Page 72 of Taken By the Dangerous Duke

“What?” said the duke. He joined her at the door and tried it too. “It is locked. How the blast did it get locked?” He banged on the door and shouted. “Is someone there! Open this door.” He continued banging on the door until footsteps were heard.

There was the sound of someone trying to open the door from the other side, before the butler said, “I’m afraid it is locked, Your Grace.”

“I know it is locked, so please unlock it,” said the duke.

“I am afraid that will not be possible just yet. There is no key on this side.”

“No key? Then how the heck was it locked in the first place?”

“I do not know, Your Grace, but I will find out what has happened to the key and get you out of there as quickly as we can. Hold on, for now, Your Grace.”

The butler left. Arthur shook his head and sighed. He went to the window on the other side of the room, but that was no help. They were a story up, and there was no way to climb down.

“I am starting to get the feeling that we have been locked in here on purpose,” said Arthur.

“On purpose?” asked Margaret. “Why would they…?” She realized what was going on, and she was sure that the duke did too. Perhaps it was a spur-of-the-moment decision by the maid, or maybe the staff had been planning something since the pregnancy had been announced. They had taken it upon themselves to keep Margaret around for as long as possible, and now they were trying to intervene again.

“If we are locked in here…,” said Margaret.

“Yes,” stated the duke. “I can’t put this off any longer. We will have to return back to York soon, and we should have a plan for when we do.”

“And what should that plan be?” asked Margaret, putting the ball firmly in her husband’s court.

There was silence for a few seconds, but it seemed to stretch out to eternity. “Perhaps you don’t need to move to the east wing,” he said tentatively.

“What would that mean?” asked Margaret.

“You could stay in the room you are in now, and that would mean I would be closer to you. Now that you are with child, I don’t want anything to happen to you, and I don’t trust anyone to protect you. If I am close, then you can call on me whenever you need me.”

“That sounds… nice,” said Margaret. It was not exactly what she was hoping for, but it was movement in the right direction. She wanted to be closer to the duke, and if they could not be together properly, then this was the next best thing.

“So, we have a plan?” asked the duke.

“I think we do,” said Margaret. “I don’t know what the future holds for this child, but I know it is going to be loved by the two of us.”

“They are,” confirmed the duke. He finally smiled, and he stepped closer to Margaret, wrapping his arms around her and placing his hands on her belly.

Margaret leaned her head back onto his shoulder. It seemed like an eternity ago that she had been properly in his arms, and it was nice—it was right.

“I have missed this,” said Margaret. It was not just the cuddles that she missed, but everything that had come with trying to get pregnant. In a way, she was thankful for the herbal tea. She might have gotten pregnant on the first try, and she would not have got to spend so much time in the duke’s bed.

“You do feel nice,” said the duke.

“You know, we might not have a boy the first time around,” reminded Margaret. “If we have a girl, we will have to do all of this again.”

“But without the tea, this time,” laughed the duke. “I shouldn’t laugh about it, but I feel as if I can now that it is over and done with. And, if we have to do it all again, that wouldn’t be so bad. I think that we both enjoyed it, didn’t we?”

“We did,” said Margaret with a smile. “I thoroughly enjoyed sharing your bed.” She let out a happy sigh, and she was sure the duke could feel her heartbeat quicken.

“A part of me almost hopes that we have a girl,” said the duke. “I mean—”

“I know what you mean,” said Margaret. Even if they were not destined to be together, they could at least enjoy each other’s bodies. Margaret took a deep breath. She would take it one step at a time. The duke was opening up a little, and she did not want to push him, but she was sure he had feelings for her, even if they were conflicted.

She felt his hands move to her waist, and he turned her around to face him. They looked each other in the eye, and Margaret felt the familiar rush of excitement. She had not taken in his sandalwood musk when she had been facing the other way, but she could smell it now. She tried not to become lost in the moment, just in case, but she need not have worried.

The duke leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Margaret melted. It felt like an eternity since she had been with the duke like this, and it was even better than she remembered it.

The duke’s arms tightened around Margaret, and she reached her hands around to his back, clawing at his muscles with her fingers. She had to thank the help again for what they had done. The tea had given her more time with the duke inside of her, and locking them in the room together had brought her this kiss. She would not trade that for anything in the world.

---