Beauty Tempts the Beast (Sins for All Seasons #6) - Lorraine Heath Page 0,111

want?” she asked into the silence. Normally, she wouldn’t rush him; he knew that, but the clock had ticked for far too long since she’d issued those two simple words: tell me.

“He’s my father.”

She shot up so fast, the bed rocked. “Your father? How can you be sure?”

“I inherited a good deal of my features from him. My height, my hair, my eyes. Looking at him was like seeing a reflection of my older self in the mirror. He took me to meet my mother.”

“Is she his mistress?”

“No, they’re married.”

“Why did they come to you now?”

She was incensed on his behalf that so many years had passed without them making an appearance. He heard the anger in her tone. “Apparently, they’ve been searching for me for some time. It’s a long story. They only recently determined where to find me.” He told her all he knew, all they’d shared, the story of their love.

When he was done, she tucked in her legs, scooted close so they rested against his side, and slowly trailed her fingers over his chest. “You don’t seem very happy that they found you.”

“I don’t know how you did it, Thea. You were a lady and then you were not. How did you reconcile the difference between the two? For thirty-three years I was a bastard. Scorned, ridiculed, avoided. Thought to be the embodiment of sin.” He shook his head, skimmed his fingers along the side of her lovely face. “Now I’m to inherit a dukedom, and I no longer know who I am.”

She went still, so still, she didn’t even blink. “I beg your pardon? A dukedom?”

“Did I forget to mention that little tidbit? He’s the Duke of Glasford. Perhaps you know him by his title?”

“No. But then it’s not as though I knew every titled lord. So they were married when you were born, yet still they gave you away?”

Again, she was infuriated, and it made him smile just a little. To have such a fierce warrior at his side. “No, I was born a bastard. But they later married, and under Scottish law, I inherit.”

“They’re from Scotland?”

He almost laughed with her continually repeating what he was saying. It seemed she was having as difficult a time believing and adjusting to all this as he was. He wrapped strands of her hair around his finger. “Somewhere in Perthshire.”

“My God, that’s an incredible change in circumstances.”

“It was the oddest thing tonight. The servants kept calling me my lord. It always took me a moment to realize they were speaking to me.”

“What’s your courtesy title?”

“Earl of Tewksbury.”

She released a sound that wasn’t quite a laugh or scoff, but something in between that seemed to have a sad ring to it. “You’re an earl.”

“Apparently so.”

“To inherit a dukedom.”

He didn’t quite understand her forlorn expression or the manner in which she looked past him as though striving to see into the future. He had to admit it was unsettling to be stepping into something he barely knew, but she was intimately familiar with that world and could help guide him.

Grazing his finger from her temple to her chin, he nudged her face back into his direction, captured and held her gaze. “On my arm, you’ll be returning to Society.”

A small pleat appeared between her brows. Using his thumb, he gently smoothed it out.

“How does all that happen?” she asked. “Do they just take out an advert in the Times?”

“The duke and I will be visiting with his solicitor tomorrow, to determine what all has to be done to ensure I am recognized as his heir and inherit. I’ll have dinner with them tomorrow evening. Join me. I’d like to introduce you. Let you come to know them, them to know you. I think you’re going to like them. I know they’ll adore you.”

A sweet blush dusted up her throat and over her cheeks, giving him cause to regret all the nights he’d had her in the dark and all the blushes he’d missed.

“It’s too soon, don’t you think? Your relationship with them needs to be on a more solid footing before you begin introducing surprises. You have no history together to have formed a foundation that can sustain the trials and tribulations that family members encounter. No memories of the better times to help you get through the worst.”

He comprehended the wisdom of her words, of what she was explaining. He wanted to love Ewan and Mara Campbell, did love them because they were responsible for his existence, but