Page 90 of Rules for Heiresses
Breathing in her scent, he kissed her again until she pushed at his shoulders, questions swirling in her eyes. “Wait a moment, I forgot to ask in the heat of things, is it all settled, then?” she asked. “The legitimacy thing?”
“For now.”
Ravenna frowned. “What do you mean?”
“The documents are proof enough, but the seeds of gossip are hard to uproot once they’ve dug in, and you know the kind of battle I’m facing.”
He gave a small shrug. Most of the lords had agreed, but there were some peers whose sentiments would not let them accept the evidence right in front of their faces. Even with solid proof signed by the former duke, he’d earned the majority of support by a hair.
“Sometimes, I hate this place,” she murmured.
“It’s not just here, love. Intolerance is everywhere. People refute and fear what they do not know.”
“Will you step down then?” she asked, copper eyes meeting his. “Give up your seat in the House of Lords?”
“No. That seat is power, and I want to use it. Even one voice can make a difference. I’d rather not lose mine because people don’t want me there. Others might distance from me, and there’s inherent privilege in that, but I’m always going to be me.” He lifted a palm. “Brown, island-born, and proud of it. If I won’t fight for myself, who will?”
Her arms tightened around him. “I’ll never stop fighting for you, Courtland. I hope you know that.”
Choked by her fervent promise, he buried his face in her fragrant hair. How on earth did he get so lucky?
His duchess cupped his cheek, coppery eyes glinting with so much love that it almost undid him. “I can feel your mind whirling like a child’s top, Duke. What are you thinking in that head of yours?”
“How lucky I was to catch you cheating.”
Eyes full of mischief, she gave an indignant huff. “Allegedcheating. I will have you know, there was never any evidence of such charges, sir. Thinking the crime is not doing the crime.”
“So you admit you did think of it?”
“For a hot minute,” she said.
He gathered her in his arms. “You still lost fair and square.”
“I did not!” She blinked. “Wait, what did you have?”
“A natural.”
Ravenna stared at him. “You have no proof of your terribly baseless claims, my lord duke.”
Smugly, Courtland reached for the queen of diamonds and the ace of hearts resting in his breast pocket and waved it in front of her face. “This evidence?”
“You had those cards in your pocket all along?”
He nodded sagely. “A wise man keeps his enemies close.”
She couldn’t help it. She burst into peals of laughter. With a devious glint in her eyes, Ravenna’s hand drifted down to the bulging front of his trousers. “What about lovers?”
“He keeps them even closer,” he said on a shallow groan when she gripped him through the fabric. “Sometimes in his lair, tied to his bed, preferably without clothes.”
Copper eyes blew wide with desire. “Is that a fact?”
“A promise.”
Her answering gaze was so sultry, it was a wonder they both didn’t combust then and there. “Then why are we still here in the foyer, Duke?”
Courtland scooped his smart-mouthed, intelligent, and supremely fierce duchess into his arms with a devilish grin of his own. He would give her everything she desired, everything she deserved. To the unabashed delight of their proper London staff, he ferried his duchess up the stairs to his bedchamber like the precious treasure she was. “I love you, my duchess.”
“Not as much as I love you.”
