She caressed the slash of his jaw. “And I am a fortunate woman.”
Their lips united once more as his fingers teased her pearl. She was so slick for him, so ready. A needy sound tore from her as he slid two fingers deep inside, finding the extra-sensitive place that never failed to make her wild.
She pumped against his hand, seeking relief, but it was not enough. She needed him.
He understood her body, as always, withdrawing from her as their tongues tangled. In one delicious thrust, he was inside her. Exquisite sensation began in her core and blossomed. She was full, stretched, complete.
Without breaking their kiss, he made love to her slowly in long, tantalizing strokes. As if he savored each motion. And though they had made love many times since becoming husband and wife, something about this time felt different. Heightened.
She knew she would not last long.
Another thrust, a graze of his knowing thumb over her pearl, and she splintered, reaching her pinnacle in a blaze of delirious pleasure. She tightened on him, and he sank into her once more. He tensed beneath her questing fingers, and then he buried his face in her throat as he spilled inside her.
She clutched him to her, their hearts pounding together in sweet time as she relished the heavy, beloved weight of his body atop hers.
“I shall forever be grateful for the day I stormed into your study, determined to give you an earful,” she said when at last she could catch her breath.
“As shall I.” He raised his head and pressed a tender kiss to her lips. “Because you ended up giving me a heart full instead.”
The End.
Author’s Note
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading Benedict and Isabella’s story! I hope you enjoyed this last book in the League of Dukes series. It was great fun watching these two opposites find their happily ever after together. Getting to spend a little time with some old favorites felt like the right way to bring this series to a close. If you’re wondering what happens with Benedict’s sister Callie, wonder no more.
I’m thrilled to announce the beginning of a brand-new series about daring ladies who know what they want and aren’t afraid to get it. Look for her story in Book One of the Notorious Ladies of London series, Lady Ruthless.
Please consider leaving an honest review of Fearless Duke. Reviews are greatly appreciated! If you’d like to keep up to date with my latest releases and series news, sign up for my newsletter here or follow me on Amazon or BookBub. Join my reader’s group on Facebook for bonus content, early excerpts, giveaways, and more.
If you’d like a preview of Lady Ruthless, Book One in my new series Notorious Ladies of London, featuring the spirited Lady Callie Manning and the man she is determined to get revenge against, do read on.
Until next time,
Scarlett
Note on Historical Accuracy
Isabella’s Ladies’ Typewriting School is based on the typewriting school begun by Marian Marshall in London in 1884, known as the Ladies Type-writing and General Copying Office. It was the first of its kind, and it was so successful that Marshall was able to open another office at Cambridge University. Typewriting quickly became an important and respectable way for women to earn a living.
You may have noted I used both “typist” and “typewriter” interchangeably in this book. “Typist” was a relatively new word back in 1885 when this story takes place. While it was in use from 1884 on, “typewriter” was more commonly used during that time period to refer to a typist.
Wherever possible, I have attempted to remain true to the historical timeline of events concerning the bombings mentioned in this book. The bombing of London Bridge occurred on December 13, 1884. The bombers did indeed blow themselves and the boat they had rented to bits when their bomb exploded prematurely as they planted it beneath London Bridge from the River Thames.
Interestingly enough, the men responsible for this bombing had been using a bookstore as the front for their true activities. Their deaths were suspected, but never truly confirmed given the lack of physical evidence. Two months after the bombing, in February 1885, their landlady, who had not received rent, asked her son to check on the shop. Though there was no sign of the men who had rented the shop, dynamite was discovered in the back room.
The Gower Street Station bombing occurred on January 2, 1885. The events known as Dynamite Saturday—the bombing at the Tower of London, the House of Commons, and the Westminster Crypt—occurred on January 24, 1885. Unlike in Fearless Duke, not all the men responsible for planting the Dynamite Saturday bombs were arrested. Two of the men—Luke Dillon and Roger O’Neill—made it safely back to America, escaping capture.
The Special League is, of course, the product of my imagination, based loosely upon the Special Irish Branch, which was formed to combat the Fenian dynamite campaigns.
Lady Ruthless
Notorious Ladies of London Book One
By
Scarlett Scott
Lady Calliope Manning is determined to punish the man she holds responsible for her beloved brother’s death. She will do anything in her power to destroy him. When rumors swirl that the Earl of Sinclair requires a wealthy bride to rescue himself from dire financial straits, she seizes the opportunity to ruin him at last.
Justin “Sin” Vaughn, Earl of Sinclair, needs to marry an heiress, and he needs to marry one now. But the sudden, anonymous publication of salacious memoirs rumored to be his obliterates his chances. With polite society convinced he is a murderer, he has only one choice: find the person behind his supposed memoirs and get his revenge.
Callie never expected Lord Sinclair to discover she wrote Confessions of a Sinful Earl. Or to abduct her and demand restitution in the form of her own hand in marriage. She definitely did not expect to find him so difficult to resist…
Sin is about to teach the beautiful, perfidious Lady Callie a lesson in ruthlessness. One scorching-hot kiss
