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.Then he saw a flash of blue tinged hair and made a grab for Lucy, pulling her out of harm's way.When Harry Greer was angered, men tended to suffer, and Adam didn't want Lucy becoming injured in the process.Lucy relaxed the moment she felt Adam's arms come around her, and she clung to him, unashamed of her need.There would be time for sorting out the truth of their relationship later.For now, she simply needed him to hold her.When he began whispering words of love and nonsense into her ear, Lucy wondered if Christmas wishes did come true after all.Chapter SevenBy the time incident with Wellsford was over, Adam had lost many more precious hours in the day.He'd meant for Christmas Eve to be a joyous, family affair and for the first time, he was planning to fully participate as well, Lucy by his side as the perfect hostess.Over dinner, he had planned to announce to everyone that, after consulting with some people from the Home Office, he was going to retrieve every bit of property and money that Wellsford had squandered, including the unentailed jewels, and that the earl was to be stripped of his title.It would, instead, be held in trust by the crown until a new male heir could assume the position.It was unusual, certainly, but then Prinny had never liked playing by the rules, instead preferring to make them up as he went along.For once, that suited Adam perfectlySecretly, he was hoping to have everything held in trust until Lucy bore him at least two sons.The first born would be next in line for the dukedom, but the second son would eventually become an earl.It had taken much planning and scheming, as well as any number of Bow Street Runners to being the search for the missing pieces of the earldom, and Adam knew he should spare a few moments to talk to Lucy.However, he'd thought he had all the time in the world.Now, he knew that he never again wanted to waste a precious second."So where would my uncle have gone?" Lucy asked as Adam led her down the hall.She was so engrossed in his story that she didn't even noticed that they had passed the door to her chambers and were now standing in front of his."To the Continent," Adam said simply, not wishing to dwell on the unpleasantness much longer."He would have been stripped of everything and received a stipend from my estate that would have continued indefinitely so long as he didn't return to England and never bothered us again." He opened the door and led them inside, gratified when she didn't seem to much care where they were."I knew it was highly-unlikely that he would agree, though he would pretend to accept the agreement in the short term so that I wouldn't immediately turn him over to the Crown." Shrugging out of his waistcoat and undoing his cravat, he tossed them aside."That would have provided me with time.""Time for what?" He couldn't help but notice that Lucy was glancing around, finally realizing that he had led her to his chambers and not hers.Pulling her to the edge of the bed, he sat and grasped her hands in his."Time to make you love me." There was a note of pleading in his voice and it touched something deep inside of her."Lucy, I am the Devil Duke.I know this, know that there is probably not a woman on earth who could love me, at least not in only the span of a few days.When your uncle returned, as I knew he would, I had hoped that we would be well and truly together.""And you thought that I might go with him?" She was incredulous that he thought she would even consider something so idiotic.Shaking his head, he rose and pulled her to him, pressing his body into hers."No." He kissed her gently."I knew you would never be so foolish.But he might have been able to cause trouble, even for someone like me, if he thought he could prove that our marriage was a sham.If that had happened, I might have lost you.He and Archibald would have won despite everything I did.No, I had to send him way, you see, to get the time I needed."Holding up her hand, Lucy stayed him with a look."Adam, you speak of time, but I still do not understand.What would more time give you that you did not already have? Even if my uncle had gone and then returned, I would have told anyone who would have listened that he was insane, only after my fortune."Stroking a finger across her cheek, he pulled her closer until nothing but a whisper's breath of air separated them, and she could feel his erection again, hot and pulsing against her thigh, even though the fabric of her gown."I would have had time to get you with child, Lucy." He smiled down at her, a sensual expression on his lips."That condition rarely happens over the course of one night.Often times, it requires a good deal of time, and despite our earlier passion in the library, despite my promises to introduce you to a world of seduction, you are still a virgin.I did not know how much of what you said was motivated by the moment or by something deeper.""Deeper?" she asked, her breath hitching in her throat as his hands gently stroked the sides of her bodice, the heat of his touch seeping through every layer, including her corset, to her very skin.He leaned down and kissed her neck, the faintest touch, so light that she wasn't quite certain she felt it."Deeper." He kissed the hollow of her throat."While you might have come to me at first out of a physical need that you could not understand, that would have quickly cooled.But if you loved me, could see past the Devil Duke, then you would come to me because you wanted to, because you wanted to be in my bed and make love to me
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