat. She glided toward him. “I should hate you for everything you’ve done.”

She placed her hands on his chest, then moved them up his shoulders and down his arms until she clasped his hands. He lowered his defenses, standing motionless, afraid to break the spell she wove over him. He deserved nothing but her disappointment, disdain, and wrath. He’d asked too much, more than one woman should have to sacrifice, and had given too little in return.

She lifted her chin, meeting his eyes. Tears pooled in their depths. “How could you?” she asked on a ragged sob. “I gave you my heart, Tobias.” Unchecked tears spilled down her cheeks. “I loved you more than life itself.” He didn’t move as her tears fell, allowing her to grieve, to speak her heart. She splayed her fingers wide against his chest, lowering her head to touch her forehead to her hands. “You made me suffer so much.”

He raised his hand and stroked her beautiful, silky blond hair. “Aye. You’ve suffered more than enough, love.”

She sobbed silently, grabbing his lapels, twisting them in her hands. “Love? What do you know of love?” She raised her chin, craning her neck to look up at him.

“I know love makes a man do crazy things.”

She stared at him. “What things?”

“Love makes a man think he can carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.”

She shook her head. “You were never supposed to carry your burdens alone, Tobias. You didn’t have to.” She settled back into his embrace. He absorbed her warmth, the sensual friction of her torso against his.

Curse and damn him, he couldn’t take much more. Holding her in his arms was driving him mad.

“Tell me.” She raised her head and gazed at him with soulful eyes. She grabbed both sides of his face with her hands. “Show me. Make me believe that you aren’t a callous, heartless bastard.”

“No more lies,” he promised, threading his hands through her hair. He closed his eyes and inhaled her lavender scent, imagining that she could trust him, love him again. The bittersweet moment was pure agony and ecstasy. He gently pulled her head back and lost himself in her eyes, delving into their richest depths like a man seeking guidance from the stars. Her eyes were captivatingly unique with a single dark spec in one of them.

“I’ve never met anyone as brave as you are, Prudence.” Never before had he felt so bound to one soul.

He wanted to kiss her slightly parted mouth, to brand her with his scent, his touch, his sex, and make her his own once more. But he couldn’t rush it. Prudence was like a frightened doe and for good reason. She’d lost more than a husband that fated night in the stables. She was scarred by tragedy that couldn’t be shaken. What she needed and desired was love, his genuine affection, and respect. And for the first time in his life, he was determined to see her bloom again in his arms.

His heart beat wildly in his chest, pounding like a cannon in heated battle. He wanted Prudence, wanted her more than a thousand duchies. Ever so slowly, he lowered his head and grazed her lips with his softly, hesitating before building up the courage to take her mouth and show her true love’s kiss.

SIX

Lord U. thundered into these offices COMPLAINING about Devon’s increase in ILLEGAL wool exports, denouncing the BLACK REGENT as the devil’s spawn. At this posting,
Sherborne Mercury
concedes revenue officers have yet to RECOVER large quantities of wool, rum, tobacco, salt, wine, tea, and cocoa RUMORED to be HIDDEN in the cliffs of Petit Tor.

~
Sherborne Mercury
, 6 January 1809

The featherlight touch of Tobias’s lips broke through her fears. Prudence’s legs weakened. She gave in to the almost-unbearably soft caress—exquisite in its torture of her longing flesh. She wanted Tobias. But before she would willingly give herself to him again, she was determined to make sure his lies and sacrifices were at an end.

And that started with Basil.

She broke away, inhaling an invigorating breath. She had to convince Tobias not to harm him. “You must promise me one thing.”

“Name it,” he said, reaching out to pull her back to him.

She licked her lips, delighting in teasing him, especially in order to get her way. “I need your promise that you won’t fight Basil.”

His eyes sharpened like daggers, then visibly darkened. “You think of him
now
?”

She wouldn’t rest until he promised not to harm his best friend, the man who’d become one of her closest friends, as well, whom she’dplanned to spend the rest of her life wit
h,
if not for Tobias’s return. Basil had been good to her. Loyal. Compassionate. He’d taught her how to evaluate numbers, maintain ledgers, and manage her estate. If not for Basil, there would have been nothing left of Blackmoor. He deserved to be saved.

The tension between them grew thick, suffocating. She struggled to breathe when he didn’t answer and pushed Tobias away before she lost herself, body and soul. And oh, how she wanted to lose herself in his arms. “I had hoped you meant what you said—”

“Have his lips worshiped yours like this?” Tobias asked, gently yanking her close. His mouth descended on hers, quieting her protests, urgently exploring, teasing, nibbling, driving her to distraction. In truth, she was shocked by the intimacy, and yet, she gloried in it, in the velvety warmth and the sensations he provoked.

Good heavens!
Nothing had ever been as addictively satisfying. She
had
compared Basil to Tobias at every turn and found the earl lacking every time.

New spirals of ecstasy rippled through her, enhanced by an urgency she couldn’t control. He drew back, giving her time to catch her breath. Her heartbeat drummed in suspended time, as if yesterday and this moment joined forces against her. He’d broken her heart, but he
had
come home. His diabolical secrets crushed her like a ship breaking up on a reef. For too long she’d carried a yoke of grief and anguish in her heart. No longer.

Her conflicting emotions amplified within her. His kiss, his touch, felt surprisingly sincere and agonizingly delightful. She yearned for mor
e,
another tast
e,
an excuse to forget the past two years, to yield to the inferno igniting her soul.

But he hadn’t answered her question, hadn’t agreed to her one request.

She placed her hand over his chest and pushed him away, needing to put distance between them. Would she wake up to discover it was her wedding day all over again, that
this
, this momentary bliss with Tobias, had all been a dream to sort out her feelings for Basil?

No,
her heart cried. Tobias was real. He was alive—and here—in her arms. He’d championed death. He’d come home to her, and he was offering her another chance to attain everything she’d ever desired—children, more time with him, the love they’d been denied. If only she could allow herself to forget—

“You haven’t promised not to hurt Basil.” God help her, the hollow ache inside her grew.

“Prudence,” he offered huskily.

Her heart hammered foolishly in her chest. She would never be able to live knowing Basil had suffered because of her at Tobias’s hands.

“If I could reverse time, I would. Markwick and I have always been friends. That will never change. And I would never jeopardize that friendship, unless you were caught in the middle. Which you are, through no fault of your own, my dove.”

“But I will not come between you. Basil knows how much I love you.” Her eyes widened in surprise as blood coursed through her veins like molten heat. She hadn’t intended to speak the words aloud.

God help me!

“You . . . love me? After all that I’ve done?” A tic worked his jaw. He leaned his forehead against hers and inhaled deeply, stroking her hair, expelling air in his lungs on a sigh. Then he took her hand and kissed her palm. “Everything I’ve done has been for you. If you need to hear that I will not harm Markwick, you have my vow. I will do anything for you. Anything.”

Tears gathered in her eyes. His nearness, his touch, and the promise he made her were gifts of extraordinary treasure. “Some sins cannot be forgotten.”

“But can they be forgiven?”

She wanted to tell him they could and ease his burden. But physical agony cut through her.

“I love you, Prudence.”

Hearing the words she’d long desired to hear, her inner torment released at last. She choked on a sob, her heart hammering in her ears. She tried not to swoon or burst into tears as she inhaled his leather-and-spice scent. Could she trust that what he said was true after so many lies?

He pressed a kiss to her palm. “Believe what you must,” he said as if reading her thoughts. “People can change.I give you my word as a gentlema
n—
as your husban
d—
I will do everything in my power to make sure Markwick isn’t harmed.”

Her heart whispered,
Believe.
She took a deep breath. “I believe you.”

“Do you?” he asked, reaching to twirl a strand of her hair between his fingers. He brought the tendrils to his lips and kissed them gently. His eyes smoldered with disturbing power, like a man who was not used to being defied.

Her brow furrowed slightly. “You are not the man I married, are you?”

“No. But you are not the woman I married, either,” he said, glancing at her enticing lips. He leaned down, hovering near enough that his breath tickled her flesh. “You are better. Stronger. Bolder. An untamable fire igniting my soul.”

She chewed her lower lip, struggling to suppress shivers of desire coursing through her limbs. Every word strummed her courage, liberating her emotions.

“I came back for
you
, my dove.” He caressed her neck and gooseflesh flickered down her spine. “Only you.”

She’d only ever wanted to be loved, cherished again. If what he said was true, he’d selflessly denied himself access to home and the comforts of his own bed in order to fulfill a debt. What kind of man did that? A compassionate one.

“Wait,” she said, lifting the chain over her head and unclasping his ring. “This belongs to you.” She reached for his hand and placed the ring on his finger. “With this ring, you can be whole again.”

He smiled sadly. “Only you can do that.”

Like the storm that had overtaken them on the plateau, she glanced down at his ringed hand before giving in to passion and wrapping her arms about his neck, pressing the contours of her body against his. He needed no further encouragement. His mouth covered hers hungrily, ravishing her, shattering all thoughts of the past, tumbling them into oblivion. Blood pounded in her brain, leaped to her heart, and made her legs tremble.

He turned her toward the stern windows and sat down with her on his lap. “I cannot live without you,” he said, nuzzling her ear, trailing kisses down to her throbbing pulse at the nape of her neck.

“Then don’t,” she said breathlessly. “Promise you will never leave me again.”

“I won’t.” A low growl rumbled from his throat as he explored her mouth with his tongue. He drew back with heartrending tenderness. “Never.”

“Even if you are caught and—” she suppressed a shiver of delight as his fingers moved toward her breast, glorying in every inch until he reached her nipple “—tried as a pirate?”

Laughter rumbled from his chest. “Is that what you’re worried about?”

Her stomach churned with anxiety and frustration, mixed with need and desire. “One of the things.”

“There’s no need to worry. I have planned for every eventuality.”

Anxiety shot through her. No one is that proficient. “You didn’t plan on me and Basil.”

“No,” he said agreeing, kissing her softly. “But if it will help you relax, I will promise you one more thing.”

The heat between them pulsated in the silence like a living thing. “What?”

“If the trap Markwick and I set for Underwood succeeds, I will hang up my cloak and come home.”

She stared at him, riddled with suspicion. Was he mocking her?

“I’m serious. I’ll come home for good.”

Good God, he’d managed to shock her and please her at once. “You’ll cast aside the
Fury
for Blackmoor?” Her pulse quickened. “You’d do this for me?” A delightful shiver swept through her.

“Aye,
if
we succeed in putting Underwood out of business forever.”

She licked her lips, feeling the slender, delicate threads of forgiveness quicken inside her. She’d lost him once. She couldn’t bear to lose him again. They could be together. Live as one. Start a family. It was more than she could possibly take in. It was everything she’d wanted and more, overwhelming her with feelings almost too powerful to control.

“There isn’t anything I want more.”

He silenced her mouth with his kiss, a kiss so galvanizing that it sent a tremor into her core. He strummed her like a proficient musician bringing a neglected harp to life, producing music so joyous it took her by storm. And oh, how marvelously she wanted to be thrummed! Her pleasure soared when he swept her up, weightless, in his arms and carried her to his bunk. He laid her down on the black sheets, then joined her, molding his body to hers.

His uneven breathing felt hot against her cheek. He was all male, so bracing, strong, and considerate as he inflamed her senses, stroking, pleasuring her, eager to share what they’d both been denied for so long. And still it wasn’t enough.

“Don’t make me wait, Tobias,” she said, tearing at his cravat, tugging him down to her quivering lips.

He kissed her again, then nibbled her ear. “I cannot wait even if I wanted to.”

Prudence arched into him, the merest pressure of his body on hers awakening a response deep within her that practically drove her out of control. He pushed her closer to the edge when his fingers brushed over her thigh. The slightest touch drove her wild, making her want him to unleash the captive inside her as he moved higher and higher under her gown to the home she wanted him to inhabit. Heat rippled underneath her skin straight to her center. She squirmed beneath him, urging him on, stroking the tendons of his neck, kneading the muscles of his arms, matching his urgency with her own.

He fumbled with his breeches, releasing his manhood. His hot, hard length branded her thigh as he spread her legs with his knee. A golden wave of anticipation rippled through her. She couldn’t wait any longer.

“It’s been too long,” she cried. “Hurry, Tobias.”

She ran her nails up and down his spine, digging into his back, cupping his buttocks, clenching around him when he entered her. Her senses spun as if awakened from a dream. She cried out, gasping in sweet agony, breathing in soul-drenching drafts of air as he began to move inside her. This was love. This was where they excelled. Here. Now. Joined together as one, moving, riding wave after wave of delicious ecstasy.

Consumed by passion, he kissed her soundly, filling her with a sense of completeness. The searing need within them had been building for hours, if not years. And there was no denying how easily and quickly they ascended to the stars.

As she plummeted to earth, Prudence basked in the gift he’d given he
r—
his see
d—
hope for a future together. Filled with a sense of uncontrollable joy, she wrapped her legs around him as he collapsed on top of her.

“You do know what this means,” he said in the aftermath of their raw act of possession.

“Our clothes are wrinkled?”

He laughed and rolled to his side, on the cusp of succumbing to the numbed sleep of a satisfied lover. “That’s the least of my worries.”

“What then?” she asked, closing her eyes, relishing the drugged euphoria sweeping over her, as well.

“We’ll have to take our time . . . next time.”