Page 107 of When a Duke Loves a Woman
He rose up over her. “We shall marry wherever and however you want. Then we are going away for a month.”
“Thorne, I have a business to manage. I thought you understood—”
“Vineyards.”
She blinked at him. “Pardon?”
“I’m going to take you to vineyards, pluck grapes off vines, and feed them to you.”
She laughed. “I can find new wines for my tavern.”
He nuzzled her neck. “It would be good for business.”
Once again she laughed, until he took her mouth and she was no longer thinking about vineyards or wines or business. She was thinking only of him, this gorgeous wonderful man who caused her heart to sing.
When he entered her, she wrapped her legs tightly around his hips. “Don’t leave me this time.”
And while she saw in his gaze that he understood she was telling him that she wanted him to pour his seed into her, he said, “I’ll never leave you again.”
They moved in tandem, hips thrusting, until pleasure overcame them both, until they both cried out.
As they held each other close, lost in the aftermath of incredible pleasure, she realized she’d been wrong. She’d never been a mermaid and he’d never been a unicorn. They always had simply been two people destined for love.
Chapter 27
“Hey, Gil, there’s some posh lady out here looking for you,” Roger said from the doorway leading into the kitchen. “She was knocking on the door—well, she wasn’t, a footman was—quite insistently, so I opened it even though we’re not yet ready to serve. She ordered me to fetch you.”
Posh lady? Certainly not Aslyn. Could it be the woman Thorne had been searching for? No. When she stepped into the taproom, she saw much to her astonishment, the prow of a ship, the Duchess of Thornley, standing there. It seemed she was going to begin her morning with an unwelcome battle. “Your Grace.”
“Miss Trewlove. I am in need of a word.”
Gillie had a fairly good idea of what that word might entail—canceling her marriage to Thorne, which she absolutely was not going to do. But she would let the termagant have her rant and then send her on her way. She walked to a nearby table and pulled out a chair. “Would you care to sit?”
The duchess glanced around. “Everything appears clean.”
“It is clean.”
“Your tavern is rather nicer than I expected.”
Gillie was fairly certain the comment was meant as an insult, but she knew the tact she would adopt with this woman. “I shall take that as a compliment.”
“As it was meant.” The duchess lowered herself into the chair.
Gillie took one opposite her and waited, girding herself against whatever ugliness the dragon was going to toss her way.
“My son informs me that you are to wed. That the ceremony will be a small affair, with merely family and the very closest of friends to attend, and is to take place in a tiny church located in this area of London, and that simply will not do.”
“It’s what we want.”
The duchess released a long sigh. “My dear girl, you are marrying a duke, and as his wife, you will discover there is a great deal in life that youwant, that you may not have. It must be at St. George’s. It must be a grand affair to which every member of thetonis invited. You must demonstrate to the world that you will make him a worthy duchess.”
“Your Grace—”
“I know what you are thinking, my dear. That I am a meddling old woman and do not know of what I speak. But you must understand that a duke’s power comes from his duchess. Do you think I invite ladies over for tea simply because I enjoy tea? No, it is so we can determine what it is our husbands should think and can then go home and tell them what they should think. We are the ones who pay attention to the smallest of details. We are the ones who influence their opinion when it comes to acts of Parliament. Oh, yes, men hold the reins, but we are the ones who slip lumps of sugar to the horses and ensure they go in the direction the men indicate. You cannot hide away here.”
“I’m not hiding away. It’s my business.” Although if she were honest with herself, perhaps she was, just a tad.
“Why do you think Lady Aslyn married your brother at St. George’s? Because it was the first step in seeing him accepted by the nobility. Is he totally accepted? Of course not. Do you have any idea what a boon it was to his reputation to have received an invitation to my ball? You can wield the same power, but you must assert it from the beginning. Yes, I know you are going to continue to manage your tavern and to labor here, and that nothing I say will sway you from your course, but you must marry at St. George’s and you must live at Coventry House. Every duchess before you has ensured her duke is viewed as powerful and influential. If you truly love my son, you must see him not diminished in the eyes of his peers and you must not punch lords in ballrooms.”
