Amy still bristled with anger. “Yes, well, I won’t make the same mistake. I refuse to marry a man in love with another.”
“I don’t believe he is.”
She gave a brittle laugh. “You’re saying that so I’ll still marry him. All you want is me off your hands.”
Her father looked at her solemnly. “You’re right. I did. When he came to ask for your hand, Henry tore a strip off me for it too. He showed me how selfish I was being. That if I wasn’t careful I would force you into the cold type of marriage I’d endured.” Her father shuddered. “I made the wrong choice many, many years ago and so many people suffered because of it. I won’t force you to make the same mistake. If you no longer wish to marry Lord Cravenswood, then I’ll ensure you don’t. Scandal or no scandal.” He gazed at her with sadness. “I’ll leave it up to you as to who and when you marry.”
Amy gulped back a sob. “You mean it? You’d support my ending the engagement. Did Henry put you up to this?”
“Yes. He threatened to ruin me. But give the man a chance to explain. I know you’ll probably think I have ulterior motives but I do want you to be happy. I’m telling you the man’s in love with you. The question is—what do you feel for him?” He rose and bent and kissed the top of her head. “I think you’re scared. Scared of making a mistake like your mother.” At her shocked gasp he smiled. “I don’t blame you.”
Amy sat sipping her tea and contemplated her father’s words. She was scared. She only had two days before she became tied to Henry for the rest of her life. If she wasn’t so in love with him, there’d be nothing to be afraid of.
The front door chimed, and this early Amy knew who the visitor would be. She’d barely had enough time to replace her tea cup on its saucer, straighten her gown, and run a hand over her hair before Henry entered the room.
He entered like a whirlwind, sending her senses into a spin. His beautiful face was hard and his eyes glinted like the fine steel of a blade. He didn’t appear to be a man about to drop on bended knee and apologize.
“Good morning, Amy. I hope I find you in a more sensible mood than last night.” He stood before her, legs splayed and hands on his hips.
She blinked. “I beg your pardon.”
“The hysterics of last night. I do apologize for not having had the painting removed earlier. It is now in my attic, but there was no reason to run from my house like a burglar.”
She threw down her napkin. “This is not about a painting of Millicent being on your wall, and you know it.”
“How am I to know that? You didn’t stay around to talk. You simply listened to idle gossip, from a man such as Chesterton, and didn’t even have the courtesy to allow me to explain.”
She narrowed her eyes. “So you know what Chesterton told me. What he implied.”
His hands dropped to his sides but he looked anything but contrite. “So, you look a bit like her”-
-“A bit! Can you honestly stand there and tell me that the fact I look like your past lover didn’t cross your mind at least once?”
He ran a hand through his hair and there was the first sign of a stammer, “I might have noted once to Harlow and Marcus that perhaps the reason I never originally considered you was because you reminded me of Millicent.”
“You discussed it with Harlow and Marcus. Ooohhh.” She stood so quickly the chair fell backwards. “You should have told me.”
“Why? It makes no difference to what I feel for you. If you remember, I pursued you before I even knew what you looked like. All I knew was you felt right in my arms.”
Amy searched his face. “But this is about more than lust or desire. This is about sharing the rest of our lives together.”
He strode toward her. “Do you think I don’t know that? I’ve searched endlessly for a woman who completes me. I thought I’d found her, but now I’m not so sure.”
“Not sure…” She turned away from him least he see her tears. “As it appears neither of us is sure, maybe this wedding shouldn’t take place.” If he gave up this easily, perhaps Henry didn’t love her as much as he thought. The reflection brought a sudden emptiness to Amy’s chest, as if her heart had stopped beating.
The room fell silent. Henry’s heavy breathing was the only sound.
God damn it to hell, he’d let his disappointment in Amy’s feelings drive her further away. “Is that what you want? To cancel the wedding?” He hoped not. She was everything he’d ever wanted and needed, but what about her? Perhaps he’d been wrong. She might be his soul mate, but what if she didn’t love him as much as he needed or wanted her. She might be happier living her life without him?
The thought of losing Amy was like a knife in his chest; he wondered how he’d survive walking away but if she did not feel the same he’d rather know now.
As he watched her shoulders slump and heard her soft crying, his heart melted and his anger evaporated. He walked up behind her and enclosed her in his arms, pulling her back hard against him.
“How can I prove my love? I’ll do whatever it takes. I’m yours to command me.” He dropped to his knees before her. “I’d even sing you a love song in front of the whole ton if that’s what it takes.”
A small smile creased her lips. “You hate singing, and you can’t sing.”
“I’m quite prepared to make a fool of myself. For you. If it proves how much you mean to me. I love you, sweetheart. When I look at you, God you’re so beautiful, I can barely catch my breath. The idea of being able to share my life with you, each and every moment, is a dream come true. Don’t take that chance away from me. From us. Please.”
“You’d sing in public? For me?”
“I do anything for you. I’d die for you…” He kissed her cheek. “I’d even torture the world with a song if I had to.”
He felt her tense within his embrace.
“You love me? Are you sure? Perhaps you love me now, but are you absolutely certain that marriage to me is what you want? Could it be that I’m a replacement for who you truly want? Your life will be utter misery if your feelings for me dissolve shortly after the wedding ceremony. What is worse, I’ll have no way out. A divorce for a woman is out of the question.”
“I love you, Amy. I won’t change my mind.”
“But you have known me only a short time, not even a month.”
“Sometimes you just know if a person is right for you. Millie knew she wasn’t right for me long before I did. She did the right thing moving on. I just wish it wasn’t Chesterton. That’s what I’m upset about, not that she left me. That she left me for him.”
Amy turned in his arms. “What’s wrong with Chesterton, other than the fact he’s revolting?”
How to say this without introducing her to the ugly side of life? “Chesterton likes pain.” At her confused frown he said, “Some men, and women too, find more pleasure when pain is involved.”
“I still don’t understand.”
He hugged her tightly. “And you shouldn’t. Chesterton and others like him, get physically rough during sex. It excites them. They often hit each other, whip each other, or worse.”
Amy looked at him in wide eyed horror. “It can’t involve love then, because I’d never want to hurt you.”
“It hurts just looking at you and knowing you doubt me.” He took her hand and pressed it to his chest, directly over his heart. “I love you. You’re right for me. I know it here. I know you’ll have to be very brave to place your trust in me given your mother’s unhappiness, but you are not your mother and I’m not your father. I’d never hurt you. Ever,” he fervently declared. “Stop over-thinking things. Love is not always rational. We want who we want, and I want you. For the rest of my life. No one else, especially not Millicent.”
Amy felt her throat tighten with poignant tears. She was here at that point, the point where she could risk everything for her own happiness, because without Henry, a future of unbearable loneliness awaited her. The emptiness that swelled inside her at the thought was proo
f enough of her feelings.
She couldn’t bear the thought of him marrying anyone else. Couldn’t bear the thought of him being with any other woman but her. He was hers…Just as she was his.
She looked up and saw the softness and tenderness of his gaze. She saw love shining brightly in the emerald depths of his eyes. It dazzled her, warmed her and thrilled her.
How could she have been so selfish? She’d been so set on her own self-preservation that she’d never stopped to realize Henry’s needs and desires or that he truly loved her.
“Henry,” she murmured softly, “I love you with all my heart. I was just too cowardly to expose myself. I’m sorry.”
“You…love me? Henry echoed.
She nodded. “You soothe the lonely ache–” Amy brought her fingers up to her breastbone to cove her heart “–here. I have loved you since I was fifteen years old. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love you. And now I can’t imagine my life without you.”
Henry’s knowing eyes bored into hers, making her feel as if he was digging down into her soul. Those intense, handsome features suddenly appeared vulnerable in their masculine beauty. She’d made him question himself and she regretted it deeply.
Without conscious thought, she moved her hands to cup his face. She swallowed hard as she stared up at him. “It has been frightening for me to contemplate marriage. What if I made a mistake like my mother. You can’t make someone love you, my parents taught me that. But it’s more frightening to think of living without you. I want to be your wife.”
He remained silent, looking into her eyes. She tried not to feel how hard her pulse was thudding with her own vulnerability. “If you still want me?” She finally stated.
Henry’s face broke into a smile. “I’ll want you for the rest of your life.” His eyes flared with need. “You’re exactly who and what I want. A woman who’s sweet, kind, clever, and passionate. The woman who completes me.” His voice grew husky, “And you make my soul sing every time I look at you.”
His lips covered hers possessively, searing her with warmth, desire and heartfelt emotion. When he finally let her up for air, joy lit his eyes. Amy was in no doubt that Henry loved her. The heated tenderness in his gaze made her ache inside.
“You know you never did give me my earring back.”
He smiled. “I kept it as a memento. It’s in a dish on my tallboy.”
“In your bedchamber?” she asked innocently.
Her future husband wasn’t fooled. “Yes.”
“Then I think we should go and get it. Together. I think I’ve lost something else and it may take me a life time to find it.”
“What’s that, sweeting?”
“My heart. And I’m going to prove it to you once I’m near your bed.”
He took her lips in a fierce, marauding kiss that left no doubt about his desire for her. “If you keep looking at me like that, I won’t be able to stop myself from making love to you right here.”
She threw her arms around his neck. “I’m not stopping you.”
Stepping back, he accepted her challenge, and went to the door and turned the key, locking the world out. He turned and a feverish glow erupted in Henry’s eyes as she unhooked the front of her dress and let it slide to the floor. The naked hunger on his face made her heart pound.
She stood before him in her shift, garters, and silk stockings, having worn no corset this morning. With a wave of her hand she said, “Where are my manners, my lord? Please, take a seat.”
He walked past her and took the large seat at the head of the table. “Anything to please my lady.
In the bright morning sunlight, he looked angelic, his hair sparkling like gold, his lips as tempting as sin. He’d never looked more handsome, and to her full heart, he was quite simply, breathtakingly male. For when her eyes swept down his body there was no doubt that he was fully aroused.
She dropped to her knees in front of him and eagerly freed him from his tight breeches. He sprung rigid and hard into the welcoming air. She circled him with her hand and gently squeezed. He groaned and his head tilted back, his eyes closed.
Emboldened, Amy moved her hand on him. In response, he jerked in her hand and a glistening drop appeared at his tip. Without thinking she leaned forward and licked it. He sucked in a deep breath and she looked up into eyes burning with fire. Holding his gaze, she once more leaned forward and covered the head of his throbbing member with her mouth. She held his gaze as she slowly took him deep into her throat. She could drown in the desire blazing on his face.
“Oh God, Amy, dear God…” His hips lifted, pushing deeper still. She began to suckle and stroke him with her tongue, her own need growing as she experienced his heightening passionate response.
She’d only just found her rhythm when he stood and pulled her to her feet. “I won’t last much longer if you do that. I want to be inside you when I come. When I make you come.”
He quickly drew her shift up and over her head, baring her body to his hungry gaze. He bent her back over his arm and took one peaked nipple deep into his mouth, rasping his tongue over her tender bud while his fingers found the wet heat between her legs.
He kissed and stroked driving her closer to the edge when to her disappointment he lifted his head from her breast. “Turn around and place your hands on the table.” She immediately obeyed, a hungry longing making her limbs tremble. “Spread your legs for me.” His voice was a husky growl.
His hand came down on her back, bending her forward. He hadn’t bothered to undress, such was his need. Her body opened to him in this position. She felt vulnerable and totally exposed.
They stood like that for several seconds. She looked over her shoulder and shivered upon seeing the hungry possessive light in his eyes. He was looking at her. She was intimately exposed to his gaze. He was fully clothed while she was completely naked, apart from her stockings and slippers. He could do anything he liked to her and she would not be able to resist. She didn’t want to resist.
Not for one moment was she afraid. She knew, deep in her soul that she trusted this man. With her life, her dignity and her heart. She felt the heat rise and stir in her body. The wetness he must be seeing, her arousal he must be scenting, and she could wait no longer.
She wiggled her hips and bent over the table further in a blatant invitation.
He was in her with one hard thrust. He drew her hips back to meet his as he pounded into her. It was rough, urgent, animalistic, as if he could not get deep enough inside her.
One hand moved around her body to brush her aching breasts and then he cupped her woman’s mound, his finger stroked her pleasure center. She couldn’t suppress her moans. “Faster,” she cried.
As her moans turned to gasping sobs, he plunged more deeply, forcing her body down onto the cold table. The coolness a blessing against the inferno building inside of her.
Amy couldn’t help reciprocating…Moving her hips back to meet each powerful thrust. On a groan he bent over her, gently biting the back of her neck in a possessive branding. He was marking her as his.
His thrusts grew faster, harder, soon her breasts were rocking each time his body slammed into hers. She thought she’d pass out with the pleasure. “Please,” she cried.
“I’m going to come, come with me, together, now!” He let out a roar and plunged deep, one last time and she shattered around him, her body tightening around his pulsing cock. She slumped spent on the table his limp body holding her down.
They lay like that until both of them got their breathing under control. He feathered soft kisses over her shoulder blade and then as he rose and kissed down her back.
He pushed up off her. “Amy, are you all right? Christ, I didn’t mean to get so carried away…I don’t know… What you do to me…”
Utterly sated, Amy looked over her shoulder and summoned a languid, wicked grin. He was straightening his clothes and buttoning his breeches.
“Don’t look at me like that or we’ll never leave this r
oom today. I’ll spend all afternoon making love to you on this table, and no doubt the servants would like to set the room for dinner.”
With a cheeky grin, she pushed up off the table and turned to face him, no longer embarrassed by her nakedness. She belonged to him as he belonged to her. Nothing they did together would ever make her feel shame.
“Hmmm. All afternoon.” She turned away from him and deliberately bent over to retrieve her shift. She heard his soft groan. Sliding the shift over her head Amy said playfully, “I’d still like to retrieve my earring. Do you think you’ll have recovered by the time we walk over to Cravenswood house?” She watched the grin break on his lips. “We could perhaps also stop in the garden along the way. I understand men can become quite amorous in gardens.”
Henry helped her into her dress and pulled her close to whisper, “Only when they’re with you, my sweet. Only with you.”
Epilogue
The wedding took place in Henry’s garden, where it all began. The late-morning ceremony was attended by close friends and family. Amy’s father walked her down the makeshift aisle lined with blooming heart-red rose bushes, and the duke even had a small tear in his eye as he handed her into Henry’s care. While she would perhaps never have a true father-daughter relationship, he was at least trying to mend the rift between them and get to know his daughter.
Luckily the warm weather continued, and to protect the guests from the sun, the arbor had been covered in flowing white satin. The scene reminded her of a fairytale picnic. But it was real. Her love for Henry was real, as was his for her.
The day before the wedding, with Chesterton away on a visit to his estate in Yorkshire, she’d urged Henry to visit Millicent to ensure she was well. He got to see her and learned she was tired of the courtesan life, and would be retiring as soon as she had enough money to buy a cottage and have enough savings to live comfortably.
On his return, Henry asked Amy if she would mind if he discretely provided enough money for Millie to retire immediately. He explained he owed Millie, his friend, that at least. She whispered that they would discuss it after her wedding.
To Challenge the Earl of Cravenswood (Wicked Wagers 3) Page 14
