“Shall we step down? Do you feel up to walking? There is a fallen tree not too far away that the locals have transformed into a bench,” Thaddeus explained. Amelia agreed.
After lifting her down from the carriage, Thaddeus would not release her hand, but tucked it into the crook of his arm as he led her down a path. At the rustic bench, he first laid down the blanket he had brought, then assisted her to sit before sitting too. He waited. At last she turned from her contemplation of the whitecaps to look at him and found Thaddeus watching her patiently with eyes that glowed with love for her. There had been no such glow in her former lover’s eyes. Her inexperience had colored his expression with whatever feeling she’d been longing for. Now, in the midst of the most difficult interview of her life, she saw clearly what had been missing before. An immense sob struggled to get free and when she attempted to stifle it the sob turned into a hiccup.
Thaddeus watched Amelia’s valiant efforts to contain her tears and knew that this would not do. He took matters into his own hands and untied her bonnet. He lifted it off, placed it to the side then pulled her unresisting into his arms. He tucked her head under his chin and stroked her hair while she cried into his shoulder.
“Speak no more of this incident, Amelia, love,” he murmured, resting his cheek on her soft hair. His words caused a shuddering sob. He smiled and pulled her onto his lap. Not for nothing did he have four sisters, three sisters-in-law, one mother and a vast number of female cousins. Tears had no power to frighten him. “I know enough.”
“Miss Sadie s-said I h-have t-to tell you,” she managed to get out.
“What Miss Sadie doesn’t know will not harm her,” Thaddeus swore. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “All I want to know is if you still care for him?” Thaddeus felt the shudder pass through her even as she violently shook her head. “Good. Then I am content. Pray, cry no more.”
After her sobs had been reduced to sniffles, Thaddeus offered her his handkerchief. He felt a movement against his stomach and he laughed softly.
“What is it?” Amelia asked, pulling back from his chest so she could look at him. He steadied her and smiled down at her stomach. The look of joy on his face caused her to catch her breath.
“I believe the babe kicked me.”
“She’s a saucy one.”
“I hope she’s a girl,” Thaddeus whispered softly, placing a hand on her belly. “A little girl who looks just like you.”
“Thaddeus?”
“Hmm?” he murmured, clearly enthralled by the feeling of her child moving beneath his hand.
“Did you not say that you wanted to kiss me?”
“Oh, yes,” Thaddeus replied eagerly.
She took off his spectacles, set them aside, then lifted her lips for him to kiss. When his warm, searching lips covered hers she felt as though she would swoon. He deepened the kiss and she opened her mouth to him. His tongue swept in to taste her. Amelia twined her arms about his neck and leaned in to him, wanting more, longing for more. When Thaddeus finally broke the kiss they were both gasping for air.
“Amelia,” Thaddeus groaned, pressing his cheek against hers. “I love you with all my heart. Please say you will marry me.”
“Thaddeus?” she said, her chest heaving against his, her body yearning to be touched, but most of all her heart wanting to own the gift he offered. “Are you certain?”
He pulled back so that he could look her in the eyes. She knew he would see fear there. He stroked her cheeks with his knuckles and brushed her hair out of her face as if she were precious to him. “I am. I know that I am not the most handsome man. I must warn you that my hair is thinning,” he pointed out, smoothing his fringe back. She smiled at him and shook her head soulfully. “It is true. At only thirty, too. I like to muck about in the garden for hours and hours. I sometimes read at the supper table, though I suppose that would change if I had someone to talk to while I ate,” he conceded. He appeared to think about it for a moment, for then he added, “As long as that person loved me. For my wife, I would stop reading at the supper table.”
“That is a great concession,” Amelia accepted. She tentatively put her hand out and pressed her palm to the side of his beloved face. He leaned in to her touch and half-closed his eyes in contentment. “Since you are certain that you love me, then I will marry you, because, you see, I love you too.”
Her response deserved a celebratory kiss.
Chapter Thirteen
They were married a week after the special license arrived from London. Everyone in the village who could attend did. The bride had no family attendees, for her parents could not arrive in time. The groom, on the other hand, had so much family arrive for the wedding that the Women’s Guild, who were providing the wedding breakfast, moved it from the guild hall onto the church green.
The wedding, though planned with much haste, occurred without a snag. Not so the breakfast.
Halfway through the excellent repast, a chaise-and-four bowled into the village. At first everyone thought that more of Mr. Milborough’s relatives had arrived—too late for the wedding but there was plenty of food left. However, the man who exploded out of the chaise caused the bride to collapse onto her husband’s shoulder.
“It’s him,” she whispered, horrified. “Oh, Thaddeus. It’s him.”
“Is it, indeed?” he said grimly. He nodded to Mrs. Edley. She rushed to their side. “I have something to attend to, Mrs. Edley. Please look after my wife.”
By this time the unwelcome guest had spotted them and was pushing his way through the crowd. Before Thaddeus had time to meet him away from everyone else, the bastard stood before their table. Thaddeus saw how Amelia could have succumbed to this man’s wiles, for he was darkly handsome beyond what any human being had the right to be. He appeared to be a few years older than Thaddeus and his physique was impressive. Thaddeus felt a twinge of jealousy but ruthlessly squashed it. He trusted in Amelia’s love.
“So, my dear, you’ve found someone to marry you after all,” the man said. He smiled the kind of smile fallen angels must have. “Darling. If only you had waited.” He held out his arm and beckoned to her. “Come. This marriage can easily be annulled and we can be married, just as you wanted.”
“Go away, my lord.” Amelia’s repudiation of him caused his smile to tighten.
“You heard her,” Thaddeus said. “You are not welcome in this village.”
“Lord Inness,” a voice said from farther down the table.
“Your Grace,” Inness gasped, his smile slipping. His Grace, the Duke of Lipton, had risen from his seat. Beside him a younger man also stood. “Leakesly.”
“Now I understand why you’ve been disinherited. Your grandmother could not stomach another scandal, eh?” the duke said, a mocking sneer clearly evident. “Did you think that you could come here and marry my cousin-in-law’s wife and make all things right with your own family?”
“I—” Inness started, but then could not finish his sentence because he finally glanced among the other important guests and realized he was surrounded by enough of the ton to ruin him socially. He pulled himself together and stated loudly enough for the entire green to hear him, “Amelia’s baby is my child. I only want to do my duty by it.”
“That there’s our Mr. Milborough’s bairn,” a man called out of the crowd.
“That’s reet,” said another.
“If that is what they told you then you have been lied to,” Inness said, smiling his most charming smile. This earned him only an ugly growl from some of the men and more than a few of the women.
“Farley. Mr. Smith.” Thaddeus motioned to their solicitors, who sat together at the end of a nearby trestle table. “What does our good English law say? Is this my child?”
“It is, sir,” they both said. Mr. Smith added, “English law favors legitimacy. Any child born within wedlock is considered to belong to the mother’s husband.”
“But he cannot possibly be the father,” Inness objected. “A
melia’s only been living here for five months.”
“And?”
“She’s clearly more than five months along!” He flinched as the crowd muttered angrily.
“Twins,” a woman cried from the back of the crowd.
“Triplets,” stated Mrs. Teasel, the butcher’s wife. She pushed through to the front of the group and restated her assertion. “Triplets. Isn’t that reet, Dr. Bacup?”
The doctor who had been attending Amelia straightened and glared at the interloper. “It would definitely have to be a multiple birth.”
Inness gaped at him. His desperation came through when he turned to the vicar. “Surely you do not believe this nonsense?”
“Ahem,” the vicar began, then caught a glower from his wife. He started again, “My lord, there’s many a young couple who’ve allowed their passion for each other to overcome their good Christian sense.” Here he paused and looked hard at Lord Inness. “Marriage is the answer and we’ve had a wedding here today. You should go away, my lord, and let us continue with our celebration.”
“We’ll escort you,” Lord Leakesly offered, accompanying Raven to stand before the broken man. Other cousins joined them until a wall of gentlemen separated him from his goal. “It’s too late to make it right, Inness,” he said quietly. “Best if you went to live on the continent. Or the Americas. Go there. That might be far enough away that there are no members of our family to dog your every step. What say you, Raven? Would the Americas be far enough away?”
“Just barely, son. Just barely.”
While Amelia recovered, the breakfast resumed.
“What happened?” she asked.
Thaddeus, who had his arm around her, smiled down at her.
“Did I faint?” He nodded.
“Lord Inness met more opposition than he counted on,” he revealed, chuckling lightly. “He thought that since your family had abandoned you, you would have no champions. However, now he knows that not only must he contend with my amazingly numerous family, he must also fight off the Hinderwell villagers.” She looked adorably confused. He kissed her on the forehead and helped her to sit up. “I will explain everything you’ve missed. I think my father is going to make a speech welcoming you to our family. Oh. No. No tears, my dear.”
“I’m just so happy.”
“I hope to make you happier than you have ever been,” he promised.
* * * * *
That night, after all the guests had departed, Amelia sat at the dressing table in her new home. Thaddeus had had her things moved over during the day and Beth had put them away. She wore a fine white lawn nightgown and wrap. When a knock sounded at the door, she jumped and looked into the mirror to see who would enter. Thaddeus slowly opened the door and smiled at her. She tried to smile back. He came in and quietly closed the door.
“May I brush your hair?” he asked.
Numbly, she nodded. Only a dressing gown covered his nakedness. She swallowed thickly and handed him her brush. Amelia shivered when his fingers stroked her neck as he gathered her hair together and began to brush it. She’d already worked the tangles free, so no painful tugs disturbed the strangely sensual quality of this act of service.
“One of my cousins is a doctor,” Thaddeus commented. She watched him in the mirror as he leaned over and smelled a handful of her hair. He closed his eyes and rubbed the strands across his cheek. The cold anxious knot in her stomach unclenched. “He said we could consummate our marriage tonight, if you wish it.”
Amelia released a long shuddering sigh when her husband pressed a butterfly-light kiss to the side of her neck.
“How?” she whispered, pressing her hands to her abdomen.
“He suggested that…”
Amelia watched her reflection in the mirror as she flushed fiery red when he whispered the doctor’s suggestions into her ear.
“And then, we could try…” he continued, trailing his knuckles down her cheek, along her jaw, following her neck until he paused at the top of her nightgown, all the while explaining the method in exquisite detail. His fingertips caressed her exposed skin, tantalizingly close to touching her aching breasts. “And if we find that we still have the strength,” he whispered in a husky voice throbbing with desire, “I’ve a few ideas of my own, my lovely Amelia.”
“Oh, Thaddeus,” Amelia gasped, turning in her seat so that she faced him. His mouth came down on hers and captured her longing in a kiss that seemed to go on forever. Somehow, when the kiss had ended, she found herself standing at the side of the bed, her robe off, her nightgown pooled with Thaddeus’ dressing gown at her feet.
Before she could feel embarrassed, he had her settled on the sheets. He knelt on the bed above her and adjusted the pillows so that she would be comfortable. His member, ragingly erect, fascinated her. She licked her lips, reached out a tentative hand and touched him. He groaned. She snatched her hand back. He chuckled softly, leaned over and seized her lips again even as he took her hand and placed it on his turgid length. He moaned into her mouth, passion evident in every line of his hard body.
Amelia almost came off the mattress when her husband pressed kisses along her spine even as his hands gently cupped her full breasts and he rubbed his thumbs across their pebbly tips.
“Thaddeus?” she cried out softly, surprised at the strength of her reaction. “I feel… I feel…”
“Love?”
Thaddeus traced the shape of her abdomen around until his fingers caressed her soft bottom. She trembled and pushed back against him. His hot breath tickled her nape as he whispered once more what he proposed. She nodded violently. His instructions created as much fire inside her as his actions. His fingers teased her thighs apart, seeking the hot, moist core of her.
“Ah, love,” Thaddeus whispered in a ragged voice. “You feel amazing. Soft and utterly delightful.” He fondled her until she writhed beneath his touch.
Amelia thought she would die of want when she felt the velvety tip of him pushing into her. She opened to him, welcoming him into her with a soft cry of pleasure. Each steady, careful stroke felt like exquisite torture. Thaddeus’ strong arms encircled her, held her still while he continued to make her his. They found their release in tandem, each shuddering and gasping out their joy.
They dozed in each other’s arms. At one point Amelia woke to discover Thaddeus looking at her. The only illumination came from moonlight sneaking through a gap in the curtains.
“What is it?” she asked. He reached out and brushed her hair gently out of her face.
“I was contemplating the vagaries of fate,” he murmured, dipping to kiss her swollen lips. “If you had never moved here, I might never have met you.”
They both caught their breaths at that and shook their heads in fearful wonder.
“If your roses had not been infected with a fungus, then I might still be watching you through my dining room curtains, longing to talk to you, to be with you.”
“I love you, Thaddeus,” Amelia whispered, pulling him down to her for a more satisfying kiss. He steadied himself on her stomach. The baby objected and gave a mighty kick. They laughed against each other’s lips. “I want to name her after your mother if she is a girl. And your father if he is a boy.”
“They will be thrilled,” Thaddeus promised in a voice full of all the love he felt for her and their child.
“Um,” she said, a twinkle shining in her eye. “I promised your father that I would do something for him.”
Thaddeus rubbed her bare stomach, hoping for another kick. “What would that be?”
“He asked me to promise to buy you a different sun hat.”
“But I like my hat!”
Amelia reached up and pressed her palm against his cheek. He immediately capitulated. “For you, love, anything.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you happy?”
“Very.”
Thaddeus sighed and snuggled down so his head rested on her chest. “Me too.”
About Jessica
L. Jackson
Jessica L. Jackson knows what she likes—reading in the park, travelling the world, designing houses, quilting, and the feel of a gentle breeze against her bare skin—and craves what she loves—her English husband, her three children, her extended family, really, really good chicken wings, and whipped-cream-filled chocolate-covered long-johns. (From the bakery!)
Romance has been Jessica’s passion since she began reading her mother’s collection of romances when she was eleven. Writing romances became an obsession in her teens. She promises that thrilling times lie ahead when you pick up one of her stories. Happy reading.
Jessica welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Also by Jessica L. Jackson
When I First Met You
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
www.ellorascave.com
Will She Be Mine?
ISBN 9781419943485
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Will She Be Mine? Copyright © 2013 Jessica L. Jackson
Edited by Rebecca Hill
Cover design by Syneca
Photo: Edmund Leighton [Public Doman] via Wikimedia Commons
Electronic book publication March 2013
Will She Be Mine Page 6
