Read Online The Pirate's Duchess: A Regent's Revenge Novella by Katherine Bone - Free Book Online
Authors: Katherine Bone
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about the man to keep her friend from fantasizing about pirates. Now, a real one stood before her. And not just any pirate . . . the Black Regent. Not just the Black Regent, but her husband .
Her heart jumped as the pieces slowly began to fall into place. Tobias’s death had coincided with the first sighting of the infamous pirate. He’d used his death to seek revenge, leaving her alone, bereft, lonely. How could she have been so blind?
She drew in a shuddering breath. She was married to a pirate!
“Oh dear.” She reached for the settee to steady herself, unable to grasp this shocking information. What would Society think of her now? The lonely widow stolen before she could say her wedding vows by an insufferable, purportedly dead, pompous lout of a pirate-duke husband, creating a greater scandal than any she’d feared. She could see the headline of Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post now: The BLACK REGENT Rises From the Ashes of Blackmoor.
Tobias moved toward her, his reflexes honed as only a predator’s could be. She gasped for air and fell to her knees. He caught her easily before she hit the floor and situated her on the sofa.
“I never meant to hurt you this way, Prudence,” he said, sincerity bathing his tone as he brushed a strand of her hair out of her face. He rubbed her back gently.
She fought to catch her breath, trying to fight the despair bleeding her veins dry. “I’m not interested in what you have to say.” She’d been lied to by three men she’d trusted in a single day—Tobias, Mr. Denny, and Lord Underwood—and had been abandoned in the name of revenge. Lies. Greed. Betrayal. Secrets. These weren’t actions fueled by love. “You’ve ruined everything .”
Mr. Denny stepped forward. “If you knew what the cap’n sacrificed—”
“Belay and veer, Denny,” Tobias said, his mouth set in a mutinous line. He rose to stand before Prudence like a Druid monolith, completely misunderstood and out of place. “That ship has sailed.”
“But Cap’n, if you’d just show her—”
“Quiet.” Tobias stood, then moved toward the door. “Do you hear something?” He raised his hands, palms out.
Denny frowned. “I don’t hear anything.”
Tobias limped to the window and pulled back the drape. “Exactly.” He dropped the curtain. “The storm has let up.”
“You don’t think the men who shot you will try to bully their way into the house, do you, Cap’n?”
He shook his head. “No. They wouldn’t risk it.” He paced the room, tapping his lip with his finger. “I’ve got it. Denny, go out to the stable and prepare Manfred for a run. I want anyone watching the cottage to think I’ll be leaving for the manor house within the hour.”
He walked up to Prudence and took both of her hands in his. “Secrets have a way of claiming their masters and those who get close to them.”
She hated his soothing voice, his touch, his beseeching stare. And yet she was held spellbound by this man who swore she was the center of everything he’d ever done. It had been Tobias who’d robbed Underwood’s ships. Tobias had supplied hungry miners and villagers up and down the Devon coast with contraband. He’d stolen from the rich and given to the poor. This duke, her husband, was the people’s pride and joy. But what was he to his own wife? A mystery.
“I wanted to protect you from all this.” He raised her knuckles to his lips and kissed them, branding her skin. “You see, my dove? I had to die in order to keep Underwood from using you to get to me.”
“But I don’t see, Tobias,” she said, the maddening beat of her heart betraying her calm voice. “I wasn’t in any danger as long as Underwood thought you were dead.”
He smiled and patted her hand. “Until, you showed Underwood the survey map of our estate, Prudence. Greed is an insatiable master. Blackmoor isn’t entailed. Once Underwood has our land, the map, and Eggleston’s letter, you will be expendable. I will not allow
Her heart jumped as the pieces slowly began to fall into place. Tobias’s death had coincided with the first sighting of the infamous pirate. He’d used his death to seek revenge, leaving her alone, bereft, lonely. How could she have been so blind?
She drew in a shuddering breath. She was married to a pirate!
“Oh dear.” She reached for the settee to steady herself, unable to grasp this shocking information. What would Society think of her now? The lonely widow stolen before she could say her wedding vows by an insufferable, purportedly dead, pompous lout of a pirate-duke husband, creating a greater scandal than any she’d feared. She could see the headline of Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post now: The BLACK REGENT Rises From the Ashes of Blackmoor.
Tobias moved toward her, his reflexes honed as only a predator’s could be. She gasped for air and fell to her knees. He caught her easily before she hit the floor and situated her on the sofa.
“I never meant to hurt you this way, Prudence,” he said, sincerity bathing his tone as he brushed a strand of her hair out of her face. He rubbed her back gently.
She fought to catch her breath, trying to fight the despair bleeding her veins dry. “I’m not interested in what you have to say.” She’d been lied to by three men she’d trusted in a single day—Tobias, Mr. Denny, and Lord Underwood—and had been abandoned in the name of revenge. Lies. Greed. Betrayal. Secrets. These weren’t actions fueled by love. “You’ve ruined everything .”
Mr. Denny stepped forward. “If you knew what the cap’n sacrificed—”
“Belay and veer, Denny,” Tobias said, his mouth set in a mutinous line. He rose to stand before Prudence like a Druid monolith, completely misunderstood and out of place. “That ship has sailed.”
“But Cap’n, if you’d just show her—”
“Quiet.” Tobias stood, then moved toward the door. “Do you hear something?” He raised his hands, palms out.
Denny frowned. “I don’t hear anything.”
Tobias limped to the window and pulled back the drape. “Exactly.” He dropped the curtain. “The storm has let up.”
“You don’t think the men who shot you will try to bully their way into the house, do you, Cap’n?”
He shook his head. “No. They wouldn’t risk it.” He paced the room, tapping his lip with his finger. “I’ve got it. Denny, go out to the stable and prepare Manfred for a run. I want anyone watching the cottage to think I’ll be leaving for the manor house within the hour.”
He walked up to Prudence and took both of her hands in his. “Secrets have a way of claiming their masters and those who get close to them.”
She hated his soothing voice, his touch, his beseeching stare. And yet she was held spellbound by this man who swore she was the center of everything he’d ever done. It had been Tobias who’d robbed Underwood’s ships. Tobias had supplied hungry miners and villagers up and down the Devon coast with contraband. He’d stolen from the rich and given to the poor. This duke, her husband, was the people’s pride and joy. But what was he to his own wife? A mystery.
“I wanted to protect you from all this.” He raised her knuckles to his lips and kissed them, branding her skin. “You see, my dove? I had to die in order to keep Underwood from using you to get to me.”
“But I don’t see, Tobias,” she said, the maddening beat of her heart betraying her calm voice. “I wasn’t in any danger as long as Underwood thought you were dead.”
He smiled and patted her hand. “Until, you showed Underwood the survey map of our estate, Prudence. Greed is an insatiable master. Blackmoor isn’t entailed. Once Underwood has our land, the map, and Eggleston’s letter, you will be expendable. I will not allow
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