Page 27 of The Duke of a Thousand Desires

“Take my hand,” he said. “We’ll hide together.”

“Where?”

“Under the bridge.”

“Oh, no. We’ll be drenched. The water is freezing.”

She let him lead her down the embankment, nevertheless. “We’ll hide behind the rocks,” he said.

“One day I shall have to return the favor,” she murmured carelessly.

“Don’t forget you said that. Now, remain calm. Imagine that you are invisible.”

They descended to the water, holding hands. He felt her flinch at the onslaught of the icy river against her knees. To his surprise she made no complaint when on impulse he lifted her into his arms and carried her to a cluster of rocks under the bridge. Water frothed above his boots to his thighs.

He hunkered down like a troll with a maiden tucked in his lap. Holding Ravenna brought his blood to a smolder, but they were both half-frozen by the time her pursuers clattered overhead and into the woods, shouting her name and threatening to close the drawbridge to lock her out of the castle overnight.

“They wouldn’t dare,” he said, realizing that he had to move or he might ask to kiss her. She was sopping wet and huddling against him for warmth. He could feel the fullness of her breasts and her soft rump through her wet frock. It would be a miracle if she couldn’t feel how stiff he was. Ravenna would likely notice such an embarrassment. She’d received quite the accidental education from her brothers.

“They’ve locked me out before,” she whispered with an awkward wriggle as if to announce he could safely let her go. “It was decent of you to help me, Simon. I won’t tell my brothers about this.”

He swallowed. “I won’t, either.”

She eyed him carefully. “You might not be as bad as I thought you were.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

She never answered.

He visited the castle a few times after that. Another sweet encounter with Ravenna eluded him; she eluded him, in fact, but now when their eyes met she gave him a secretive smile before she skipped out of sight. Was that a good sign? Should he be encouraged? Damned if she didn’t make his throat tighten. He thought it was time to take a step.

During his fourth visit he sought out her eldest brother in private and asked for her hand. Liam turned him down almost the instant Simon voiced the petition.

For over a centurythe English faction of the Boscastle family ignored their collateral Welsh relations owing to a resentment that had occurred during the rule of King Charles II.

The pleasure-seeking monarch had awarded Evan Boscastle, Baron Ponterdwe, the then-castle holder, a duchy for services rendered during the civil war and devotion to the Royalist cause. This honor miffed the pride of the English Boscastles who until this elevation had held the highest ranking in the family, that of marquess.

“Almost a century and a half of this feud passed with ill feelings between us,” Rhys had explained once to Simon, who laughed in sympathy, understanding the perils of aristocratic rivalries.

“Basically then, the estrangement derived from title envy.”

“What made it worse,” Rhys said, “was that the baron lived in wild and uncivilized Wales, still considered a barbaric land to many Englishmen. And we are an offshoot of the family.”

“Don’t the Boscastles have relatives in Scotland?”

“Yes. In Edinburgh and the Highlands. They are considered only slightly less savage than us.”

“How did you make up?”

“The younger generations saw no reason to continue the enmity. A soldier in the English line fought beside a Welsh relative and discovered they were cousins. Or so the myth goes. The truth is blurred in time.”

Simon mulled over this story in amusement. It made no difference to him. He’d met the Welsh brothers at military school, and while Rhys had gone on to serve his country, Simon’s hope for a career ended when his father died and Simon inherited the dukedom. He concealed his sorrow and shouldered the responsibilities of a first-born son.

As it turned out, he liked his friends’ younger sister even more than he liked her brothers. She was quick and something of a tempest and he craved her warmth and energy. He tried to forget her when he was at home, but the truth was that he looked forward to their visits together until he could think of nothing else.

He didn’t understand how it had happened. He hadn’t fallen for her in any one single moment, but gradually instead, a subtle change like winter turning into spring.

She had become the best part of his life.