Page 99 of Stolen By the Duke of Stone

“Lady Marwich isn’t so bad.”

“I have never been more terrified of a woman,” he said mildly, pressing another teasing kiss to her neck. “She frightens me more than any of the men I faced in battle.”

“Perhaps that was because you had a gun.”

“Perhaps,” he allowed. “Or perhaps it’s because she is the most intimidating, terrifying woman to ever cross the land.”

“You are being ridiculous,” Jessamine said, even as she laughed.

Most men found Lady Marwich intimidating, largely because she never took any of their nonsense. And Andrew, she had been suspicious of since the beginning; he was, after all, the prodigal who returned only after his cousin had perished.

“Besides, you won her over when you brought her to the Minerva Club that night,” she added.

His eyebrow curved. “Are you sure? She put me through my paces, and she has never failed to test me since.”

“Oh, well, she could never permit you to behave badly with me,” Jessamine said, kissing him soundly.

That seemed to be the only answer, and for a while, she lost herself in him. He guided her to straddle his lap, and even made a motion to clear his desk of all the precious tenant letters.

Jessamine pushed her hair back from her face and exhaled deeply. “We can’t.”

“I beg to differ. We most certainly can.”

“But we shouldn’t,” Jessamine said, climbing off his lap and spying the telltale signs that he most definitely could be tenting his breeches. “And what would your tenant farmers think about your lack of respect?”

“I lied. My tenants have no claim on my time. Now come back here.” He caught her arm and brought her wrist to his mouth, kissing the tender skin there with unwarranted tenderness. “Are our guests nearly here?”

“Yes. And you know we can’t be late.”

“We can,” he said with a crooked grin, but he rose and adjusted himself with a sigh that went right to her core, before finally following her out to greet the first of her guests.

Andrew lounged back in the sun, half listening to the conversations around him. The wine left a gentle haze across his vision, and the heat threatened to lull him to sleep.

June was a heady, lazy time, and they would shortly all be retiring to their respective country houses. He would have the opportunity to show Jessamine to the home he had grown up in, and she would step into her place as mistress.

And as another role entirely.

He watched, half-lidded, as she sipped her lemonade, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling. This was what she loved, being surrounded by her friends, knowing she had a home and was accepted no matter where she went. Andrew didn’t mind the other two so much, but he did very much want to be part of her family.

And if this was what made her happy, then he was perfectly ready to oblige.

Even if the tenants’ letters did require an answer.

They could wait. And she, simply put, could not.

She looked across at him and raised her glass. “Attention, everyone,” she said, holding their gazes to ensure they listened. “I have some exciting news.”

“I think,” Nicholas said from beside Andrew, his eyes half-closed, “we can already guess.”

Andrew nudged his friend. Now wasn’t the time.

Irene clapped her hands together. “Tell us!”

Jessamine beamed. “I’m with child!”

Irene shrieked, throwing up her arms and waiting for Jessamine to lean down and embrace her. Andrew knew very little about the process of pregnancy, or really what it entailed at any level, but he was surprised that Henry had allowed her to attend.

At his wife’s excitement, Henry smiled indulgently and helped Irene to her feet, her rounded stomach in full view. There were still a couple of months left to go, but already she looked terribly large.