The Lure of a Rake (42 page)

Genevieve hugged her arms close. How peculiar, she had wanted a babe from him, for that very reason.

Cedric wandered over to the pink roses in bloom and studied the satiny petals as though they contained the answer to life. “That child would have been an extension of me, just as I am an extension of my father.”

Then his words registered. And with them, the most revealing ones he’d ever shared in the course of their rushed meeting and marriage.
It is too late for more with him… It is too late for more…
She trailed the tip of her tongue over her lower lip. “Is that why you didn’t wish to have a child? Because you saw your father in yourself?”

“I spent my whole life believing I was my father,” he said quietly. “That I allowed myself to become him.”

An agonized groan climbed up her throat. The man who’d entered their home, a man who’d so manipulated his son, was nothing like the humbled man before her now. “That is not true.”

“Isn’t it?” he said, giving her another sad look. “Even with my being here, when you do not wish to see me, I prove myself a selfish bastard.”

A protest sprung to her lips but then, in that gentle caress that was so patently his, Cedric brushed his knuckles up and down her cheek. How wrong he was. How could he not know her happiness had been so beautifully linked to him? “But I needed to see you.” His throat muscles moved. “Every day you’ve been gone, I’ve thought about what I would say if…when, I saw you again.”

A vise-like pressure squeezed about Genevieve’s heart as she sought to resurrect the fortress she’d built these past weeks. But with his every word and gesture, he toppled those walls.

He looked to her and so much love blazed from within the fathomless blue of his irises, it robbed her of words. “I didn’t want to love. I didn’t want a wife. And I certainly didn’t want a child.” His voice cracked and he let his arm fall to his side. Agony wrapped her heart in a familiar vise with the mention of the babe that had almost been. He gave a jerky nod. “And my life was moving along in a splendidly predictable way, just as I wanted, as I liked. I didn’t want anything more from life.”

She again folded her arms, hugging herself in a lonely embrace.

“Until you,” he said hoarsely. He closed the space between them, his boots noisily crunching the earth. Cedric captured her chin and tipped her gaze up to his. “I never realized everything my life was missing until you were gone from it. You opened my eyes to the person I was and he was a man I didn’t much like. You made me see that I want so much more…with you.”

“Cedric,” she pleaded. Because with every utterance, he made her long for things she’d managed to convince herself would never be.

He was relentless, battering at her defenses. “I want to lay beside you looking at the country sky you described.” Her husband tilted his head back and took in the crisp blue above, with bilious, white clouds floating by. “Because I forgot how beautiful it is.” A frantic laugh spilled from his lips. “No doubt, because I’d never taken the time to appreciate it…” He returned his gaze to her. “Until you. I want it all. I want a family.” His words were a ragged plea.

She clutched at her throat. He was a master of words. He’d proven that since their first meeting. “I do not want you to want a child because you believe that is the only way I’ll be yours.”

Cedric drifted closer and dropped his brow atop hers. “I want a child with you because she’ll be a brave, beautiful girl in her mother’s image and she’ll have been made in love.” Oh, God. “I want to sit in a garden and sketch, not because you want me to change, but because I
have
changed.” He stepped away and dragged his hand through his hair, tousling those too-long locks all the more. With a jerky movement, he fished around the front of his jacket and withdrew a gold chain. The ruby heart pendant glimmered bright in the afternoon sun.

The column of his throat worked. “It was my mother’s. My sister said it was a gift, given in love. She shared it with me, to share with you.” He extended that precious treasure to her.

A shuddery sob built in her throat and she pressed her fingertips to her lips.

“Will you not say something?” he asked hoarsely, letting his faltering hand fall to his side. The chain twisted and danced in a slight circle.

Genevieve flung her arms around him with such ferocity that he stumbled backward and toppled to the ground, her form coming down hard over him. “I love you,” she rasped, taking his face between her hands. “I want all of that with you, too.”

“Oomph.” His breath came fast from the force she’d knocked into him. He closed his eyes a moment and then rolled her under him. “Oh, God, I have missed you,” he whispered. That forever errant, golden curl tumbled over his brow.

A whispery half-laugh, half-sob spilled from her lips. “From the moment you slid my slippers on my feet, I was hopelessly and irrevocably yours.” Her mouth quivered in a smile as she brushed the loose strand behind his ear. “The lure of a rake is a strong one.”

His lips turned up in that charming half-grin that altered the beat of her heart. He lowered his mouth close to hers. “But not nearly as powerful as the lure of a lady.”

Cedric claimed her lips in a kiss that promised forever.

The End

Coming Soon

June 21
^st

To Woo a Widow

A Heart of the Duke novella

A Wary Widow:

Lady Philippa Winston will never remarry. While her family, and the world around her see a brokenhearted widow, the truth is that after her late husband’s cruelty, she has no desire to turn control over to any man. Her dreams of a happily ever after died long ago.

A Gallant Gentleman:

Years ago, Miles Brookfield, the Marquess of Guilford, vowed to wed his mother’s spinster goddaughter if he reached his thirtieth year and was still unwed. He’s resolved to honor that promise—until one morning, he meets Lady Philippa in the park.

A Fateful Meeting:

Philippa knows all too well the cruelty men are capable of. But the more she comes to know Miles, the more he breaks down every belief she’s carried about gentlemen. Now, Miles must prove to Philippa that not only is love real, but that he’s the man deserving of her heart.

“The Lure of a Rake”

Book 9 in the “Heart of a Duke” Series by Christi Caldwell

A Lady Dreaming of Love

Lady Genevieve Farendale has a scandalous past. Jilted at the altar years earlier and exiled by her family, she’s now returned to London to prove she can be a proper lady. Even though she’s not given up on the hope of marrying for love, she’s wary of trusting again. Then she meets Cedric Falcot, the Marquess of St. Albans whose seductive ways set her heart aflutter. But with her sordid history, Genevieve knows a rake can also easily destroy her.

An Unlikely Pairing

What begins as a chance encounter between Cedric and Genevieve becomes something more. As they continue to meet, passions stir. But with Genevieve’s hope for true love, she fears Cedric will be unable to give up his wayward lifestyle. After all, Cedric has spent years protecting his heart, and keeping everyone out. Slowly, she chips away at all the walls he’s built, but when he falters, Genevieve can’t offer him redemption. Now, it’s up to Cedric to prove to Genevieve that the love of a man is far more powerful than the lure of a rake.

“To Trust a Rogue”

Book 8 in the “Heart of a Duke” Series by Christi Caldwell

A rogue

Marcus, the Viscount Wessex has carefully crafted the image of rogue and charmer for polite Society. Under that façade, however, dwells a man whose dreams were shattered almost eight years earlier by a young lady who captured his heart, pledged her love, and then left him, with nothing more than a curt note.

A widow

Eight years earlier, faced with no other choice, Mrs. Eleanor Collins, fled London and the only man she ever loved, Marcus, Viscount Wessex. She has now returned to serve as a companion for her elderly aunt with a daughter in tow. Even though they’re next door neighbors, there is little reason for her to move in the same circles as Marcus, just in case, she vows to avoid him, for he reminds her of all she lost when she left.

Reunited

As their paths continue to cross, Marcus finds his desire for Eleanor just as strong, but he learned long ago she’s not to be trusted. He will offer her a place in his bed, but not anything more. Only, Eleanor has no interest in this new, roguish man. The more time they spend together, the protective wall they’ve constructed to keep the other out, begin to break. With all the betrayals and secrets between them, Marcus has to open his heart again. And Eleanor must decide if it’s ever safe to trust a rogue.