Deeply In You Read Online Free PDF

husband should forbid you from such taxing entertainments. I have a good mind to have a word with Winterhaven myself. He should be taking better care of you—”
    “My husband does take excellent care of me. He knows how much this means to me, and because of that, he’s allowing me to do it without complaint. This ball is for you, my wayward brother. Since you are here, you can help me.”
    “Help you do what?”
    “Choose eligible young ladies. You will be dancing with them, so you might want to have a say in which I invite.”
    He cocked a brow. “Isn’t that like an executioner asking the prisoner to pick the means of his demise?”
    “Hardly a demise! It is time you married, Grey. You are a beloved uncle, but you must want children of your own. Heavens, you are almost thirty.”
    “I’m not thirty until December, my dear sister.”
    “Thirty is the age where most gentlemen recognize it is time to fill their nurseries.”
    A tea tray sat on a low table near Jacinta. He poured her a fresh cup and handed it to her. “Seven months. I still have seven months,” he pointed out.
    “Well, you must begin your search—oh, I just felt a kick. Grey, give me your hand. I am sure this one must be a boy too, for he has the strongest kick I’ve ever felt.”
    She reached for his hand, and he let her guide his hand to her tummy. A bump pushed up from her stomach and hit his hand. It moved across her belly like a sea serpent gliding across the water, then disappeared.
    He stared. “My god, was that—?”
    “The baby’s foot, I believe.” Jacinta smiled up at him.
    It stunned him. What would it be like to be expecting his own son and to play with the baby’s little foot? To discover his unborn boy had an admirable kick?
    God, he couldn’t let his thoughts go there. “Where are the children, by the way? With their governess?” He asked it as casually as he could.
    Jacinta nodded, obviously not fully listening, for she was running the tip of her pen along her list of names and frowning at them, with her other hand on the bulge of her tummy.
    He should stop this latest bout of matchmaking. He had a very good reason for not marrying: He had no interest in trying to pretend to be a normal, noble English gentleman for an innocent young wife.
    “Hmmm, what?” she murmured.
    “The children and the governess. I asked if they were upstairs.”
    Jacinta tore her attention from her list. “Yes. It is raining today, so Miss Winsome is giving them lessons up in the nursery.”

    “I wish I’d had such a delightful governess when I was young.”
    Deep, silky, male—the voice startled her, and Helena spun around to find the Duke of Greybrooke leaning against the doorway of the nursery. His broad shoulders, clad in dark blue superfine, spread across the width of the opening. Then he stepped inside, and he seemed to fill the whole room. Framed by the children’s things—small chairs, desks, dolls—he looked all the more large, strong, and male. “Good morning, Miss Winsome.”
    “Did you wish to see the children?” she asked, busying herself with picking up fallen wooden blocks so he wouldn’t see the blush that leapt to her cheeks. She pointed to the doorway at the opposite end of the playroom—the room assigned for lessons, with three small desks and chairs. “They are working on their lessons right now, but I suppose an exception could be made—”
    “Exceptions are always made for dukes, my dear. But I wished to speak with you.”
    “Shh.” She straightened and put her finger to her lips. Tried to look calm, though her heart pumped wildly. Riding crops. Tying her up!
    But Whitehall’s warning rang in her ears. If she did not succeed quickly, her family would lose everything.
    She crooked her finger for him to follow her into the children’s bedroom. “We must not disturb the children,” she admonished softly as she pushed open the door.
    He put his hand over hers on the knob. His fingers were long. Even