A Thief and a Gentleman Read online

  Now he knew how Marks must feel.

  “Tell me, my peach, will you stay?” he whispered against her lips. Her fingers digging into his shoulders and the loving tears in her eyes was all the answer he needed.

  “Now, time for your punishment…”

  Epilogue

  2 years later…

  “This bloody babe of yers will be tha death a me. ’Tis true he has a mind like his father’s, both stubborn and mean with a grin to charm straight hair to curls,” Sally said with a beaming smile. “Ah, but he’s beautiful. Makes me wish I had a wee one meself.”

  “James loves you, as we all do, Sally. It is a godsend for us you agreed to be his nanny,” Freddie said, gazing lovingly at the three-month old son whose strong fist clenched at Sally’s bodice. He was always grabbing at something, her chubby little rogue. His countenance was so much like his father. Speaking of that naughty man, Freddie grinned.

  Once again she looked at their little boy. His hair was black as the night sky, with eyes dark and dangerous, like Oliver. It seemed unfair the only features resembling herself were the dusting of freckles, but then again, Oliver stated quite clearly that he loved them, so she had no reason at all to think little James would be anything but handsome. Watching her little boy grow brought her a feeling of completion and certainty. Only time would tell what kind of man he’d become later in life. People change over time; her reuniting with Oliver was proof enough of that. Who would have guessed the man she married twelve years past, and thought to never see again, would be the man she shared her life with today.

  Ten years ago, she felt like a trade for flesh, to be carelessly abused by a man she did not love. Knowing Oliver as she did now, Freddie wished she would have given him the chance to prove what kind of man he was all along. Her father never looked at her with the love her mother bestowed since her birth, and although she would dearly miss her mother, who had yet to see her first grandchild, Freddie would look forward to showing Oliver where she had been these many years.

  “Sally, please tell Oliver I wish to meet him in the gardens. There is something I must speak to him about. ’Tis important.”

  Sally gave her a knowing look, and Freddie hurried from the nursery, eager to set her plan in motion. There was no doubt in her mind they’d have a brood of children over the years. Every night he told her he loved her, and nearly every night he made passionate love to her. She giggled to herself when he brushed up her skirts the previous night and said, “I’ll do anything as long as my trifling wife is always by my side…and naked in my bed.”

  Life was where it should be, and one day James would be the master of this beautiful place. A fierce rush of pride welled inside her, knowing James was conceived in love.

  Freddie was so happy she had decided to steal from Lord Pembleton. It was her destiny. She would not be a proud wife or mother if it were not for one wild night when she tried to rob him and ended up losing her precious innocence instead. Ah, but that was what started this whole journey. And it was by far the most rewarding of roles she had ever played.

  Not so long ago, she graced the stages of New York.

  People cheered for her, men came to her room with flowers, hoping to win her attention, and Freddie knew, somehow, it would not be her story. A past not yet forgotten, with memories of smoky rooms and the scent of liquor, loud voices and music. It was the beginning of the end in some ways.

  When she gazed into his eyes she saw passion, and when she lay naked in his arms she felt cherished. Desired. Every moan was an honest reaction to how his touch made her feel, and every time she cried out her release, she gave more of herself to him. Something no man in this world could ever have.

  The setting sun shone over the gardens, casting a glow over the delicate blossoms as she walked away from the manor, skimming the colorful blooms with her fingers. The grin that spread across her face would make one think she was up to something. Well, she was. Any moment now, her playful husband would come around the very bend she just strolled around and seek her out.

  “There you are,” came a familiar, deep voice. Freddie spun around with a beaming smile, opening her arms to the man she’d fallen in love with. God, he was so handsome, so protective, and sometimes so possessive she could not even converse with another man. All of it turned her on.

  “I thought you always wanted me by your side,” she teased, gazing up into his soul-stirring eyes.

  “Or naked in my bed,” he responded with a devilish grin. “So…why aren’t you?”

  “I believe there’s a bit of a problem.”

  His brow furrowed with concern. “Oh?”

  Freddie reached into her pocket and withdrew a gold coin. “It seems I cannot help my trifling ways.” With that said, she picked up her skirts and ran away from him, laughing at the chuckle that followed. When she looked over her shoulder, Oliver was right on her tail, then his large hand clasped over her arm, but not before she led him to her bed of coins beneath the archway of her favorite garden retreat.

  Oliver looked down at Freddie, his dark gaze full of speculation and passion. A flutter of excitement heated her body. He always made her feel like dessert. Lust twinkled in his gaze, then he looked back to the heaping pile of coins.

  “How did you get all this down by yourself? And what, my peach, are you planning to do with it?”

  Freddie stood on tiptoe, pressed a promising kiss to his cheeks and mouth, and grabbed his hand to pull him towards her expensive bed.

  “How do you punish a thief, Oliver?” she murmured, turning her back to him so he could help undress her.

  “The possibilities are endless…”

  His hands worked their magic, quickly undoing the myriad of buttons all the way down her spine. Freddie felt the heat of his fingers through the material, causing a slow burn through her body. She moaned, closing her eyes and allowing herself only to feel the heat slicing through her. It did not take very much at all on his part to have her wet and ready to take him.

  The dress pooled at her feet. Freddie turned, gave her husband a wicked smile and knelt before him on the lush grass. Her fingers trailed down his crisp white shirt, until she slowly skimmed them over the growing bulge in his trousers.

  The heat she felt there matched her own desire. She unbuttoned his trousers, slipped her hand inside and withdrew the powerful and very erect cock that pleased her so many times these two years.

  She took the tip of her husband’s cock into her mouth, moaning her pleasure at the same time. Freddie loved taking him in her mouth. He groaned, moving his hips to the beat of the passion swirling around them. She kissed a seductive trail along the underside of his shaft until her hot tongue touched the base of it, and like the trifling woman her husband loved, Freddie traced a gold coin over his stomach, then down to the sensitive flesh on his upper thighs. He shuddered, his cock pulsing harder with each skim of the coin and flick of her tongue.

  She took his shaft in her fist and stroked him, tightening her grip with the ferocity of her own need.

  “I love you, Oliver. Don’t ever forget that. I promise to show you just how much until my time on this earth is done.”

  She kissed the tip of his cock and twirled her tongue around his head, then looked back up to his eyes again. “Tell me, do you think Lord Pembleton should punish me for being so wicked?”

  Oliver grinned, cupped her face in his hands and simply said, “It is my guess that he thoroughly enjoys punishing his little wife, and therefore, I suggest you carry on.”

  He chuckled, then softly brushed his fingers across her cheek bones, over her chin, and added, “I love you too…you delightful little peach.”

  A giggle and a gasp broke the cheery birdsong in the gardens, as Nash spread his wife’s creamy thighs and drove his cock home.

  Oh, yes…

  THE END

  Author Biography

  Shady Grace makes Northern Ontario her home, where the bush is so thick you can’t see two feet past the tree line.


  Perhaps the mystery of the woods was what initially sparked her need to write. She adores strong alpha males who fall for fiery, independent women, in settings with humorous dialogue and action-filled plots.

  Shady believes love and sex should be exciting and unforgettable. Being able to write about it is better than cheesecake.

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  SHADY GRACE