Page 65 of The Duke's Disguised Maid
The pride in his voice made Marcus want to recoil. Judging by the way David balled a hand into a fist at his side, his reaction wasn’t very different.
“Mr. Barker is no longer my stable keeper,” Marcus said, his voice clear. “I wanted to bring Mr Barker here to you today, My Lord, to introduce him to you in his new position. As of last week, he is a horse breeder and trainer. He has a healthy income, clients which include me and other notable dukes and marquesses, not to mention he now owns a house on Maynard Street in London.”
This seemed to shock the earl more than anything else. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of Mr Barker.
Well, no poor man could buy a house there, could they?
Marcus smiled to himself. With the money coming his way from some of the poems he’d published, he’d managed to invest a little in David’s new business. In just the space of a couple of weeks, it was going from strength to strength. Using Marcus’ contacts, he didn’t think it would be long before David was the best-known horse trainer in London.
“My Lord.” David stepped forward, a plain nervousness in his step. “I have come today to plead with you for a second chance. I wish to ask to court your daughter.”
The earl looked as if he had been slapped. He stepped back, clattering into a table and knocking a vase over.
“You are still a horse trainer!” he spluttered in outrage.
The door behind them banged open. It ricocheted on its hinges as Lady Caroline burst into the room.
Marcus rather hurriedly stepped out of the way, as with a face as red as a tomato, Lady Caroline rounded on her father.
“How dare you!” she hissed at her father. Evidently, she and Alaina had been listening in at the door. “Just because his position in life is different to your own, does that make him any less of a man? Does that mean he has any less of a heart than you do?” she continued in full tirade, though Marcus wasn’t paying much attention. His eyes were fixed on Alaina. She was peering around the doorframe, her eyes wide on Lady Caroline.
“Caroline, please, be sensible.” Her father stepped forward again, intent on arguing with her, but Lady Caroline was somewhat louder.
“It is not I who is being insensible!” she cried out.
Marcus nodded at David, who seemed quite content to be left alone with Caroline and Lord Woolworth. He was smiling at Caroline, clearly quite stunned at the passion with which she was defending him and quite enamoured by it, too.
Marcus crept out to the doorway, where he took Alaina’s hand. She pressed a finger to her lips, urging him silently not to say anything as they stepped back into the corridor and let the door swing shut behind them. They hastened away together down the corridor and out through a back door into the garden.
Marcus tried to speak, but once again, she urged him to stay quiet. She didn’t utter a word until they had found refuge in a summer house in the garden. The moment they were inside and he had closed the door, she flung her arms around him. He chuckled, holding her tight and burying his face into her neck.
“Ah, I have missed you,” he whispered.
“I’ve missed you too.” She leaned back, smiling happily up at him.
“Do you reckon Lady Caroline will be able to persuade her father to say yes?”
“I reckon so.” Alaina nodded eagerly. “I love Caroline dearly, and I know well enough that she is a little … stubborn.” She clearly chose her words with great care. “Her father likes to control her things, but often, growing up, he has given way to her wishes. Maybe it will just take a little time to persuade him to say yes.”
“Speaking of time, how long do you reckon we have?” he whispered in her ear, moving his hands across her waist and down her back towards her rear. She giggled, leaning in towards him.
“Until we are discovered? Perhaps, a little while.”
“Well, it has been a long time since I’ve managed to be alone with you. You could say I’m rather desperate to take advantage of this opportunity now.”
She parted her lips. For a second, he thought she was going to object, and then one of his hands squeezed her rear. Rather than saying anything, she pressed her lips to his instead, with such passionate fervour that he smiled into the kiss.
They staggered together until they fell on a nearby chaise longue pushed to the back of the summer house. Their fully clothed bodies entwined on the cushioned seat as their hands ran over one another, desperate for a release.
Marcus could not believe how happy it made him to be with Alaina. Any shock there had been at discovering her true name was all past now, replaced instead by an even greater love he had not been prepared for. She had done it all to protect a dear friend. It showed the goodness of her heart, and what was more, she loved him. Somehow, amongst all the tension of playing a part, she fell in love with him. She had opened her heart to him at a time when he wouldn’t have blamed her for being closed off and despising him.
She is the most unique person I have ever known.
He pulled back from their kiss, trailing his fingers through her hair and feeling her body arch into his.
“If we are discovered …” she trailed off in a tantalizing whisper.
“Just a few minutes more,” he pleaded. He had every intention of taking advantage of being alone with her, of reaching beneath that gown and pleasuring her as he had done before, to see her release, moaning his name. Only this time, he would say her true name as they rode the waves of pleasure together.
Before he could reach for the hem of her gown, though, a delighted cry emanated from the house.
They both sharply sat up, in danger of falling off the seat. They looked through the one small window in the summer house back to the main building where, through the large window of the drawing room, they could see Lord Woolworth and David shaking hands, just as Lady Caroline squealed before throwing herself into David’s arms.
“I knew it,” Alaina said with a pleasant smile. “Caroline has her happy ever after.”
“Thank God for that,” Marcus whispered, bending down over Alaina again, returning the pair of them to the seat. “But let’s think of our own happy ever after for a few minutes instead.”
THE END ?
