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721d385
|
Come," he said gently, for he knew she'd been through travail. "I sought you out amongst your labors to bend my knee and plead that you leave the dust and spiders and mouse droppings to come and lounge awhile and perhaps partake of luncheon." Interestingly, she blushed. "I can't do that," she hissed under her breath. "Why not?" he asked, deeply diverted by her reaction. "The other servants." He blinked. "I assure you, I do let all my serva..
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|
luncheon
val-napier
euphemism
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
d23c99d
|
Val set Seraphine before the roaring fire, but kept his hands on her because he'd learned his lesson well... and also because he liked his hands on her. She glanced at the steaming bath and suppressed another shiver. "I should leave if you're about to take a bath." "Why?" he asked as he slipped his sadly ruined purple velvet coat from her shoulders. It had cost more than she'd probably make in a lifetime and now stank of bacon and horses, t..
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|
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Elizabeth Hoyt |
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2212355
|
Let me help you rinse your hair." His voice had deepened and it made a shock go through her, low in her belly. He rose and crossed to where a pitcher stood on the hearth. She didn't turn, but she could hear him moving behind her, and it struck her that she'd seldom been waited upon before in her life- and never by a gentleman. "Sit a little forward." He was suddenly close. "Close your eyes and tilt your head back." The water flowed over her..
|
|
bridget-and-val
sensual-romance
sexual-desire
val-napier
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
0f55fa7
|
He attacked her throat and she was so startled by the sudden move that she squeaked. He was laving her with his tongue, openmouthed, and she moaned, arching, wondering wildly if this was the same man who wore pink silk coats and black velvet bows. This seemed so , so animal. Not at all like the effete aristocrat she thought she knew.
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|
bridget-crumb
val-napier
making-love
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
d6e4c22
|
And she arched, screaming, the lightning blazing from her center, sparking through her limbs, flying out her fingertips. She was incandescent. He fell atop her, heavy and male, pulling her legs up around his narrow hips, and ground down into her, once, twice. His cock jerked within her and she could feel every muscle in his body tense. He groaned into her ear like a man dying and then fell senseless and limp. And as she followed him into ex..
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|
making-love
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
3e81b45
|
Naturally I find you surrounded by warm clouds and billowing white cloths," Val drawled in her ear, making her jump. She whirled to find him standing right behind her. He wore slate blue today, the color neatly severe on him, his curling golden hair clubbed neatly back, his azure eyes watching her alertly for any weakness. Oh, God, he'd had his on her most intimate parts last night. What had possessed her to let him do that? It was of she..
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|
val-napier
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
c6b9d38
|
It's tempting. I can see why those Ottomans hide their women. If I could, I might dress you in silk- deep-red silk- and put you away where no other man might see you." She turned her head to glare at him, those dark eyes sparking. "I shouldn't like that." He smiled at her fondly, almost sadly. This woman- why did he want woman so very much? "I know." He sipped at her lips lightly- so lightly. "And yet, as I say, tempting." He caught her l..
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|
tempting
passionate-kiss
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
33c618d
|
He met Caire's eyes. "I hope we can finish this soon. I left your sister in my bed." St. John swore under his breath and stepped between them, facing Val. "Are you insane?" "Many think so,." Val was watching Caire, his lips twitching. Caire hadn't moved. Only his eyes, hard and staring and trained upon Val, showed that he'd heard Val's words. Those eyes burned a bit like Seraphine's, Val mused, and he wondered if the other man truly meant t..
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|
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Elizabeth Hoyt |
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ca2059d
|
He was covered, of course, but she knew what lay beneath the sheets- she'd seen him entirely nude at the Lords' revels. She had the image burned into her memory: a proud, thick penis, heavy sac, and curling midnight hair. If the coverlet slipped just a little bit downward, she would see the upper edge of that nest of black hair. The thought made her press her thighs together under her dress. Did he know how his body affected her?
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|
sexual-desire
raphael-de-chartres
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
bf4a9cf
|
She swallowed. He was covered, of course, but she knew what lay beneath the sheets- she'd seen him entirely nude at the Lords' revels. She had the image burned into her memory: a proud, thick penis, heavy sac, and curling midnight hair. If the coverlet slipped just a little bit downward, she would see the upper edge of that nest of black hair. The thought made her press her thighs together under her dress. Did he know how his body affected ..
|
|
sexual-desire
raphael-de-chartres
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
daf334f
|
She leaned forward, her expression determined. "Do you mean to sleep with me tonight?" He looked at her. She was like a dog that would not leave a bone. She sat across from him in his mother's old yellow dress- the same dress she'd worn ever since he'd risen from his sickbed. He couldn't wait to clothe her in brocades and velvets. To present her with everything she deserved as his duchess. Now her rose-pink lips were pressed into a line as ..
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|
sexual-desires
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
8aa7797
|
She had known that he could move quickly. Still it was a shock when she found herself pressed against the back of her seat, his face inches from her. "God's blood, woman, how much control do you think I have?" he whispered, his clove-scented breath brushing her face. "You must think me a saint by the way you harangue me despite my warnings. Listen and listen well: ." "But I don't need a saint," she breathed, her voice trembling. "I don't ..
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|
savage
raphael-de-chartres
passionate-kiss
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
4c2b357
|
His nostrils flared and he couldn't wait any longer. He lifted her bodily, moving her farther up on the bed, placing her head and shoulders against the pillows, and then pushed up her chemise, crawling between her spread thighs and settling to enjoy what he'd found. . There she was, her pretty, pretty pink cunny, all coral lips and wispy dark-blond curls. He hiked her trembling legs over his arms, ignoring her gasp of shocked surprise. He g..
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|
passionate-lover
iris-and-raphael
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
d764e1d
|
Lie down," she said, and she couldn't recognize her voice. It sounded slow and languid and low, as if it were warm honey. She felt the place between her legs heat. He cocked his head at her, and for a moment she thought he wouldn't obey her. He seemed a god of the darkness, scarred and black haired and gray eyed. He was tall and lean but with ropes of muscles down his arms and legs. A formidable creature. A creature accustomed to wielding p..
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|
sexual-desire
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
4d01eb5
|
The woman who'd shot him had eyes the color of the sky above the moors just after a storm: blue-gray sky after black clouds. That particular shade of blue had been one of the few things his mother had found beautiful in England. Raphael agreed. Despite the fear that shone in them, Lady Jordan's blue-gray eyes were beautiful.
|
|
eye-color
iris-daniels
stormy
gray
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
fd9a11d
|
She would've sworn the cat- or kitten, for it sounded quite small- was right in front of her, but there was nothing there. She straightened and glanced at Val. His azure eyes were alight with amusement. "Phantom cats and ghostly kittens." She frowned at him. "I don't believe in ghosts." "Boring." He kissed her on the nose and, while she was still blinking in surprise, leaned down and did something to the back of the cupboard. Suddenly one o..
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|
val-napier
kittens
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
cc0f71b
|
She flew in, all fiery flashing eyes and flushed cheeks, her bosom heaving beneath black wool. She was magnificent. "Tell them to let her go!" Seraphine ordered him imperiously. "Tell them to let her go ." She stood over him, her lips wet, her body shaking with her rage, and he wanted to take her and roll her beneath him and fuck her into the mattress."
|
|
feminine-beauty
horny
physical-attraction
sexual-desire
val-napier
fury
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
4ee8f85
|
He immediately turned to her as the carriage rocked into motion, wrapping her in his cloak and examined her. She had bruises on her shoulders and on her arms. Her wrists were bloodied- he growled under his breath as he examined them, picking away the remains of the ropes. Her plump little toes were muddied and cut and cold. He warmed them with his hands, crooning to them. She had quite a nasty bruise on her left side and he tenderly pressed..
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|
val-napier
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
689efdc
|
His wide brow, his Roman nose, those too-cold eyes, and the lips that in another life- another, better world- would still have been beautiful. This man was her husband. He was intense and intelligent, arrogant and vulnerable, dark and strange. The more she found out about him, the more she thought that perhaps she might fall in love with him, Raphael de Chartres, the Duke of Dyemore. What was more, he was . And in that she would not fail.
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|
masculine-beauty
raphael-de-chartres
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
49481d1
|
Around back of the stables she saw a group of boys, surrounding something on the ground. As she gasped, a boy- a great big fellow, nearly as big as a man- drew back his leg and kicked. The thing on the ground yelped. "No!" Bridget shouted, but she was drowned out by a gunshot. She turned to see the Duke of Montgomery, standing in his shirt-sleeves and pink embroidered waistcoat and breeches, hip cocked, a smoking pistol held almost negligen..
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|
val-napier
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
f8bf81f
|
Raphael walked into the breakfast room at the unfashionable hour of half past nine the next morning and kissed his aunt on her soft cheek. "Good morning, Zia." "Up at last," was her tart reply as she peered at him over her gold spectacles. The remains of Zia Lina's breakfast was already on the table, and he knew well that she'd probably been awake for over an hour. "Perhaps I've grown soft," he said, sitting across from her. Or perhaps he'd..
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|
raphael-de-chartres
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
93c66f2
|
That story I told you as we arrived? About the man who killed the former master of this castle and raped his wife? Did you think it a fairy tale? No, his blood runs in my veins. I was bred to do what I am doing now. Don't fault the viper for striking. It's what snakes do." Her lips trembled, but her eyes were dry, as if she'd already given up hope of persuading him and he did not mourn at all. . "The blood of that woman who was raped is in..
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|
bridget-crumb
right-and-wrong
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
867a7b9
|
But worse- much, worse- she'd run away herself. That was unpardonable, unforgivable, . Hit him, shame him, spit at him- anything but turn her back on him. She couldn't simply quit their game. That, was not allowed. And when he'd realized that she was out there on the stormy night moor, alone save an aristocratic lady and a goddamned bloody ... He growled beneath his breath. She stilled against him, like a rabbit under a hound's jaws, ..
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|
provoked
val-napier
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
fb50cb6
|
I can't have my housekeeper rushing all about London so very agitated." " housekeeper," Lord Caire said, his head snapping alarmingly to Val. "Oh, yes, and rather more," Val drawled, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles in the most horrifying manner."
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|
val-napier
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
90a02a0
|
He began on the hidden hooks to her bodice as she stood still, her breasts rising and falling tremblingly beneath his fingers. It was like undressing a wild animal. Or an angel who had consented to stand still for a moment. Any false move on his part might startle her into flight. He smiled into her eyes, aware that his cock pressed hard and hot against the placket of his breeches. Her hair had smelled of earth and her. He was almost loath ..
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|
bridget-crumb
val-napier
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
c71efc4
|
Will you be traveling there again? To Istanbul and Arabia and the places where they follow the Koran?" "I hope so," he said, laying aside the golden book very carefully. "The air is so hot there, warm and fragrant, the sky so blue, and the food tastes like nothing here. They have olives and dates and soft cheeses. I think you would like it, my Seraphine. You could dress in pink and gold and mahogany and lounge on silken pillows, listening t..
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|
world-travel
val-napier
sensuous
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
339401f
|
As she pulled the covers over her cold nose, Bridget wondered sleepily why she hadn't simply agreed to help the Duke of Kyle in whatever way she could. He was obviously working for good and Montgomery... well, he worked only for himself, didn't he? He was on the side of evil. Why hadn't she betrayed him when she was given the opportunity? She thought about the way he'd touched her- the way it had made her feel like a woman. Had she sold her..
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|
val-napier
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
4648694
|
She climbed into the carriage and sat down across from the other lady. Pip hopped inside. Miss Royle smiled down at the terrier. "Oh, what a sweet little dog!" Pip wagged his tail and placed his front paws on Miss Royle's skirts for a pat and Bridget began to suspect he was a flirt."
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|
hippolyta-royle
terrier
pip
dog
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
fe82cfd
|
You are a brave woman." Miss Royle shook her head. "And he is truly a wicked man." "Yes, he is," Bridget replied. Unfortunately, Val's wickedness no longer seemed to be a deterrent to her. Probably that should concern her. She made her farewells and departed the carriage as circumspectly as she'd entered it, but as she made her way back to Hermes House, Pip by her side, she finally acknowledged it to herself. Wicked or not, vain or not, ..
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|
val-napier
falling-in-love
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
d0e5d05
|
Had she not nursed him with her own hands? Had she not suckled his tongue so ardently? He'd give her time- a day or so only- and then he would invite her again to wait upon him. He'd slide close behind her, whisper scandalous words into her mobcap-sheltered ear, and remind her of all the things she tried so hard to hide beneath black wool and starched linen. And then... oh, and then, he'd see if his little housekeeper truly burned at her co..
|
|
sexual-desire
val-napier
seduction
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
76a489d
|
Why then was he taking her? Was it merely for his own amusement- or was it for some other, more sinister reason? After all, only two days before she'd seen him kill a footman in cold blood. Of course Cal had tried to kill the duke in a particularly awful and vicious way. But then afterward the duke had kissed her as she'd never been kissed in all her life. His tongue had tasted of wine and sin and she'd wanted to moan and rub herself again..
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|
val-napier
passionate-kiss
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
af57a68
|
Then he dived back into the storage compartment and came back up with a hamper containing a small bottle of milk for the tea, a basket of peeled hard-boiled eggs, ham sliced so thin it was nearly transparent, crumbling sharp cheese, crusty bread, a cold raspberry tart, and several crisp apples, all served on China plates.
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|
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Elizabeth Hoyt |
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38937c8
|
He looked down at her sleeping form. Her hands lay like half-opened flowers on her lap, one cupped within the other. Such sturdy little hands, meant for practical work. Her fingers were rather plump. He smiled at the thought. He held his own hand over hers, comparing. His fingers, long and elegant, dwarfed hers, and yet he found he preferred hers. He let his hand fall to his lap. She wore that dreadful mobcap, hiding both her hair and her f..
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|
bridget-crumb
val-napier
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
98d6f4b
|
No more shall you go bookless, Mrs. Crumb. From this day henceforth you have free run of my library with my compliments." She stared. "I-" He grinned, looking not a little wicked. "Have you looked at my books? Glanced at my titles? Fondled my spines?"
|
|
love-of-books
val-napier
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
c3c1a7b
|
When I was a little older, about twelve, I went to work at a nearby house. It was owned by old Mrs. Cromby and oh, I was so homesick! I cried myself to sleep for a fortnight it seemed, until it was my day off and I could go home to see Mam." He frowned at this, not liking to think of his infant housekeeper in tears. "Why did they send you then if you were so upset?" She gave him a look. "Because I needed to learn a trade, naturally. And it ..
|
|
housekeeping-services
bridget-crumb
lessons-learned
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
2597f36
|
She was just ordinary. From her horse's-mane hair to her sturdy, practical feet, she'd never turned men's heads. Oh, she wasn't ill-favored- her features were regular enough- but she knew, too, that she wasn't the sort of woman whom men flirted with. Whom men stared at. She'd had a few admirers in the past, but they hadn't been a multitude. She was unremarkable. The Duke of Montgomery was anything but. Perhaps, then, that was what drew him ..
|
|
ordinariness
val-napier
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
c0e5ef8
|
When he'd woken this morning, her soft limbs entangled with his, he had spent long minutes simply gazing at her in wonder. Her lips were a dark pink and parted softly, and her eyelashes lay against her cheeks like moth wings. She was beautiful and she was determined and he hadn't thought that marriage to her would result in this intimacy. He'd wanted her near, true, for he was a selfish, wicked man, and he didn't particularly like the dark ..
|
|
irresistible-woman
iris-de-chartres
raphael-de-chartres
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
dd5fc8f
|
The corners of her mouth drooped and he felt an odd panicked twinge somewhere in that empty space where a heart might dwell in other people. "The trouble," Eve said, "is that I've never been able to tell when you're lying to me and when you're not. It wouldn't matter, I suppose, but that you don't if you lie to me or not. And I do. I used to not. Or maybe I used to tell myself I didn't care. But Val," she said softly, looking at him with ..
|
|
sibling-loss
val-napier
eve-dinwoody
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
09cf24c
|
Not only had his housekeeper attempted to steal from him, but she'd refused to answer his questions, and- he surveyed the servants sent to wait upon him- if he wasn't mistaken she'd made sure to hide away the comeliest of his maids and footmen. Did she think him a satyr? Well, perhaps she wasn't mistaken in her judgement... Val smirked as he shed his banyan- the only article of clothing he wore- and sauntered nude to the bath. He crooked ..
|
|
satyr
val-napier
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
cad90d2
|
She felt enthralled by him, enthralled by her own sexuality. He bared something in her that she hadn't even known was there before she married him. Something base, primal. Had it always been there, this fierce drive to ? Or was it something that had been engendered by his touching her? Her touching him? She knew that she should be wary of this part of herself. Ladies were often exhorted to ignore any animal urges. To be polite. Formal. Col..
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|
sexual-desire
lovemaking
raphael-de-chartres
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
1dff191
|
Late that afternoon Raphael stood at the window of his study, looking out over the back of his garden. He could see small blue flowers blooming along the gravel paths, but for the life of him he could not recall what their name was. Somehow he knew that Iris would be able to name the tiny blue flowers. He pushed the thought aside. He'd lived over thirty years without Iris in his life and never felt the lack. Yet now she was gone merely hour..
|
|
true-love
iris-de-chartres
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
9d31bc0
|
It was spring and they stood on the banks of the small river that ran beside the ruins of the old cathedral at Dyemore Abbey. The stone arch rose into a clear, blue sky and below, the scattered stones that had once made up the cathedral were carpeted with yellow. Hundreds of thousands of daffodils, wild in this part of England, had taken over the old ruins and made a home for themselves. The view was gorgeous. The daffodils rolled in a yell..
|
|
daffodils
wild-nature
ruins
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
a9980a5
|
She knelt in the mud and tried to pull the cord from his neck, but it had been tied terribly tight and her hands were trembling. She felt the duke crouch behind her, his arms reaching around her, warm and hard, and felt a moment's confusion before he leaned forward and murmured in her ear, "Here." He placed her opened chatelaine knife in her hands. She took it gratefully. "Thank you." Carefully she cut the cord and picked up the little dog,..
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|
val-napier
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
|
1443235
|
There would be repercussions should I not return." Montgomery's eyes widened, blue and guileless. "You see, this is the difference between you and me. When you make a statement like that, you think it will sway me. It doesn't. I. Don't. . I could kill you as easily as stepping on an ant and with less remorse. Perhaps I'd face your repercussions on the morrow. Perhaps not. But that is for the sunrise. Tonight the shadows reign and the blo..
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|
val-napier
dangerous
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |