Baron of Bad: Lords of Scandal Book 5

by Andresen, Tammy

  Grace was his. How the fates had aligned to allow him such a wife as her, he had no idea but he didn’t think he’d let her out of his sight for even a moment until after the wedding. Perhaps not even for some time after the blessed event.

  He should have used the word love too. Grace had. As she’d said. She’d offered her heart on a platter. He tightened his grip on her hand as if that would keep her at his side.

  “Let’s all go to dinner,” her mother chirped. “We’ve got so much to discuss.”

  Bad shrugged, keeping Grace’s hand in his. He hadn’t returned her glove. He rather liked looking down at her delicate fingers clasped in his as the ring he’d just given her sparkled back up at him. Just like a queen, he thought he might drape her in jewels. Her skin was the perfect palette to watch them glimmer in the moonlight.

  “We’ll need to get you a necklace to match,” he murmured close to her ear.

  She frowned, looking over at him. “You won’t have the club anymore. Perhaps jewels are not the best use of money.”

  He raised his brows. He’d done well for himself over the years, building up a fortune that dukes would envy. He’d stayed with the club because he’d felt at home there long after his financial worries had vanished. “I’ll never leave you uncared for, Grace.” His eyebrows lifted. “But is the girl who insisted on shopping for ribbon the same one who now cautions me against purchasing her pretty baubles?”

  She sniffed, trying to hold back a grin but not quite succeeding. “That’s when I thought I needed a husband. Now I have one.”

  He laughed then. He’d never tire of her wit. In fact, he was certain it was part of what would keep him entertained for years. “Well, just so you know, I meant what I said about attending you like my queen.” He dropped his head down to place a soft kiss on her neck.

  She turned her head to rub her cheek against his. “I can think of a few better ways for you to worship me.”

  Heat and desire that had been simmering just below the surface, roared up inside him. “I can barely wait.”

  “Grace,” Lady Winthrop called from the front of the group. “When do you think you’d like to have the wedding? Perhaps a month from now? That should give us time to properly plan.”

  He stopped and Grace’s fingers tightened in his. “A month?”

  “Six weeks, perhaps?” her mother asked. “That will give us time to post the banns and…”

  Her father interrupted. “I’d prefer sooner. We do have a scandal nipping at our heels.”

  Bad’s insides relaxed a bit, his shoulders drooping.

  But then her father continued. “Perhaps a fortnight?”

  Her mother clucked her tongue. “Can’t one of my daughters have a proper wedding? I haven’t been able to plan a single one. Not really.”

  Grace shook her head as Bad tightened a hand about her waist. He knew Grace would prefer to spend her nights in his bed and he had a powerful need to keep her by his side. “My lord,” he started. “Perhaps something even sooner. We don’t want—”

  “No.” Her mother waved her hand. “This is my last chance.”

  “Mother,” Grace interjected. “After everything that’s happened, it seems wise to have a quick engagement.”

  Her mother stopped, planting her hands on her hips. She looked very much like Grace in that moment. “A fortnight is ridiculously fast.”

  Grace clamped her mouth shut but Ben noted the jaunty set to her jaw. He’d seen that look before and when Grace gave it, she usually got her way.

  Daring turned back to him then, having been unusually quiet. “Grace,” the duke rumbled. “May I borrow your fiancé for just a moment?”

  Grace frowned but slipped her hand from his. “Of course.” Then she moved ahead, joining her mother who’d begun to discuss churches and spring flowers, and which dress most suited the occasion.

  “What is it?” Bad asked, his voice dropping low. He didn’t much like the interruption and he didn’t care if Daring knew it.

  Daring stopped, reaching for Bad’s arm. “I’ve a ship leaving in the wee hours of the morning.”

  “What?”

  “It’s headed to Scotland. I’ve a winter crop of barley to deliver and cases of whisky to return. Rather close to Gretna Green, all things considered.”

  Bad scrubbed his jaw with his hand. “A ship you say?” Daring might be his new best friend in all of the world. “Leaving tomorrow?”

  “Four or so, as the tide flows.” Daring slapped him on the back. “If I’m not mistaken, Malice and Cordelia should be reaching Scotland to see his family on their wedding tour. Perhaps they could be coerced into stopping in Gretna Green as well.”

  That confused him a bit. “They’re already married.”

  Daring shook his head. “A woman likes to have a little family in attendance.”

  Bad looked up to where Grace stood next to her mother, the other woman still talking without pause. Would Grace elope with him?

  He knew she would, but his chest tightened again. Should she? He was still a man who didn’t know how to express himself. She’d offered her heart on a platter and he’d yet to even confess his love. He’d said he’d worship her but this was different. His heart twisted again. He couldn’t let her go, they’d marry for certain. But he’d need to learn how to share his feelings to keep her forever.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Grace stood by the garden gate, trying to hold still. The truth was, she was excited. The man she was going to marry, who had proposed in front of all of her family, was meeting her in a dark garden at midnight.

  She tightened her grip on the wrought iron gate. He was the man who’d already made her body sing. Would he touch her again tonight? Her insides fluttered as she peered into the darkness.

  Her mother had talked of nothing but wedding plans until Grace had cried headache and retired for the evening. The truth was, she couldn’t care less how they married, she was far more concerned with when.

  Besides her fear after the kidnapping, she no longer liked being without him and the weeks, or if her mother had her way, months, until their ceremony would be torture. After the intimacy they’d shared, she couldn’t go back to sleeping alone for too long.

  The sound of gravel crunching stopped her thoughts and she ducked behind the brick post checking to make certain it was Ben who was coming down the path to the gate.

  He was nearly at the fence when she finally saw him and popped up from her hiding spot. “Ben.” She raced for the latch and clicked it open, backing up to make room for him to come through. He was in the garden in a second and swept her into his arms as the gate clanged closed behind him.

  “Oh dear,” she whispered, peeking over his shoulder even as her arms wrapped about his neck. “That was loud.”

  He grinned, kissing the hollow of her neck. “If we’re caught, your mother will cease talking about our wedding that’s to happen in two months’ time.”

  Tension skittered along her skin. “I can’t wait that long. Can you?”

  “Gads, no,” he rumbled as his lips kissed a trail to just behind her ear. “I think we both know I am not a man who stands on convention.”

  A little gasping giggle erupted from her lips. It was funny and true and he was tickling the sensitive skin or her earlobe. “I’m not sure how to convince my mother otherwise. She seems rather determined. I think she feels cheated out of a proper wedding.”

  “Is there a back stair where we can go to your room? It’s even chillier out here than I thought it would be and I have some things to discuss with you.”

  “Discuss?” she asked just a touch of fear sliding down her spine that tinged with regret. She wanted so much more than a little chat.

  He nipped along her jaw, finding her lips and giving them a long, lingering kiss. “About how we’re going to circumvent your mother.”

  Her fingers wound into his hair. “Oh. Yes. That’s a good idea.” Then she kissed him again, long and slow, opening her mouth and slidi
ng her tongue along his bottom lip. She’d already forgotten about going inside. She rather liked being out here in the dark, cool night.

  She hardly noticed he’d begun moving until they were at the back door and he set her down.

  Grabbing her hand, he twisted the knob and peeked his head in. “It’s clear,” he whispered as he pulled her inside and softly closed the door behind them. “Which way?”

  She led him up the servant’s stairs to the second floor and into her room. “We could have stayed outside. I was warm next to you.”

  He gave her a soft glance, the sort that relaxed the muscles of his face. “We’ll be far more comfortable sleeping in a bed.”

  At that, she tossed her arms about his neck. “I’m so glad to sleep in your arms.” Perhaps coming inside was an excellent idea after all. She should have learned by now that following him almost always worked to her advantage.

  “I know it quiets your fears,” he whispered, his voice gathering a hoarseness that hadn’t been there before.

  “It’s more than that,” she said as he clicked the door closed behind them. “I find that I am happiest in your arms.”

  He stilled. “I pray you always feel that way.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” she asked leaning back. “Are you still afraid I’ll find you lacking? I love you exactly as you are.”

  His hands came to her hair, brushing the strands back from her face. “How did I get so lucky as to claim you for my own?”

  * * *

  Bad’s chest tightened as he looked down into her lovely blue-eyed gaze.

  She gave him a soft smile. “You’re lucky?” Her head shook between his hands. “You saved me, remember? I’m fairly certain all the pleasure has been mine.”

  His own body tightened at her reference. “I got an immense amount of pleasure out of our night together.”

  One of her brows quirked up. “Is that so?” She slid her palms down his chest. “Explain that to me. I want to know.”

  His eyes closed for a moment. His cock had hardened just thinking about touching her. Now she wanted him to say it out loud? “Men are not so complicated as women. Looking at and touching a woman’s body makes us very excited.”

  Her fingers continued skimming down his stomach and over his waist then further until she reached the head of his manhood, thick with desire. “Oh,” she gasped, exploring his man parts with tentative strokes. “Are they always this…large?”

  He chuckled then even as his cock swelled bigger. “No. And I’m glad for you to know that fact. I can only hope it’s one of my qualities that keeps you interested.”

  She gave him a firmer squeeze and a rumble of pleasure rattled in his chest. “Enough of that nonsense.” Her hand dipped lower, holding his sac. “I already told you that I am yours forever. You’re stuck with me. Soon it will be for better and for worse.”

  His brain began to buzz and he drew in a deep breath, attempting to clear his thoughts. “That is what I wanted to discuss. There is a ship bound for Scotland tomorrow.”

  “Scotland?” Her hand dropped to her side and he grimaced in regret. “Go to Scotland?”

  Burying his fingers in her hair at the base of her skull, he tipped her head back. “We could marry tomorrow or the next day.” He should tell her that he loved her or at the very least explain that he had a desperate need to tie her to him in some irreversible way. Despite the words of love falling from her lips, he still feared she’d change her mind.

  “Yes,” she answered and then stood on tiptoe to place her lips under his again. “Yes, I’ll go to Scotland with you. Where you go, I follow.”

  His breath caught in his throat and he could barely speak as he stared down at her again. “Grace.” The single word tightened his chest. “Love.”

  She smiled at him. “You’ve been calling me your love for a while now. Is that a term you always use?”

  He blinked. When had he started that? “No. Never. I didn’t even realize—”

  “Show me.” She kissed him again. “Show me the ways you love me.” Then she reached for his cock again.

  Bloody hell and damnation, now was the moment that he should not just call her love but tell her that he loved her absolutely and completely. But his throat wouldn’t work and so instead, he picked her up and carried her to the bed.

  She was already in a state of partial undress and he thanked his lucky stars for that as he fumbled with the buttons at her front. When he pulled back the garment to reveal her bare breasts, he groaned aloud and dropped his mouth to first the right and then the left. She moaned underneath him, arching up to meet his mouth.

  Her response calmed him and his fingers slowed as he pulled the fabric further off her body then shrugged out of his coat.

  “Ben,” she murmured, reaching her arms up to him.

  Love and desire coursed through him. “Would you undo your hair for me, love?”

  He kept pulling off his clothes and she sat up and unlaced the braid that hung down her back. As her hair fell loose about her shoulders, he moved closer. He only wore his breeches now and he had the powerful urge to strip her of the rest of her clothes but first, he wanted to run his hands through that glorious mane of hair.

  It slipped through his fingers, like fine silk or water from the river. She sat on the bed in front of him as he stood over her, looking down at the waves of golden strands flowing down her back. “Beautiful.”

  She brought her hands to his bare stomach, tracing the ridges of muscles that disappeared below the falls of his breeches. “I might say the same.”

  “My muscles will disappear eventually.”

  She shrugged. “My hair will turn grey. I will promise to want you always if you are willing to do the same for me.”

  He blinked. “I promise.” Then he leaned down and kissed her. Somehow, the thought of watching her grow old, turn grey, didn’t frighten him. In fact, it clogged his chest with emotion. “I would love nothing more than to spend my life growing old with you, Grace.” He swallowed. “I love you with every bit of my heart.”

  She gave him a glowing smile. “I love you too.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Grace tried to breathe but his words had stolen the air from her lungs. Joy swept through her.

  Cupping her cheeks, he bent even lower. “If you let me, I will spend my life worshipping you, my queen.”

  And then he pushed her back on the bed and they fell together, lips touching, chests pressed heart to heart, pelvises in perfect alignment. Her breath caught as one of his hands slipped up her bare leg under her skirt. Skimming the back of her knee, he brushed the sensitive skin of her thigh making her quiver with need.

  But when the tips of his fingers brushed between her legs, pleasure zipped through her entire body and she pressed against him silently begging him for more.

  He answered with the same silence, his fingers doing all the talking as they started a gentle, leisurely rhythm over her sensitive flesh.

  She clung to his back as her body tightened with growing need. When she thought she couldn’t stand another moment, he stopped. Groaning in frustration, she lifted her head. “Please.”

  He responded by kissing her long and deep. “I want your clothes off.”

  With trembling fingers, she pulled at the garments but he brushed her hands away and completed the task himself.

  He skimmed his hands from her neck, down her chest, over her stomach and along her hips, tracing her legs clear down to her toes. When he reached them, he bent down and placed a light kiss on her instep. “You are perfection.”

  She propped on her elbows, to stare down at him. “I can assure you, you are the only person who thinks that.”

  He kissed up her calf, nipping at the skin just behind her knee. Her body convulsed in a shiver. “They haven’t seen you like this.”

  That made her eyebrows lift. “That’s true.” But she couldn’t say more as his lips traversed her thigh. Her core was tightening with an ache and she bit her lip to kee
p from begging again.

  Just before her sex, he stopped, drawing in a deep breath. “Your smell,” he whispered. “Your taste…” The he licked her swollen lower lips.

  She gasped and then moaned, her body wracked with a shiver as her hands dug into his hair.

  “Perfect,” he said as he pulled away for a moment and then leaned back in to kiss her again.

  Tension was tightening inside her, the ache so keen, she thought she might die from pleasure. “Perhaps,” she gasped. “I am only perfect for you.”

  He stopped then, his tongue stilling and this time she moaned again but not from pleasure, rather from frustration. “That is an interesting point. Someone else may not find your scent so pleasing or—”

  “Ben.” She dug her fingers deep into his scalp even as she pulled at his hair. “Do I have to beg?”

  He gave her a slow grin. “I think that sounds lovely.” Then the grin turned wicked. “But I like it equally well when you demand.”

  Her heel dug into the small of his back. “Very well. I demand that you finish what you’ve started.”

  “I changed my mind. Beg.”

  In answer, she pushed harder, squeezing with her thighs. He laughed, his breath tickling her sensitive skin. “That’s my girl,” he said and then kissed her again.

  Waves of pleasure rocked her body as he inserted a finger deep inside her channel and suddenly she was tipping over the edge falling into an abyss. She might have been frightened but he held her hips in his hands, solid despite the sensation spinning her out of control.

  As she floated back to reality, he was gone but only for a moment. When he came back, his chest pressed to hers, his legs settling in the open juncture of her thighs, the hard press of his manhood parting her tender and swollen flesh. “Grace,” he ground out between his teeth.

  In response, she wrapped her arms about his neck, looking up into his eyes. “I’m ready for you.”