At the Billionaire’s Wedding
Page 41
When they’d had enough of the romantic moonlit stroll, they proceeded at a brisk, New Yorker pace back to their bedroom.
Once inside, he pulled her into his arms for a kiss.
“About that dress…” he started.
“This dress?”
“Off. I beg of you.”
The dress was off in a moment, a bunch of silk fluttering to the floor at her feet. She wore sexy lingerie—something with scraps of black lace and satin—and some killer heels.
“That’s much better,” he said, with an appreciative gaze. “Or much worse. I am tortured.”
“You are far too clothed.”
She started to loosen his tie and unbutton his shirt as he shrugged his jacket off.
They could hear some of the music from the rehearsal reception filtering in through the open window. The only other sounds were of rushed, deep breaths or of various articles of clothing being removed and dropped to the floor. He kissed her deeply, as if he could not ever have enough—even though after this evening he knew she wouldn’t be scarce. She kissed him back with all her fiery passion.
They were a tangle of limbs, kissing, stepping, stumbling, and more kissing across the hotel room until they finally collapsed on the bed.
Her shoes, however, stayed.
He kissed her mouth. Then he paid lavish attention to her breasts, then lower. Then lower still. Her fingers wove through his hair and her long legs wrapped around him as he brought her to dizzying heights of pleasure with just his mouth, his hands. She cried out loud and long, as if she didn’t care who heard that she was in the throes of an insanely intense climax. His heart slammed in his chest.
That was just the beginning.
There was more kissing.
There was a wicked grin from Roxanna as they switched positions and she slowly, torturously licked him from his chest down to his rock-hard cock. She took him in her mouth. He groaned. She may have been the one on her knees, but he was the one completely at her mercy. The things she did with her hands … her tongue…
“Stop.” His voice was hoarse.
“Stop?”
“If you want more.”
“Oh, I always want more.”
She wasn’t just talking about sex. Well, she was. But she wasn’t. There was a marked lack of blood to his brain at the moment, but one thing was crystal clear: this woman was his match. He loved her, deeply and completely. And then he gave her more.
Chapter Ten
That moment when you live happily ever after.
The day of the wedding
The wedding day dawned, bright, warm, sunny, and perfect. Jane was downright giddy as the hair and makeup team took over her bedroom and her wedding party piled in to get all done up. They played everyone’s favorite pop songs and fervently discussed eyeliner and hair styles as if they were the most important things in the world. But mainly they gathered around to celebrate that their Jane was getting married. She had found true love.
She hadn’t lost her ability to be aware of other people, though. While having her hair curled and styled, she fixed her gaze on Roxanna.
“You are whistling a merry tune.”
“I am not whistling a merry tune,” Roxanna replied. Even though she was indeed whistling a merry freaking tune.
“You and Damien left the rehearsal reception early last night.”
“I was tired,” she said, making no effort to even pretend to tell the truth. Her ridiculously happy grin was answer enough.
“Pfft.” Jane expressed her disbelief. And when Roxanna didn’t respond she said, “OMG.”
“Shut up.”
“You said you loved him!” Jane exclaimed to the entire room. Somehow, she just knew. “Did he say it back?”
Roxanna thought about protesting. But really… She was whistling a merry tune and she had said it. “He said it first.”
Jane shrieked with glee. All the other bridesmaids did too.
“That is the best wedding present I could ask for!”
“I’ll just return that crockpot then,” Roxanna said. But she was smiling. Because love.
The wedding went off without a hitch. Well, a few guests got confused and went to the decoy wedding at the gazebo, but they made it back in time to witness the real one. Jane looked radiantly beautiful in her Monique Lhuillier gown. Duke got teary. Hell, even Roxanna got teary. They promised to love, cherish, and keep their arguments off social media.
Afterward, the bride and groom took a selfie with Duke’s phone. Then Jane called Roxanna and Damien over.
“Here,” Jane said, thrusting the phone into Roxanna’s hand. “Go post that picture to The London Weekly’s Twitter account.”
Damien and Roxanna just stared at her.
“You’ll have to go up to the gazebo. There still isn’t any reception down here. Alas.” But she was smiling, as if she had masterminded the entire Internet/cell service blackout herself.
“But the puppies,” Roxanna said.
“And the kittens,” Damien added.
“Will be fine,” Jane said. “Poor Archer and Duke. I had them add a clause to the contract allowing this one shot before the others are released.”
“Why?”
“What she means is, that is extraordinarily generous and thoughtful of you,” Damien said.
“No really, you don’t have to go to all that trouble,” Roxanna said. “Why?”
“Because it’s romantic,” Jane explained, pushing her veil back from her face. “Because I can. Because it’s my day and I want you both to live happily ever after with your newspaper. Now go!”
“Yes, Bride!”
After a hug from Roxanna and a kiss on the cheek from Damien, Jane turned back to the official photographer and her wedding guests. They dashed off to the gazebo.
“And don’t post anything else!” Jane shouted after them. Then she was swept off by her groom and the rest of the wedding party for even more photographs, and the first dance, and the rest of the celebration.
Roxanna paused, halfway up the hill to the gazebo, looking back at the festivities. She had always thought, “ugh, weddings,” but now she saw how rare, delicate, and wonderful it was for two people to find each other and fall in love, for better or for worse, flaws and all. That deserved one hell of a celebration.
“The sooner we post this picture, the sooner we can get back and join everyone,” Damien said, as if he knew just what she was thinking, which was weird and wonderful all at once. Funny, that.
Up at the gazebo, the music drifted up from the reception tent down below. The decorations from the decoy wedding were still there—lots of garlands and a smattering of chairs.
Damien got to work posting the picture on The London Weekly’s social media accounts. It being a selfie, it was just their faces—they looked outrageously happy—and a bit of the dress. There wasn’t enough detail to show for certain that the earlier pictures were fake. Not that it mattered anymore—they had scored the first picture of the bride and groom. They could maybe, just maybe, breathe a sigh of relief.
Before he sent the tweet, Roxanna took the phone from his hand. She dared to add the hashtag #HappilyEverAfter.
“Happily ever after?” Damien murmured, looking over her shoulder.
“It’s something Jane would say,” Roxanna said softly, turning to face him.
“And what about you?”
“I would just kiss you,” she said, wrapping her arms around him and pressing herself up against him. God, she loved the feel of this man. His mouth claimed hers for a sweet, slow kiss.
“This works too,” he murmured.
She just smiled and went back to kissing him because … kisses, and love, and happily ever after.
“I love you, Roxanna Lane,” he said softly. “I don’t think I’ll ever love anyone else like this.”
“So don’t,” she said, as if it were that simple. But what if it was?
“Maybe I won’t,” he said, and she thought it was maybe the mo
st romantic thing she’d ever heard.
“You’ve ruined me for any other man,” she told him.
“Is that so?”
“It is so.”
“We should probably stay together then. Forever.”
“For once I find myself speechless,” she murmured.
“Just say yes,” he said softly. There was emotion and nervousness and all of the feelings in his voice. Her debonair, aristocratic, perfect man wanted her now and forever and he was worried that she would say no.
Her heart was pounding, her knees were weak, but her mind was clear when she said, “Oh, hell yes.”
Continue to the Epilogue
Curious about how Jane and Duke’s romance began? Check out the Bad Boy Billionaire Series:
The Bad Boy Billionaire’s Wicked Arrangement
The Bad Boy Billionaire’s Girl Gone Wild
The Bad Boy Billionaire: What a Girl Wants
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the Lady Authors and Martha Trachtenberg for their help in crafting and editing this story. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
I am also thankful to Megan Mulry for allowing my character to dress in the shoes designed by her character (Sarah James of the excellent novel If the Shoe Fits).
About the Author
Maya Rodale began reading romance novels in college at her mother’s insistence. She is now the bestselling and award winning author of numerous smart and sassy romance novels. A champion of the genre and its readers, she is also the author of the non-fiction book Dangerous Books For Girls: The Bad Reputation Of Romance Novels, Explained and a co-founder of Lady Jane’s Salon, a national reading series devoted to romantic fiction. Maya lives in New York City with her darling dog and a rogue of her own.
Other Books by Maya Rodale
Bad Boys & Wallflowers
The Wicked Wallflower
The Bad Bad Boy Billionaire’s Wicked Arrangement
Wallflower Gone Wild
The Bad Bad Boy Billionaire’s Girl Gone Wild
What a Wallflower Wants
The Bad Boy Billionaire: What a Girl Wants
The Writing Girls
A Groom of One’s Own
A Tale of Two Lovers
The Tattooed Duke
Seducing Mr. Knightly
Three Schemes and a Scandal
The Negligent Chaperones
The Heir and the Spare
The Rogue and the Rival
Epilogue
Dear Arwen
I’m looking at the gorgeous Regency snuff box you gave me over cocktails last week. Thank you again—I’m so glad you found it in the Melbury antique shop. Since you’re going be in England so much, I shall send you off on research trips whenever I need accessories for my characters. Duke is threatening to take up snuff—I never give my heroes such a disgusting habit—so I’ve decided to use the box to store Advil.
As for the wedding, I loved everything you planned and didn’t plan. It was perfect. I’ll tell everyone and you can give me as a reference anytime.
Jane Austen (finally!)
Dear Harry,
I will never regret that my wedding ended up at Brampton House. Thank you and all your staff for your hard work getting it ready in time. And special secret thanks to you for not turning on the Wi-Fi, even when the Internet came back the day after we arrived. I’ll never tell Duke. Probably. You were a prince for putting up with the complaints from Duke and his techies so that I could enjoy an entire week with my husband’s almost undivided attention. It was the best wedding present you could have given me.
Thank you also for the wonderful book Erotic and Romantic Frescoes in English Houses. The pictures will inspire many scenes in future books and those of the Gold Saloon will always remind me of the happiest week of my life.
Arwen must have told you we had cocktails at the Delaville Hotel last week before she flew back to England. She tells me you are very romantic but I knew that—only a romantic would have agreed to a bride’s request for an unplugged wedding. I’m going to persuade Duke to return to Brampton for vacation next year and I expect you to turn off the Internet, again. JK. I look forward to hanging with you and Arwen. Also, Arwen and I think we should find a nice man for Mark.
Best wishes,
Mrs. Jane Austen
Archer–
Great seeing you at the wedding; thanks for making the trip. Thank you also for the donation in our honor to Little Paws Rescue. Jane and I really appreciate your help in saving the magazine photo deal.
Duke
PS: Nice work with the pastry chef. Totally a babe.
PPS: Jane is enclosing another autographed book. For your “assistant.”
Dear Natalie,
I can’t thank you enough for stepping in to help save the rehearsal dinner dessert at our wedding. Arwen told me—in confidence—that your cakes were even better than the ones she’d originally ordered. The bride cake especially was stunning and amazing and I plan to force Duke to take me to Boston to eat at Cuisine du Jude sometime (assuming we can get a table!).
Sincerely,
Jane Austen (I will never get tired of signing that name…)
Dear Cali,
Thank you for coming to England and being my bridesmaid. And thank you for my wedding gift. I LOVE it! I hung it over my desk. Duke walked into my office and said, “Why do you have a poster of Colin Firth mounted on a horse and reading?” I just said, “Research.” He said, “Right. Research.” He understands me. He’s perfect.
I’m crossing my fingers that your Mr. Perfect comes through for you too. He’s one of the good ones, you know. Duke swears by it. Maybe this time next year we’ll be heading off to your wedding. Here’s hoping!
Big hugs,
Jane
Piers–
Thanks for making the trip for the wedding, and for the antique twin-barrel Manton. Very funny. Jane said she’d make me mount it above the fireplace if we had one. She’s determined to learn how to load it. I usually enjoy her book research, but I’m keeping this research out of the bedroom.
Duke
P.S. Best of luck with Cali. Trust me, it’ll be worth it. Librarians make the best lovers. I should totally put that on a T-shirt...
Dear Roxanna,
What can I say? Thank you for everything—from introducing me to life in the big city to introducing me to my husband (though I continue to be appalled by your methods). You are the best friend and maid of honor a girl could ask for.
Also, thank you for the crockpot. I honestly thought you were joking about that.
Love,
Mrs. Jane Austen (can you believe that’s my name!?)
Dear Lord Northbourne*
You have succeeded where I have not: turning Roxanna into a romantic. For that I shall forgive you for wagering about my wedding photographs. Duke and I look forward to seeing you more with Roxanna, but we should warn you—no sharing baby pictures when the time comes!**
Best wishes,
Mrs. Jane Austen
*You know how thrilled I am to have an actual lord among my acquaintances.
**Which may be sooner than you think!
Authors’ Notes
If you enjoyed At the Billionaire’s Wedding, please consider posting a review of it online. Thanks!
Don’t miss The Lady Authors’ first collaboration, At the Duke’s Wedding, a collection of historical romance novellas. If you would like to hear about The Lady Authors’ next anthology, sign up for our e-newsletter.
Table of Contents
Prologue
The Best Laid Planner
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
About the Author
Will You Be my Wi-Fi?
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
About the Author
The Day It Rained Books
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Author’s Note
About the Author
That Moment When You Fall in Love
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Epilogue
Authors’ Notes