The next morning proved to be something from a bad penny novel. It had started innocently enough. Marcus and Juliana took their time making it down to the breakfast parlor. The other guests had begun to pile their plates with food as Jenkins announced the Duke and Duchess of Dunsbury for the first time since the ritual had been delayed due to necessary security plans.

The clapping in the room made Juliana blush. The Rakes looked at her and winked, which caused Marcus to give them a “she’s mine, so back off!” glare. With an even deeper blush, Juliana took her seat at the foot of the table, with her sister on her right and her mother, by marriage, on her left. Marcus was filling her plate with items that she had told him that she liked.

“Dear sister, you look a little flushed. Are you all right?” said Minerva with a peculiar smile on her face and a gleam of knowledge in her eyes.

Was her sister ruined? If so, who took her innocence? She made a mental note to speak with Marcus later. On second thought, may she should just hear her sister’s story from her. She wanted to know but not at the expense of her relationship with her sister.

“Yes, I am just a bit warm, but it’s such a beautiful day. I would hate to spend it indoors. Would you not agree, my lords?”

“I wish that such a thing was possible, but your life, and ours, is on the line if we step foot out of this house. We all knew what we were getting into if we did this.”

“I realize this, my Lord Blackridge. This house will be getting warmer as the day goes on. After I break my fast, I intend to stroll through the gardens. If any of you would like to join me in my excursion, be my guest, but I would like to spend some time with my husband without the prying ears of a guard standing outside our bedchamber door.”

Marcus grinned at his friends in defiance. “My duchess has spoken. You know I will have my eyes and ears open to everything around me. We won’t be gone long.”

“That’s what you think,” Juliana said and winked at her husband provocatively.

Everyone’s jaw dropped and they stared at Marcus and his wife as they took their seats and started eating their respective breakfasts.

Marcus had not expected the remark Juliana gave his friends. He didn’t know his wife could be so feisty, let alone come up with a rebuff that would send his friends reeling. He laughed a bit inside as he looked down the table at Juliana. Her gaze held some of the mirth of his. He could tell she was trying with all her might not to laugh at the still shocked looks from his friends.

A chuckle escaped the mouth of Juliana’s twin, becoming a full laugh when the rest of the room caught on. Within minutes, laughter and tears colored the conversation. It took a while for them to get back to finishing what was left of their breakfasts.

Marcus held his arm out for Juliana to hold as he guided her down the steps to the formal gardens. He had always loved the gardens filled with roses and the maze. A person could get lost in the maze for hours. He pointed out the maze.

“Marcus, I love mazes. Do you think we can go through it?”

“That was the plan, my darling. Luckily for us, I know the way out, but I will feign amnesia,” he said with a chuckle.

They made their way through the maze and to the center, where a lovely bench had been placed for the lovers desiring to hide their secret romances. It had been one of Marcus’s fantasies to make love to Juliana out of doors. This was the perfect time and place. He looked toward the house to make certain no one was spying on them through the upper-story window.

Marcus sat on the bench and pulled Juliana forward to sit on his lap. She brushed against his rising manhood. Within seconds, he lost his focus and control. They seemed to vanish when Juliana was near enough to touch. He knew she wasn’t doing it on purpose; her innocent graze was not her fault. But, his need for her was growing at an alarming rate.

“I need you, my duchess…now!” he bellowed with a fiery expression in his eyes.

“Take me, Marcus!” she responded in kind.

She felt his hand reach under her skirts, up past the top of her stocking, and toward the center of her own need. She had learned much after the night before. She found him through the fabric of his trousers. She rubbed at the thickening organ as he penetrated her with his finger.

Juliana searched for the clasp that held his trousers on, undid it, and watched his cock spring from its hiding place. She continued her onslaught as her climax hit her full force.

“Turn toward me, love, and lift your skirts,” Marcus gently urged.

Juliana did what she was instructed to do. Marcus placed her facing him, straddling him. He taught her how to ride him, then let her take control. Each of her movements was torture. He needed to find his pleasure, but she was nowhere near completion. He let his fingers roam from her thigh up to her secret, most sensitive, spot, and he started rubbing it. He felt the spasms start and saw her back arch in concentrated tension. He thrust into her twice and spilled himself into her.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the lovers down in the garden, Minerva stood sentry in a window in an upper story room, overlooking the garden. She wished she could give that sort of passion to her one-day husband. But, instead, she was ruined. Destined to be a spinster for the rest of her life due to an unfortunate event several years ago. She thought back on that day when a lordling thought she was just a housemaid and stole her innocence from her. She now knew who that lordling was, and she would never let him into her heart, no matter how extremely well built and beautiful he was.

She heard the door open behind her and a voice she would never forget say, “What are our two love birds up to?”

“Take a look yourself, Lord Blackridge. You came in at the best part,” she said with animosity.

“What is wrong with you this morning? What have I done to elicit such a manner from you?”

“That’s for you to remember. Until then, I would suggest not coming near me,” Minerva said as she walked out of the room.

Once she got back to her room, she dropped into a puddle of tears at the foot of the bed. She thought that she had gotten over the heartache. It was obvious that she had not, and Lord Blackridge had no idea what she had meant. He didn’t remember the one evening they had together. It had been beautiful, she had given him her innocence, she had dealt with the consequences, and she had made herself into a better spy for the Crown because of the encounter. Which forced more tears to fall from her eyes.

“Minerva, please talk to me. I don’t understand what happened,” said Jacob from outside her door. He didn’t know what was wrong or what caused the outburst from her, but it didn’t seem like something she would normally do.

“Just go away, Blackridge. I don’t want to see you or hear anything from you,” she said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

“You’ve been crying? Minerva, please, just let me in.”

She got up and opened the door. There stood the one man that she had never gotten over, and never would. He was also the man who had broken her heart, shredding every fiber of her being into shreds. Jacob Spencer could go to hell, in her mind, but she couldn’t get past how beautiful he was.

“Minerva, you have been crying. What was that about? What have I done to get such a reaction?”

“Never mind, my lord. It was a moment of weakness,” she responded.

“Excuse me, my lady, for not believing you. Please explain to me what I did.”

Minerva shook her head, unwilling to tell him about the one time they had been together. Shyness stole through her.

“You’ve had your way until now, my lady. I demand the truth.”

“You couldn’t handle the truth if I told you. You couldn’t handle looking at yourself, let alone me.”

“Just say it, Minerva. I’m man enough to handle anything you tell me.”

Minerva looked him in the eye and saw what she was feeling inside. Maybe he remembered. Wouldn’t it be her luck?

“Five years ago, I was in hiding in your house, as an upstairs maid. I was in the kitchen grabbing something to eat, late that night. You came down from your study, after having a late-night meeting with your friends. We had a flirtation, and things happened. You are the man I gave my innocence to.”

He searched his memory and only then did the truth of the matter come to the front of his mind. Damn and blast himself to hell! He remembered those moments with her as pleasurable, but his mother had sent the girl away to—where was it? Scotland?

“My lady, I would apologize for my younger self, if I could, but I can’t, nor will I willingly erase those moments with you.” He stepped closer to her.

She backed up a bit and tried to get away from him.

“You can’t make it right, my Lord.”

“Yes, I can,” he said as he reached for her hands, took them, and kissed the palms of each hand. “You must know what we must do.”

“I do, but I won’t allow that to happen until I get a proper wooing.”

“Very well, my lady. I will court you, and when you are ready, we will further that.”

She looked at Jacob, astonished. She never thought that he would do this. A rush of feelings hit her. She took one of her hands from his, reached up to his face, and cupped his jaw.

“Is there something you want, Minerva?”

“Yes, I do. Kiss me…”

“As you wish, my lady,” Jacob said as he lowered his lips to hers.

* * *

As everyone found their way back to the house, the women went to the sitting room where they did what women of high rank did. Meanwhile, the men went to the duke’s study for cheroots and a brandy.

Marcus, with a smile plastered on his face, stood by his desk, looking over the meeting of the Rakes. He noticed he wasn’t the only one looking smug. Jacob had an odd gleam in his eye. Maybe he needed to talk to his friend about how to treat an innocent lady. Then again, maybe the man needed to learn this valuable lesson on his own.

“I call into order this meeting of the Rakes. We need to decode the papers of both my late father and the late Lord Dumbrey. Can we do so without involving my wife and her sister?”

“Without looking over the papers, I wouldn’t know what I can do and what I cannot,” said Jacob, hoping to work with Minerva.

“Jacob, what do you propose?”

“That we bring the girls into this, have their opinion on matters, and then decide how best to proceed. We can’t do it without them.”

“What about you, Aaron?”

“I agree with Jacob. You two have the most beautiful women in this country…and they are both spies. I hope that I am just as lucky.”

“Very well. We will bring in the ladies after dinner.”

Marcus watched as his friends glared at one another. He knew from Juliana that Jacob had been trying to pursue Minerva with no luck, as of yet. Marcus knew it was a matter of time before the two would announce their engagement.

“We all took a vow that once we put our rakish habits to rest, we would marry for love. You love Minerva. It’s obvious. She’s perfect for you in every way.”

“I like her, Aaron, quite a lot. Love is a word I wouldn’t use yet.”

“You are beyond that, my friend. May you succeed in your attempts at wooing the lady.”