THE HANDSOME FACE took on a dark purple shade before the end of each contraction.

“Breathe, Dermot. Breathe, my love.”

Millie couldn’t believe she was the one giving directions to her husband in a time like this, but she was worried about him. Somehow, they’d managed to make it to their own bedroom. And with Dermot shouting orders along the way, the midwife from Aberdeen was already waiting at Millie’s bedside when they arrived in the room.

“Do you want to get into the bed?” the woman asked.

“Not yet. I’d prefer to be walking,” Millie answered, clutching her husband’s hand.

“Your sister Jo has already been sent for,” Dermot told her. “And my aunt is at the door if you want her with you.”

The pain continued to come in waves, and the intensity was still bearable.

“I only want you,” she whispered, leaning into her husband’s embrace.

The memory of her operation last year came to her now. Her parents and every one of her siblings had been present in Dr. Drummond’s surgery. But Millie had wanted only Dermot with her.

“I need you to be as brave for me as you were the last time I was in pain,” she murmured. “Can you do that for me?”

“I love you, Millie. I’ll be whatever you want me to be.”




CHAPTER 5




How to Ditch A Duke

– Step 5 –

Smother Him with Attention


THE SKY OPENED, and the hard wind gusts battered them as they ran across the meadow. Brilliant flashes of lightning and deafening cracks of thunder exploded around them. The air crackled. They were both breathless when they burst into the cottage. Bamberg pushed the door shut to keep out the driving rain.

“I can’t believe this storm was part of Millie’s plan.” Taylor laughed as she pulled off her soaked short jacket.

“McKendry has always been an incorrigible rogue. I believe he’s capable of anything.”

An eyebrow arched. “Have you known him long?”

“For well over a decade. We attended university together.”

She let out a sigh and shook her head. “I should have known.”

“What should you have known?”

“The reason why my friend felt comfortable thrusting us together out here. Leaving me alone on this island with you. She must have absolute trust in you and in your sense of honor.”

Taylor took a handkerchief out of her pocket to dry her face. If she hadn’t mentioned the word honor, he could easily have kissed away those droplets, drying each glistening bead with the soft touch of his mouth.

Lightning flashed, lighting up the cracks around the door and the windows, and he could feel the thunder reverberate under foot. She clearly felt it too, and she shivered. He looked around at the cottage. Not much to it. A fireplace and a small stack of dry wood. A narrow bed. An ancient chest containing a blanket. He shook it out and offered it to her before crouching by the fireplace. A moment later, flames lit the room.

“Did you take part in their planning?”

He looked over his shoulder and found Taylor leaning against the door.

“I spoke the truth when I said Dermot used family as an excuse for sending me out to this island.” He rose to his feet, facing her. “Of course, I suspected and hoped other arrangements were in the works.”

“What kind of arrangements?”

“The situation we’re in right now never occurred to me, but I thought he’d find a way for me to see you. He knew I wanted, more than anything, to express to you my feelings.”

She pushed away from the door. Her steps were slow, and her gaze held his as she approached.

“Did you mean what you said to me outside?”

Rain pelted against the shuttered windows. The wind howled, and the fire flared in the fireplace.

“Every word, liebling.” He didn’t know how much time they had left together. Perhaps the storm would prompt Dermot to send a boat right away. He didn’t want to miss this chance to speak from his heart. “You are beautiful. And courageous. And smart. I haven’t stopped thinking of you from the moment I first laid eyes on you. What I didn’t get a chance to finish saying was that you would do me a great honor if you’d consider being my wife.”

She looked away, staring at the fire. “A wife to provide you with the income to continue adventuring while I’m left on my own in your castle?”

This was what lay behind her questions outside. He wanted to pull her into his arms, to hold her as he spoke. But he understood her hesitation. Now was the moment to allay her fears or lose her forever. The time had come for her to know the truth.

“I have no need for your fortune. My estates are thriving. The people back home are well cared for. Everyone who lived through the ravages of Napoleon’s wars has suffered, but we recovered quickly. My people are feeling no hardship.” Bamberg needed her to understand he wasn’t like her father. “I’m not marrying for money.”

She was silent for a moment as her eyes caressed his face. “But…what about the rumors?”

“I started them myself.”

“Then why was it that you allowed my father to coerce you into calling on me?”

“You thought it was your fortune that enticed me? There was no coercing on his part. It was I who approached him after the carriage accident. I offered him my card. I wanted to call on you.”

Her chin dropped onto her chest. He saw her lift a handkerchief to her cheek.

“You will not be left alone at my castle. I want a wife who will be with me wherever I go, who will share a life we choose to build together, who will travel and explore at my side for as long as we both choose that path. I’m looking for a friend and a lover, a partner to cherish and love as she cherishes and loves me.”

He finally had a chance to speak the words. His heart’s desire now lay open and unadorned at her feet. For these past few months, she’d been running, and he’d been chasing. But he’d never lost hope. Now that they were together, however, now that he’d placed his offer before her, he feared the answer. What if she didn’t find him worthy of her? What if this was not the life she wanted?

Then Bamberg looked more closely at the handkerchief in her hand as she brushed away more tears. He took a step closer and enclosed her hand in his. He had his answer.

“Let me see that.”

“You can’t have it back.”

She’d kept his handkerchief. He took a deep breath. Feelings of pleasure and relief battled within him. He pushed the wet strands of golden hair out of her face. He ran his thumb across her bottom lip.

“Taylor, mein Schatz, I do wish you hadn’t mentioned the word honor before.” He gently brushed his knuckles against her wet cheek and let his hand drop.

Her eyes were shimmering like sapphires when she looked up at him. She came closer.

“You have behaved honorably, but that doesn’t mean I have to.” Her arms slid upward, encircling his neck. Her breasts pressed against his chest, and she placed soft kisses on his chin, his lips. She ran her fingers through his hair, her mouth moving to his ear, where she whispered her answer. “I’m honored by your offer, Your Grace. Wife, partner, lover. Whatever you want me to be, I shall be. I’m yours.”

FOR YEARS, she’d told herself she was complete without a man, and that was true, to an extent. She lacked experience, but she was not ignorant of the body’s pleasures. But that decade of denying her desire was gone. She’d come to believe that this kind of love would never come her way. That assumption was now shattered too, punctuated by each flash of lightning and each crack of thunder.