Page 87 of Any Duke in a Storm

Narina was fascinated by Raphael’s mixed origins, too, and the varied range of peoples on his island as well as his own French, Indian, and indigenous ancestry. While it was obvious in Paris that she was different, mostly because of her beautiful brown complexion, Raphael and Lisbeth both made every effort to let her know that she was perfect as she was and that she was loved. The rest of the crew on theVauquelinworshipped the foulmouthed, cheeky little rascal.

Most of their shipping and trade investments were thriving under the watchful eye of Thorin, who had taken over the management of the company since Raphael spent most of his time taking care of his tenants on his estate in France. The twenty-two-year-old had come a long way since New York.

A large portion of their profits, however, was alwaysinvested back into the island economy. Lisbeth, for her part, had completely left the service of the British Home Office and hadn’t looked back. Raphael had once asked if she missed it, and her reply had been an emphatic no. Their life was adventure enough for her.

It was true. In the last two years, Lisbeth had blossomed. She was still highly skilled in weaponry and combat, and clever to a fault, but she laughed more and had a sly sense of humor that rivaled Narina’s. Making his duchesse smile was one of Raphael’s greatest pleasures.

He glanced down at where she was putting the finishing knots on the rope securing his right ankle to the bedpost. Thank God the bedroom door was securely locked. If anyone saw their captain in such a compromised position, he would lose all credibility.

Not that he was complaining.

Sultry green eyes lifted to his, and his cock leaped to attention at the purposeful look in his wife’s eyes. With her lush figure and rounded belly, she was the most perfect thing he’d ever seen. Pregnancy had made her a thousand times more desirable, and her libido hadn’t waned in the least. These playful little diversions of hers would be the death of him.

She crawled up the bed between his lewdly spread legs. “Did you think I’d forgotten, Monsieur le Duc?”

He groaned as she licked his bare inner thigh. “That was twoyearsago, Madame la Duchesse.”

“Turnabout is fair play, wouldn’t you say?” Lisbeth dragged her nails lightly over his ballocks, making himgasp her name, before grasping him firmly in hand and closing her mouth over the swollen head of him. “Now I have you right where I want you. Perhaps I should give you some lessons in knots.”

When her teeth tugged on the piercing, his eyes nearly rolled back in his head. “How did you escape that day?” he gritted through clenched teeth. “You’ve never told me.”

She propped herself up onto her elbows over his thighs as if his cock wasn’t waving impudently in her face. “We learned it in training with the Home Office. If you’re being restrained, you spread your fingers wide apart to make your muscles tense and your wrists as thick as possible. That allowed for a slight give in your knots. Then, I used a loose nail in the floorboards to release some of the tension by pushing and twisting. Child’s play, really.”

“Child’splay?” He scowled, yanking at the expertly tied ropes on his wrists that had zero give. “I’ll have you know I am excellent at knots. It’s not my fault that my wife is a master of escape.”

“A master of other things, too.” She licked him from root to tip, eliciting a moan from the depths of his chest with a deep suck to the back of her throat before prowling up his body. His wife kissed him and then straddled his hips like the queen she was. “When it’s my turn, you can practice on me. I shall be sure to judge your skills fairly.”

When she took him inside her with a practiced downward thrust of her hips, Raphael felt like he’d discovered paradise. Then she began to move in earnest, levering her beautiful body up and down. He longed to wrap his armsaround her, but in the position he was in, he was utterly helpless and at her mercy. All he could do was shallowly shunt his hips upward with a very limited range of motion.

“Bloody hell, Lisbeth, please, faster.”

She stroked her breasts, knowing how much he enjoyed watching her, and rolled her hips at a torturously slow pace. “I love when you beg.”

“You’re a cruel woman.” That was entirely the wrong thing to say as she leaned forward, the sudden slant of her pelvis providing enough friction to make him groan, and that was before she took his nipple ring between her lips and tugged on it. Hard. “Fuck!”

“Am I cruel now?” she taunted, raking her nails over his tattoo.

His muscles strained against the restraints. “Release me.”

The growl of dominance made her shiver, but she reached up and tugged on one side of the rope, the knots instantly loosening. He yanked it free and then untied the second. He sat up and dislodged her gently to claim her mouth with his, swallowing her protests and gorging himself on her sweetness. His left hand grabbed her nape and the other her right hip as he pulled her back onto him.

“Raphael,” she moaned as he drove deeply into her welcoming body. She was close, he could feel her starting to ripple around him. When she started to unravel, her sensitivity heightened from the pregnancy, he plucked at her nipples and she went right over the edge with a stifled scream. Staring at his wife lost to bliss was the most erotic sight of his life. Raphael couldn’t help it ashis orgasm crested on the heels of hers and he emptied himself inside of her.

“Je t’aime,” he whispered.

His beautiful wife smiled. “Not as much as I love you.”

Later on, after another round of passionate lovemaking when her virile husband took her on all fours and brought her to pleasure several more times, Lisbeth was as limp as a noodle and could no longer ignore the loud growls of her stomach. Her pregnant body was twice as sensitive during intercourse, but it was also twice as hungry. Forcing themselves out of bed, they washed and dressed, and wandered upstairs in search of breakfast.

The deck of theVauquelinwas empty, though a deserted table with remnants of crusty bread and jam and bowls of fresh oranges and mangoes greeted them.

“Where is everyone?” Lisbeth asked, peeling a mango and biting into the stringy yellow insides with a happy sigh. Though most of the sailors who manned the ship were ashore, they kept a skeleton crew onboard where they were anchored off the coast.

A trilling giggle reached them from the rear of the ship and Lisbeth headed to the stern. The sight of her daughter doing somersaults off of Smalls’s enormous shoulders into the turquoise waters had her grinning and cheering.

“Look, Mama!” Narina squealed and did it again. Every time she heard the girl call herMama, her heart swelled.Lisbeth hadn’t asked for her to call her that, but a few months ago, when Narina had shyly asked if she could, Lisbeth had been stunned. More so when Narina had told her that she knew she already had a mother and that she was simply lucky enough to have two.

“Well done, Nari!”

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