The Duke Takes a Wife Read online

  “This is beautiful, why?” Zeva looked at him and asked.

  “It’s your wedding present.” He smiled.

  “You gave me diamonds as a wedding present,” she reminded him.

  “No, I gave you a gift to wear to the party that night,” Jasper pointed out. “This is made with love, and it will last a lifetime and beyond so you can pass it down to our kids, and they can pass it on through the family we create. It’s for the foot of the bed, so you can place anything you treasure in it.”

  “Or use it as a box for our kinky sexy toys,” she teased.

  “We don’t have any kinky sex toys, but if that’s what floats your boat, I’m in.” Jasper grinned. “We just won’t tell the children what’s in there.”

  Zeva laughed. “You are a nut.”

  “Yeah, but I’m your nut, remember that,” Jasper replied.

  She threw her arms around his neck. “You always have the most perfect answers, I love it and I love you.”

  He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her away, looking deep into her eyes. “Do you mean that? You love me?”

  “Jasper, of course I love you,” she laughed. “How could you think I didn’t? We are a couple, we face the world together. Honey, anything we go through it will be side by side, balls to the wall, me and you, the dynamic duo.”

  “I love you and everything you just said.” Jasper hugged her tight and lifted her off her feet. “I knew you were the one, I just felt it in my entire being that you were meant for me.”

  “I can’t say the same, but you’re the only man I ever showed the secret room to in D.C., and then you worked your way into my heart.” Zeva laughed. “And here I was thinking you were bringing me out here to show me more wood.”

  He kissed her once, then again and grinned devilishly. “I’ve got some timber I can show you.”

  She moved her hips against his and felt the hardness of his arousal. “I can see that. Wanna give me a private tour of your workshop, Duke?”

  “I have the perfect piece to show you, actually,” he murmured.

  Jasper led her to a massive chaise lounge that was wood. When he pulled the plastic off the piece of furniture the soft velvet was olive.

  “I don’t think this will be for sale anymore,” Zeva said as she took her sweater off and began to work on her jeans.

  “We can put it in the library if you want, you can use it for reading.” Jasper followed her actions and undressed quickly.

  “Or other things,” she said.

  “Bloody hell I love the way you think.”

  They moved toward each other like two magnets drawn together by an invisible pull. The connection they formed from the beginning was only made stronger with the love they vowed to each other. Their kiss was fueled by heat and the passion Zeva knew she could only find in his arms. He sat her down on the soft fabric of the chair and posed her as if he was about to draw her.

  “What are you doing?” Zeva openly stared at his body, his cock hard between his legs.

  “Committing you to memory because I plan to carve your form one day,” he said calmly. “I want you so much, if you weren’t already naked I swear I’d of ripped your clothes off.”

  Zeva felt the heat at her sex and the moistness pool between the folds. “I should’ve kept them on.”

  His eyes darkened and he followed her onto the chaise lounge. “I can’t wait to be inside you. Sometimes I’m out here just picturing you naked in bed, wet, waiting for me.”

  “Like I am now.” She ran her hand down his chest and torso then grasped his thick cock in her hand.

  Jasper groaned at her touch. “I love you, Zeva, you are my heart and my soul, don’t ever forget that.”

  Zeva met his gaze. “You’re mine, I lay claim to you now and forever, Duke McTavish.”

  “And to think they wanted the duke to take a wife and he was claimed by a wanton American woman.” He nuzzled her neck.

  She laughed huskily. “You love me just the way I am.”

  “Yes I do.”

  He kissed her with a hunger that left her reeling. Zeva bit her lip against the whimper as Jasper’s hands slid down her thighs and back up to cup her ass. He slowly ground his hips against hers, watching her face as he did. She could feel his hardness and the need that tensed his muscles. Zeva shuddered in anticipation of what was to come.

  Jasper bit her neck before kissing his way upward and whispering in her ear, “I want you to tremble for me, I want to hear you call out my name, and every time I look around this workshop it will be you I’m seeing. You will be my muse.”

  “Then show me, Duke, give me everything you’ve got,” she answered brazenly.

  Jaspers eyes were dark with desire and he silenced her with a kiss. There was no build to intensity, he touched her and she burned. She’d rolled her hair up in a bun and he took the tie out, letting the thick tresses of her hair fall against her naked back. Jasper grabbed fistfuls of the thick tresses, holding her head still so he could devour her mouth. Zeva whimpered at the delicious assault of her senses.

  Zeva could barely think, all she wanted to do was feel his tongue taste and take from her. She wanted to give him her all, and with each touch she melted like a candle beneath a flame. Jasper cupped her breasts and took one hard nipple into his mouth. She arched, offering him more of herself and Jasper took the invitation by laving each heavy globe with the same intensity.

  He tasted her like a man starving and sucking on sweet fruit, and with each whimper his primal grunt of response made her hot and wet, more aroused than she thought possible. Jasper moved back up her body and took her lips again, plundering her mouth as he moved over her on the soft fabric of the lounge chair.

  “I like this, so much room for both of us,” she teased.

  “I plan to be so close to you that most of this space isn’t necessary.” His laugh was husky. “I should rethink this piece.”

  “Don’t you dare, this is perfect.” Zeva pressed kisses on his shoulder.

  Jasper cupped the mound of her pussy where she was wet and ached for him. Zeva moaned, bit her lip, and arched her hips when his finger slipped between the silky folds of her labia, and all the while his dark gaze was on her. He trailed his lips down her body and she arched off the chaise lounge when his hot mouth touched the lips of her pussy. She gave him more access to her sex and when she felt the first lick of his tongue, pleasure speared through her. Jasper pulled her hips roughly to him with his large hands. She could feel callouses on his hand from his craft, and it only heightened her pleasure.

  Zeva reached back on the carved, smooth curved top of the chair, trying to anchor herself. A storm of sensations crashed over her as he sipped eagerly of her sensitive pussy, and Zeva pleaded and begged for release. He licked at her sex with savage flicks of his tongue until Zeva crested in her release. Jasper supped on her with excitement, tasting the essence of her desire as it flowed. She slumped back and a low moan was ripped from her lips when he slipped his finger inside her. Soon Jasper had her begging and pleading for release as he drove her desire to the peak again.

  She closed her eyes and let the sensations crash over in heated waves. Zeva gave herself over to him and his lovemaking completely as she succumbed to another orgasm. The pleasure held her, its grasp washing over her until she lost her breath. Zeva never felt anything like it, and as she rode the high of her release, Jasper filled her with his cock. He kissed her, and his groan melded with her cry of pure need.

  “More please, take me hard,” she whispered urgently against his ear.

  “Fuck yes,” Jasper muttered.

  He pulled her against his thick cock savagely. She held on to his shoulders and lifted her legs high around his waist as he pounded into her. Jasper was past reason and in the midst of his own carnal desire, and a primal need was on his face. It only excited her even more and beneath him she gave him everything. Zeva undulated and took him deep with each thrust until it was Jasper who called out her name.

/>   “I’m going to come,” she moaned the words and it ended on a keening cry.

  “Ah yes, I’m with you, my luv,” he said though clenched teeth.

  She pulled his head to hers to share a searing kiss. Zeva drove him to the edge while her body shuddered and her release crashed through her. She felt his cock throb inside her as the first of his hot seed filled her, while his guttural cry echoed in the rafters of the workshop. Jasper cupped her neck as their tongues mingled and let go with each hard thrust. She moaned, coming apart once more because of his frenzied movements. Zeva fell into that abyss that lovers find only in each other, connected intimately until they became one. They lay together entwined on a piece of furniture of his own creation with the smell of sawdust in the air, and Zeva never felt more complete.

  “Are you okay?” he asked huskily. “We were a bit rambunctious.”

  “Rambunctious,” Zeva snorted in amusement. “I’m perfectly okay, how about yourself?”

  “I feel like I could conquer the world.” A laugh rumbled through his chest, and she smiled at the sound. “I have to deal with this thing, my mother and my uncle. I have to end it for us to move on.”

  “I know,” she said gently. “I’m so sorry, Jasper, this is going to be hard for you.”

  “I’ve known it for a while. I’m numb to her by now, and being scared for my uncle is an everyday thing. But I know to save him and myself from her for the rest of our lives I have to stop her cold. The letter from Joan can help me with that. I’ve never felt this way with anyone, never had a woman like you in my life,” Jasper explained honestly. “For us to survive, to last and have peace in our lives, marriage, for our children to be safe, I have to make her leave Northumberland forever and stay gone.”

  “And you think the letter will do that?” Zeva asked.

  “That and a few other tricks up my sleeve,” he said. “Plus, I think everything in life happens for a reason, and I was meant to go to D.C., so I have to thank her for that.”

  “I was glad you did, you gave me a family in loving you.” She cupped his face. “Thank you.”

  “While I sound like a mushy love song, your love is all I need,” he answered huskily and grinned. “Shall I make you something to eat inside? I think bread with cheese, hot chocolate in bed.” “Good idea.” She smiled and drew a pattern on his chest with her finger. “We’ll deal with tomorrow when it gets here. Till then, tonight is just you and me.” They dressed each other with intimate whispers and laughter that only two lovers could share. Hand in hand, they walked back to the manor and true to his word they shared a simple meal in bed. They fell asleep in each other’s arms, cocooned in the love they created. Zeva knew that she would fight with him and for him, as long as she lived.

  Chapter Eight

  Jasper looked at the older woman who sat across from him in the kitchen. When she lifted the saucer with the teacup, her hand trembled so much that the china rattled. He vaguely remembered Lillian McTavish; when she left he was still very young and her black hair reminded him of the ravens that used to come around the property. She was just a little heavier and her hair was now streaked with gray, yet she had it cut in an elegant style to her shoulders and her eyes were filled with despair and fear. Yes, fear, because his mother terrorized her until she fled, leaving the man she loved and her children.

  “He’s on his way here, then?” her soft voice asked after she took a long sip of the hot tea.

  Jasper nodded. “Yes he is. I hope he listens to both of us and finally breaks away from my mother.”

  Lillian shuddered as if a chill ran through her body. “Your mother is... I don’t know how a boy like you managed to turn out so good despite her.”

  “I never let her break me,” Jasper answered honestly.

  “But I let her break me, run me away from my children, Brewster.” Lillian shook her head. “If I didn’t I would’ve died, you understand. I contemplated taking my own life because of this woman. It took a lot of therapy and years for me to gain the strength to even contemplate coming back to see him, to help him.”

  “We’ll talk with him first, and then go to the mansion to talk to the girls,” Jasper said. “Lillian, I have to warn you she has them completely warped.”

  “My poor girls.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “I resigned myself that I had lost them all, even my Brewster, long ago. If I can help save just one of them I know the rest will fall into place. I have faith in that. We’ll get him to stop the drinking, and I hope he comes home with me, he needs love and care.”

  “I hope you are right.” Jasper sighed. This was phase one of getting his family chaos solved. Phase two would be confronting his mother with his ultimatum, and Joan’s letter revealed a hell of a plot twist in their lives.

  Lillian placed her cup gently on the table. “Where is the new Duchess? I hear you caused quite a stir marrying an American, it has been in all the papers. Your mother must of went bonkers when she found out. She is completely beautiful, by the way.”

  “Zeva is in town, she will be home by six.” Jasper smiled, thinking about the woman he loved. “She is setting up a resource center for single mothers in need for Northumberland. She’s already had so much positive help for the residents and is setting up a charity event to raise money. They love her around here, she is everything my mother was not as duchess.”

  Lillian reached over and patted his hand. “I am glad you found happiness, Jasper. I really am...”

  The sound of a car pulling up cut off her words. From the bay window Jasper could see Uncle Brewster’s car. After the night he showed up drunk while Zeva was home, Jasper laid into him about driving drunk and vowed to call the constables if he ever did it again. His uncle was steady when he got out of the car, and Jasper breathed a sigh of relief. He was sober.

  “If you’d like to wait in the family room, I’ll bring him in,” Jasper said as he stood and helped Lillian to her feet. He squeezed her hand. “It will be okay.”

  “Thank you Jasper, for everything you have tried to do for him,” Lillian said.

  Uncle Brewster rang the doorbell a few times while he got Lillian settled, and Jasper hurried to the door.

  “I was just going to check the workshop and see if you lost track of time in there,” Uncle Brewster said with a smile. “How are you, my boy?”

  “I’m good, Uncle.” Jasper clapped him on the back. “I’ve got tea and coffee in the family room.”

  “Did Zeva make any of her pastries?” Uncle Brewster ran his hand over his trimmed mustache.

  Jasper chuckled. “She knew you were coming and made a batch of her cranberry-almond scones last night.”

  Uncle Brewster laughed. “Wonderful girl.”

  At the door of the family room, Uncle Brewster stopped short when he saw who was inside. Lillian stood.

  “Brewster, you look well,” Lillian sad gently.

  “What are you doing here?” Uncle Brewster sounded wary. “Jasper, what is this?”

  “No, you ask me, Brewster,” Lillian said firmly. “I’m here to beg you to get help for your drinking and to come home with me. Leave Northumberland and finally start to live your life.”

  “You left, Lillian, not I,” Uncle Brewster pointed out.

  “Because you let your horrid sister terrorize me without consequence!” Lillian cried out. “You let her take our girls and warp them into spoiled little monsters.”

  “Uncle.” Jasper led him into the room and sat him down. “My mother doesn’t care about any of us, just about herself. She didn’t care that you lost the love of your life, as long as she had what she wanted. You’ve spent your whole life cleaning up her messes and living for her. When is it time for you? I love you, I want you to find some happiness in this life. Not staring at the bottom of a bottle trying to drink and forget.”

  “I never stopped loving you, Brewster.” Lillian knelt by the chair where Uncle Brewster sat. “I ran because the hold Cornelia had on you was one I couldn’t break. But my love ne
ver failed, I just had to heal myself, get stronger before I could even dare try to heal you.”

  “She’s my sister...” Uncle Brewster swallowed thickly. “I’m the only one who can protect her.”

  “Uncle, you’ve seen my mother operate. Does it seem like she needs protection from anyone?” Jasper asked. “She uses you, and how do you feel that you have to drink to forget? You know everything she does is wrong, it weighs on you, all of it. All these years of her treacherous behavior is like a stone around your neck, dragging you into the bottle.”

  “I hated how she treated you.” Uncle Brewster cupped Lillian’s cheek. “I wasn’t strong enough to stop her, and then it was too late because you were gone.”

  “It’s never too late.” Lillian placed her hand over his. “Come with me, let’s start a new life, let’s work on your problem together, and for as long as we have left on this earth let’s be happy. I have a treatment center close to my home now, there’s a spot waiting for you there. After you get a steady, sober foundation we will work on us.”

  “You’ll wait for me?” Uncle Brewster asked huskily. “After all I’ve done?”

  Lillian smiled at him. “Brewster, I was waiting for the opportunity to be with the man I love, the right way. Jasper gave me this chance, let’s take it and run.”

  He nodded and tears fell down his cheeks and slipped into the thick hair of his mustache. “Yes love, I’ll go with you. I’ll get the help.”

  “Yes.” Jasper gave a fist pump.

  Uncle Brewster leaned forward and grabbed him in a hug bear hug. “Thank you, my boy, thank you for everything.”

  “It’s not done yet,” Jasper explained. “When Zeva comes home we go to my mother’s and we end this once and for all. We try to get my cousins to leave her as well, and I get her to leave Northumberland and never return.”