by Alice Gaines
“What do you think?” Jason said.
“He wasn’t at his best tonight,” Thomas said.
“Who was?” Grace said.
“He seems a decent enough fellow. There’s a light of intelligence in his eyes.” Thomas cleared his throat. “Most of the time.”
A vicar. Not a duke or an earl or even a minor nobleman. Not a rich man with an imposing estate. His gem of a sister wanted to marry a clergyman. At least Youngblood truly seemed to care for her. Maybe she didn’t need anything more than love to make her life perfect. Perhaps he could take a lesson from her example.
“Bring him ’round tomorrow, pet,” Jason said. “We’ll talk.”
“Why wait? He’s here now.” Lily dashed from the room, leaving a bewildered silence behind. Jason’s mind still reeled from all the events of the evening, starting from the dancing when the guests had arrived, through that ridiculous dinner, through everything he’d learned about his family and himself since. Before he’d begun to sort it all out, Lily returned, the vicar’s hand firmly clasped in her own.
The man glanced around as if afraid one of them might bite him. When nothing untoward happened, he straightened. Lily gazed at him the entire time, her face bright with happiness and pride.
“Mr. Youngblood, meet my family,” she said.
“My lord, my lady, captain . . .” The vicar hesitated, showering Lily with a gaze full of love. “Is what Miss Northcross tells me true? Will you consider me?”
“The only thing that matters is Lily’s happiness,” Thomas said.
“I can guarantee that, sir. I’ll move heaven and earth.” The vicar smiled. “I have good prospects in the church.”
“He’s one of the bishop’s favorites.” Lily tugged at the man’s hand. “Aren’t you?”
“I flatter myself I am,” the vicar answered.
“That’s well and good, then,” Thomas said.
“I apologize for my behavior tonight. I usually don’t drink much. It was the engagement, you see,” the vicar said. “I could have endured it for my own sake, but I can’t bear to see Miss Northcross unhappy.”
“I couldn’t ask for more,” Thomas said. “What about you, Jason?”
Jason fumbled for a gesture that would fit the occasion, but his hands fluttered aimlessly. Nothing in his mind had direction. Lily seemed so eager and so happy. If his father were here, he’d melt under the warmth of her smile. Jason couldn’t do any less.
“All right,” he said finally. “I’m satisfied.”
“That’s all settled, then.” Lily reached up and pulled the vicar’s face down for a chaste kiss. Although not so completely chaste to suggest it was their first. After a moment, he pulled away and took both her hands in his. “I’ll call for you tomorrow.”
“Oh, yes, do,” she answered breathlessly.
The vicar nodded toward Thomas. “With your permission, of course.”
“You have it,” Thomas answered.
The man looked as if he’d linger a bit longer or at least as if he couldn’t bear to release Lily’s hands. Finally, with a mumbled “good evening” he left them.
Lily sighed. “Isn’t he wonderful?”
“Thomas,” Grace said quietly.
“He’s certainly smitten with you,” Jason said.
“That only leaves the question of your marriage, Jason,” Lily said.
Jason held his hands up in defense. “I’m not going on the marriage market again anytime soon.”
“Thomas,” Grace repeated.
“There’s no market necessary.” Lily put her hands on her hips. “You only need to visit the next estate.”
“I’m done matchmaking for you,” Jason said. “Don’t think you can do it for me.”
“Thomas!”
Finally, they all had the sense to pay attention to Grace. She clutched one arm of her chair in her fist and had pressed her other hand over her belly. Her eyes were wide.
“What is it, my dear?” Thomas asked.
“The baby.” She sat motionless for a moment and then uttered a little yip. “Yes, the baby.”
Thomas fell to his knees in front of his wife. “It’s early.”
“Not very.” Grace placed her husband’s hand on her belly and laughed. “I don’t think the baby cares.”
“Oh, God, what do I do?” Thomas ran his fingers through his hair. “What do I do, Grace? What do I do?”
“I think you’d better help me to bed,” she answered.
“I’ll send for the doctor,” Jason said. Nearly as panicked as his brother, at least he’d had the presence of mind to think of that. He ran from the room, colliding with Peter and Vajra on his way out.
“You look terrified,” Peter said. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” He grabbed Peter by the shoulders. “Grace—Lady Hadleigh is about to give birth.”
“What should I do?” Peter cried.
“Get a doctor, you fool,” Vajra answered.
“Right.” Without another word, Peter disappeared toward the front of the house. Because of the duel, he’d know exactly where to find medical help.
“And you, my friend?” Vajra asked.
At that moment, Thomas appeared from the study, his wife held in his arms. He headed toward the staircase at a near run, Lily right behind him.
“I’m going to help my brother pace,” Jason shouted as he ran after them. “I’m going to be an uncle!”
*
Bess shouldn’t have come. She’d said good-bye to Captain Northcross, and she’d meant it. Though his engagement to Miss Swann had ended—a fact that Rose and Anna had made sure she’d learned and been reminded of nearly every hour—he’d still need a wife. She oughtn’t to have let the two of them talk her into visiting Hollyfield to ask after Lady Hadleigh, especially so soon after the lady had given birth.
Still, Bess was only made of flesh, and weak flesh at that with everything concerning Jason Northcross. If given an excuse to set her gaze on him at least one more time, she’d take it. She simply wouldn’t do it anywhere near a bed.
So when the butler told her he was in his study, she headed directly there, her stomach fluttering and her heart hammering in her chest. She’d walked out of his life, and the expression on his face at the time had told her he knew perfectly well that she was doing it. She had no way of knowing how he’d greet her now, Rose’s and Anna’s romantic notions notwithstanding.
“Bess.” His voice came soft and slurred from the direction of his study. She stopped in her tracks. He followed her name with a soft snort. Snort? She’d had varied reactions from people over the years, but none had ever snorted at her that she could remember.
She approached the study carefully and discovered the reason for the odd noise as soon as she peeked inside. Jason was asleep, his torso spread over the top of his desk and his head cradled on his forearms. After a moment, he roused with a start and glanced around. When his gaze focused on her, his face broke into a heart-melting smile.
“I didn’t dream you,” he said. “You really are here.”
Words failed her, but then her voice wouldn’t have sustained them, anyway. He was even more striking than she remembered, and she’d had days and days for her memory to linger on the perfection of his body, the strong jaw and full sensuality of his mouth, the emerald light of desire in his eyes. And love.
After some time, she opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. By then, he’d already closed the study door behind her and stood staring at her, as if afraid she’d vanish if he tried to touch her.
When the silence became too much and the language of their gazes too intimate, she cleared her throat. “You look dreadfully tired.”
“Babies take a long time, it seems. We only got to bed a few hours ago.” He reached toward her and then pulled his hand back. “After all that, I couldn’t sleep.”
“Lady Hadleigh is well?”
“Bravest person I’ve ever met,” he said. “She’ll heal completely.
”
“Oh, good.” Bess let out a breath as her shoulders relaxed a bit. “And the child?”
“A bit early, but he’s healthy.”
“A boy.”
“An heir,” he said. “We named him John after our father.”
“Wonderful.” With that, they’d exhausted any polite conversation that fit the occasion. She could scarcely discuss the weather or the latest fashions when the man she loved with all her heart stood a few feet away, staring at her with longing in his eyes.
After an awkward silence, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Miss Swan has broken off our engagement. Or her father has. They amount to the same thing, I suppose.”
“I heard,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. It gives me the freedom to do this.” He dropped to his knees before her and took one of her hands in both of his. “Lady Rushford, I think you’re aware of my feelings toward you.”
“What are you doing?” She tried to pull her hand away, but he held it fast.
“That should be obvious. I’m proposing marriage to you.”
“But you can’t,” she said.
“Watch me.” A bit of his usual mischief entered his gaze. It made her knees weak. “Those feelings grow and swell within me every day.”
“Swell within you? Did you read that somewhere?”
“I’m not the literary genius you are. I do the best with what I have. Now, where was I?” He kissed the back of her hand, no more than a brush of his lips over the skin. “Ah, yes. I find that my only hope of happiness is that you’ll consider me worthy to call husband.”
“Jason, do get up. This is ridiculous.” Ridiculous and romantic and everything every woman ever wanted but that she’d never had.
“Say you’ll be my wife,” he said. “I won’t move from this spot until you agree.”
“Then your knees will become very sore, and you’ll topple over from exhaustion.”
“You’ll topple over with me.” He grabbed her other hand and pulled her down in front of him. No more than inches away, where he could wrap his arms around her and she could lean into his chest.
In a heartbeat, he was kissing her and she was answering, gripping his clothing—anything—to hold on so he couldn’t possibly pull away. Their mouths tangled, lips, tongue, and even teeth doing battle for dominance. All the while, his hands roamed over her back from her shoulders down to her buttocks. She responded by snaking her arms around his neck and pulling herself hard against him.
“Marry me, Bess,” he murmured against her lips.
Yes, oh yes. “You’re too young. It isn’t done.”
“When did you ever care for what is and isn’t done?” he said as he nipped and kissed his way along her jaw to her ear.
“I’d look ridiculous.” His hand went between them to cup her breast through her clothing, and damn but his fingers felt so good.
“The woman I fell in love with doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her.”
He guided her backward and down, stretching her out until she lay against the carpet.
“What are you going to do?” she gasped.
“Whatever is required to make you say yes.”
She held his face between her palms and gazed up into his eyes. “Here?”
“Seems as good a place as any.”
“Someone might come in,” she said.
“Then they can go back out again.”
“You’re mad.”
“Insanely in love.” He slipped his hand under her dress and slid it upward over her thigh.
She should have known this would happen. Her body had, although her mind had refused to listen. Now her body wouldn’t let her leave before she’d had Jason Northcross again. And again and again. No matter how much she protested, she would marry him. Despite their difference in age, they belonged together and to hell with anything the world thought about the match.
“I knew you’d see reason,” he said.
“This has nothing to do with reason.”
“Right you are.” His fingers traveled the rest of the way up her thigh until they rubbed against the linen of her drawers. “You’re wet. Already.”
“Let’s find a bedroom.”
“Much too far away.” He removed his hand from the space between her legs, caught her fingers, and brought them to the front of his pants. Beneath the fabric, he was swollen and hard. Fully erect.
“I need you now,” he said. Then he went back about his wicked business under her clothing. This time, his fingers crept under her drawers and directly to the lips of her sex. When he touched her bud, she spun off into that world where nothing existed except for the two of them and her aching sex needing his.
“For heaven’s sake, hurry,” she whispered. “Before we’re discovered.”
“I don’t think so.” He grinned at her as he stroked her pearl slowly. “I won’t take you until you agree to be my wife.”
“For the love of God, this is no time to negotiate.”
“I’m not negotiating.” His finger didn’t stop but kept press-press-pressing while the tension built inside her. “I’m demanding.”
He continued, creating heaven and hell between her legs. Heaven because he knew her body so well now that he could use just the right touch to drive her to the edge. Hell because he wouldn’t give her what she needed more than anything else in the world. Him. And not just the stiff rod in his pants, but all of him—his breath, his heat, his moans—as he covered her and thrust himself into her.
“Yes, I’ll marry you,” she cried.
He held completely still, staring down at her. “You will?”
“Of course I will, you odious man. Now hurry.”
She didn’t have to ask again. In a moment he’d swept her drawers down her legs as she lifted her hips to help him. In another, he unfastened his pants and freed his cock. Then he found his place between her thighs and entered her in a smooth glide.
Finally, she had him. All of him, every inch. She only needed to surrender to the power of the two of them united to find release for the pleasure building in her belly.
No longer teasing, Jason gave her everything she’d remembered and more as his member probed deeper and harder, slicked for easy passage by her wetness. They were truly created for each other—a match of minds and hearts and bodies. One creature with one soul. Perfection.
When they could take no more, when they’d reached the end of their endurance, they climaxed together. Bess first, her muffled cries floating upward as her sex milked his for those last seconds of ecstasy. Jason followed, filling her with another layer of joy to add to what they’d shared.
When they’d finished, he rolled onto his side and brought her against him. “Marry me, Bess.”
“I will,” she answered.
“Love me.”
“Forever.”
“I promise the same,” he said. “And more.”
*
The wedding took place in the small family chapel at Hadleigh. The vicar traveled from Helmshire to preside over the marriage of his new brother-in-law to a notorious woman ten years his senior. Bess had set tongues to wagging in Helmshire for years. Now, she’d accomplished the same in Hadleigh and the neighboring towns and villages. No mean feat, considering she’d also managed to land the most eligible, wealthy, and handsome husband in the entire district. From her seat in the first pew, Rose cried through the short service. Anna’s eyes might have misted over a few times, at least when she wasn’t admiring the best man, Lieutenant Weston, in his perfectly fitted uniform. She tried to do it subtly, but the upturn of Peter’s mouth as he stood beside Jason said he hadn’t missed a single glance. Of course, he would notice, as he’d hardly taken his eyes off Anna since they’d entered.
There’d be another wedding soon. Now that Bess had found a husband desirable in every way, she was the expert of the three of them. In weddings and in love. She and her friends would stay at Hadleigh for a bit before returning to C
arlton House. No matter where they settled, the lieutenant would be a constant companion. Anna would submit to the inevitable just as Bess had.
Bess succeeded in maintaining her outward composure throughout, or at least until the vicar directed that if anyone knew of a reason the marriage shouldn’t go forward, he should “—speak now or forever hold your peace.”
The walls of the chapel didn’t quake and tumble on her head. Roger Montgomery didn’t materialize with Lady Deauville on his arm. Nor did Mr. Swan appear to claim that his daughter had a prior claim on the groom.
Instead, Jason took her hand and leaned his head toward her ear. “If anyone tries, I’ll throttle him.”
The vicar cleared his throat quietly to indicate his disapproval and then let the silence last a few more seconds before proceeding. The rest of the ceremony went by in a blur, and soon Jason was engaged in shaking hands with the men while the women showered Bess with pecks on the cheek and hugs.
Suddenly, she found herself surrounded by a pair of male arms. Not her husband’s, but remarkably similar. The viscount, her new brother-in-law, clasped her in a tight embrace and then held her at arm’s length. “I say, if I didn’t already have the best wife in the world, I might fight my brother for you.”
Jason slapped him on the shoulder. “Too late. She’s mine.”
“Jolly good show, all around,” Thomas said.
“And I have another sister,” Lily exclaimed. “It took you long enough, Jason.”
“If I hadn’t waited for this lady, you’d have ended up with someone else,” Jason said.
“If you’d listened to me from the first, you would have married her straight away,” Lily answered.
Jason took Bess’s hands in his and brought them to his mouth for a kiss. “Some things are worth waiting for.”
At that moment, her composure threatened to crumble entirely. The idea that these wonderful people would welcome a scandalous woman into their family was enough to humble anyone. That all her friends and his were sharing this blessed moment would bring a lump to any throat. That she’d have this astonishing man as her own for the rest of her life . . . well, that would have her weeping for joy in another moment.
