“Since we met, you’ve been calling me duchess,” she said, bemused.
“Yes,” he said tenderly. “Every time I did so, I was actually calling you mine.”
Her heart melted. “Why didn’t you tell me this before we were married?”
“Would it have changed your decision to marry me?”
“No. But was it because you didn’t trust me fully…until now?”
“Sweetheart, when you showed up on my doorstep yesterday, I wasn’t thinking about my past. My primary objective was to make you mine before you changed your mind. And to get you into bed as quickly as possible.”
“I am not going to change my mind,” she said softly. “Ad Finem Fidelis, remember?”
“I remember.” He cupped her cheek, his eyes intense. “It was selfish of me, dragging you into this situation with danger still swirling?—”
“That is the point of being faithful until the end. From now on, we stick together through thick and thin, the good times and the bad. No matter what the future brings, we face it together.”
“My brother might be trying to kill me.”
She gawked at him. “You think Grantley hired someone to push that statue?”
“I don’t think he knows I am alive. But if he does,” Conrad said matter-of-factly, “I am a threat.”
“How so?”
“He’s been working to broker a marriage between his eldest daughter, Anne, and his presumptive heir, Harold Stockton. Stockton is our distant cousin, and he’s made a fortune with mills, which is a good thing because Grantley has emptied the duchy’s coffers. He needs Stockton’s money to provide for his wife and daughters after he is gone, and he has convinced Stockton that the marriage would be mutually beneficial. Coming from trade, Stockton has little experience with high society, and having Anne to guide him would ease the transition. When Stockton discovers that the title won’t be going to him, he will renege on the engagement for Anne has neither looks nor a dowry to recommend her.”
“That is unkind,” Gigi said. “I am acquainted with Miss Beaufort, and she is an intelligent and agreeable lady. In fact, she purchased a crate of Chuddums water.”
“At seven-and-twenty with no offers in sight, she probably thought that was her only hope of finding a husband,” Conrad said wryly. “She takes after her mama, whom Grantley did not marry for looks.”
“She is your niece. Or half-niece anyway,” she said hastily when Conrad’s jaw tautened. “Shouldn’t you be nicer toward her?”
“She is the daughter of my enemy. The man who sent my mama to an early grave and me to an institution where I was beaten daily. And you expect me to be nice?”
“While Robert deserves your animosity, his wife and children do not,” Gigi said gently. “They are innocent and not to blame for his dastardly behavior.”
“Then it is their misfortune to bear his name.” Conrad’s chest heaved. “Tomorrow, Grantley is giving a ball to announce the betrothal. I plan to use the opportunity to reveal who I am, and the outcome could get ugly.”
Seeing his agitation, she knew further argument would be futile. Conrad was a fair man; once he was calmer, he would listen to reason. And maybe she could help smooth things over between him and Robert’s wife and children.
She squeezed his hand. “I’ll go with you. You will need the support.”
“I had hoped to have this business behind me before we married. But know this: I would lay down my life to protect you. At the same time, you must be aware of the danger. My family is not like yours. There is no love between me and them. Now that you are my wife, you must be vigilant—you must trust me to know what is best, even if you don’t understand.”
“I do trust you,” she said.
“You are the dream that sustained me through my darkest days,” he said fiercely. “At the same time, you are better than any fantasy. Now that I have you, I cannot lose you, Gigi.”
She touched his jaw. “I’m here. And I am not going anywhere.”
Something primal flashed in his eyes, then his mouth crashed onto hers. His hunger was insatiable and fueled her own. He shoved aside the bedclothes, her spine arching against the headboard as he kissed his way down her body. He touched and tasted her with a wildness that made her blood rush. Pushing her thighs apart, he examined her sex with wolfish approval.
“Just what I wanted for breakfast,” he said.
She expected him to bend his head. Instead, he flipped onto his back. Clamping his hands on her hips, he maneuvered her, positioning her over him so that she faced his toes, her pussy hovering over his mouth.
“This way?” she said in shock. “Are you certain…oh my stars.”
