Then his hands were tangled in her hair, pulling out the pins and allowing it to tumble behind her in a sable curtain. She arched up, offering him her neck, and he took what she gave, nibbling on the satiny flesh and pushing her closer to that delicious peak. She ached for Adam, everything so new to her. She'd never felt this fire before, and she craved more, all that he would give her.
Adam was both surprised and delighted to feel Lucy come alive beneath him. She was matching his passion with her own, kissing his jaw and tunneling her hands beneath his waistcoat to stroke the hard planes of his chest. Her touch was fumbling and uncertain, but he didn't care. All that mattered was that she was touching him without fear. There was also something, some emotion in her touch that he didn't dare to name, but it made his heart sing. She felt something for him and maybe, in time, what ever this was that was growing between them could become love.
Perhaps there was hope for the Devil Duke yet.
Then Lucy spread her legs just a little farther, her skirts now around her waist, only her thin chemise separating her core from him. Adam couldn't help it. He thrust hard against her and she moaned in pleasure. With a quick tug, he bared her breast to his gaze and then took the turgid nipple in his mouth, sucking hard.
"Oh, my! Oh, Adam!" Lucy was in heaven, her body ablaze with need, that tugging in her core growing so powerful that she shifted her legs, thrusting back against his hips when he brushed his powerful erection against her soft center. She wanted him, this man who was her husband, even though she knew they were both simply swept up in the madness of the day.
"Yes, Lucy, yes," he urged in a whisper, reaching down to undo the buttons on his breeches. He had planned to wait but not any longer. He needed her now. As he was about to free his erection from his pants, he heard Fenster growl, which was as good as throwing cold water on him.
Quickly, he pulled away from Lucy and moved to the door, careful to keep her hidden from view. Once there, he saw Tafford, Overlook Hill's butler waiting for him, a look of regret on his face. "My apologies my lord," the older man began, and Adam was pleased that he didn't try to peer into the library to get a peek at Lucy. He had to know what Adam had been about to do. "But a man from the Home Office has arrived only moments ago, and he wishes to speak with you about your brother."
Damn. If the Home Office was involved, then that meant the Prince Regent knew Archibald was up to no good again. Much as Adam despised his brother, he didn't truly want to see him hang, even though he might deserve it. No, the only way to prevent more scandal was to meet with the official and see if something could be done to keep the entire affair quiet. Not to mention that he was planning to ask a favor of Prinny within the next day and giving the prince's man an immediate audience would be a good way to win favor.
"Of course," Adam said with a sigh of regret. He did so want to finish what he'd started with Lucy. "I shall be there in a few moments. Until then, please see to some refreshments or invite him to whatever remains of the breakfast if he wishes." Adam prayed that by the time the man had eaten, he'd be fit enough to be seen in public again. At the moment, there would be little doubt in anyone's mind what he'd been about to indulge in moments before.
Nodding, Tafford moved to close the door behind him. "Very good, my lord. As you wish." Then he was gone, leaving Adam alone with Lucy.
He looked back to the settee but found her already sitting up and arranging her skirts and hair where he'd pulled the pins free. She waved at him, but he didn't miss the forlorn look in her eyes. "Go, Adam. This is necessary. What we were about to do, well, it can wait." Then she bit her lip, clearly uncertain. He was heartened to know that she wanted this as much as he did.
Crossing the room in three strides, he leaned over her, pinning her to her seat with just his gaze. "No, it cannot," he growled, "and were it anyone but Prinny's man, I'd tell him to go to perdition. But I need a favor and those are not granted lightly." He bent down and gave Lucy a deep, bone-searing kiss.
"Still, we do not need to finish this," she protested weakly. "It was the heat of the moment and nothing more." Though she said the words, the expression on her face clearly said that she wished it was otherwise. Adam knew he needed to make her understand exactly what he wanted.
With a finger to the side of her chin, he locked his gaze on hers. "This was not the heat of the moment, Lucy," he growled, and she shivered at the intensity of his gaze. "This is about a man wanting his wife. And I will have you. Soon. And while I would have loved to finish this now, it is, perhaps, better that we wait so that I can do this properly."
"Adam, I do not..." Lucy tried again, but he kissed her once more, effectively silencing her.
"But I do." There was a fierceness about him now, one that made Lucy's blood pump and her body shiver. "I care very much. And I will have you in my bed, Lucy, and there I will show you the pleasures between husband and wife. And I will do so all night and into the next and the next after that, if necessary." He kissed her again, more gently this time and the pressure that had been building in her core threatened to explode out of her. "I will have you in ways that you have never imagined but will come to adore." His fingers caressed her cheek. "I will show you a world you never dreamed of, Lucy. One that is bright and beautiful and sparkling. I promise."
Then, he was gone before she could say another word, her body still aching for his touch, and her mind a tangled mess of thoughts and images. Still, one thing was very clear. He had kissed her until she thought she might die, coaxing her body to life with his. His erection told her that he wanted her, and, given what they had been about to do, he wanted her very badly. She wanted him just as much and while the knowledge should have shocked and shamed her, it didn't. Perhaps she was a wanton, just as her uncle had accused her of being, but she didn't care. Adam was her husband. That was all that mattered. He wanted her. That was enough.
And somewhere, deep in her ever-optimistic heart, a thought, new and fragile sprang to life. If Adam wanted her, then it stood to reason that one day, though probably not in the near future, he might grow to love her. Just a little. Still, even the promise of a little love was reason to hope.
Chapter Five
The next day, Lucy was surprised to find that Adam did, indeed, plan to keep his promise. After a leisurely breakfast, he spent an hour or so attending to general estate business while she, with much help from Elsie and Amelia, dressed in warm clothes. Everything was borrowed, mostly from Amelia, but as Lucy was quickly discovering, Adam's sister had apparently never lacked a proper wardrobe and had doubles and in some cases triples of nearly any garment a woman could wish for.
Together, they spent the remainder of the morning touring the estate and meeting some of the tenants, all while Adam gave her a general history of the St. Vincent line and the Enwright dukedom, Fenster meandering patiently at their side the entire way. It was fascinating, at least Lucy thought so, and she hung on every word her husband spoke.
In India, she'd been educated with the male children, mostly because her father knew that another child would not likely be forthcoming, and he didn't wish to raise what he termed an "idiot" for a daughter. At first, Lucy spoke little, afraid that Adam wouldn't be pleased to know that she had an education that matched his in many ways. However, as the morning progressed, she discovered that her husband actually wanted to hear her thoughts and opinions, and often engaged in lively debate with her.
It was a vastly different experience from her time with her uncle. The earl believed in the inherent stupidity of the female sex in general, and in particular females of what he termed "mixed blood." Meaning her. She had learned to keep quiet in her uncle's presence, not wanting to anger him any more than her mere existence already did. Now, speaking so plainly with Adam, she felt as if a band that she hadn't known existed around her heart was loosening a bit and she could breathe, truly breathe, for the first time since she'd returned to England.
Adam had also allowed her to ride astride, bringing her a mount with
a traditional saddle already in place when she'd gone to the stables to meet him. For that and that alone, Lucy knew that she'd lost another piece of her heart to the fierce looking man that she'd married.
For his part, Adam was truly enjoying the day and getting to know his wife and the many facets to her personality. While it was true that they had married in haste, he didn't regret it. At best, he'd expected to end up with a biddable wife who, though a virgin, would eventually allow him into her bed and who would bear him the requisite children. He never imaged that he'd actually like his wife, or that he would want to spend time in her presence. He had hoped, certainly, but he hadn't expected much in truth. He terrified women. He knew this and had merely hoped for tolerance, even from someone as strong-willed as Lucy.
However, he was quickly discovering that she seemed to actually enjoy being in his presence, and that she found him more than a little witty and charming. At least if the looks she was giving him from beneath her thick lashes was any indication. All of that only served to make him want her that much more.
The night before in his study he'd been frustrated that he'd been unable to have her, even though he knew that if was truly going to bed his virgin wife, it should be done properly. Today, he fairly ached for her, and he was beginning to suspect that it was in more than just a sexual way. In a few short days, she had brought a ray of hope to his life, a life that he once felt he would simply have to endure rather than enjoy. The very thought that he might be able to take some pleasure in his life cheered him immensely.
Lucy might not have been the woman he'd chosen for a wife if he'd met her in one of the drawing rooms of London, but now that he had met her, he couldn't image anyone better suited to him.
Those thoughts stayed with him through the day and into the night until he gave her a chaste kiss on the lips and sent her into her own chambers. He would have loved to claim her in ever possible way, but at dinner he'd noticed that she was clearly tired, her health still not what it should be. That was partly due to the chilling rain she'd walked through on her way to Fairhaven, but he also suspected that it was also due in large part to her lack of proper care while with her uncle. In just a few days, her hips had begun to round sensuously, and her cheeks fill out a bit now that she was eating good food and getting the proper rest.
So as much as he might desire her in his bed, Adam knew that it would be prudent to wait until she had recovered her health a bit more. He was, after all, a virile man and more than one mistress had informed him that he tended to be a rather over exuberant lover. He might ache for Lucy, but the last thing he wanted to do was cause her any more harm or pain. She'd had more than enough of that to last her a lifetime.
When Lucy awoke the following morning after having spent a frustrating night alone in her bed, she was determined that tonight would end differently. She knew Adam had sent her to bed by herself out of fear for her health, but truly, she was better. She also burned for him, wanting to feel his body beside her and beneath her. At her age, she wasn't completely innocent. A virgin yes, but not innocent. She knew a bit of what went on between men and women, and she wanted Adam desperately.
She also vowed that she would have him that night. The following day was Christmas Eve and she doubted that he'd want to take her innocence on such a holy night. She wouldn't mind, thinking it the greatest gift of love a woman could give a man, but she wasn't certain Adam felt the same way.
The day before had been nothing short of torture for her, or at least it had been every time her husband had touched her, which had been frequently. It had driven her mad, and she'd wanted nothing more than to pull him to her and kiss him rather thoroughly. Which would, of course, have made her the wanton woman her uncle had always accused her of being.
However Adam had awakened something inside of her when they'd been in his study, something so powerful that she didn't know if she would be able to put it back inside the Pandora's box from which it had sprung. She wanted him, physically at least, even if she'd never really be able to hold his heart. She might want that, but she wasn't foolish enough to believe that a man like Adam - worldly, sophisticated, sensual Adam St. Vincent - would ever truly love a woman like her, even if they did share the taint of foreign blood.
No, Adam would never love her, but he did like her a great deal, and she knew that he was beginning to care for her, perhaps even deeply. He was kind, courteous and considerate, which was more than she'd ever dreamed of when she'd been forced into the corners of London ballrooms with the other spinsters. It had also been more than she'd dared hope for when she thought she would be marring Archibald.
For the first time since her father had died, Lucy felt love, even if it wasn't the kind she'd dreamed of as a child. For now, however, it would have to be enough.
Deep in her heart, Lucy knew that she was falling in love with Adam. She wasn't able to help it. That love would have to sustain her for all of the years to come. Perhaps, she thought, if she loved enough for both of them, that would be all she needed.
With that thought in mind, she allowed Elsie to dress her for the day, this time in a warm day dress of bright, holly green. She felt festive, or at the very least happy, and wanted to radiate that same spirit to the staff of Overlook Hill. She was the duchess now and needed to be the one to set a good example. That was part of her new role as Adam's wife, one that she knew she had a great deal to learn about, but also one she was looking forward to immensely.
Still filled with that same cheer, Lucy went down to the breakfast room, ready to greet her husband with a kiss. However, when she reached the room, it was empty. Plates of steaming food were laid out on the sideboard, but they were untouched and there was no sign of Adam. She was about to pour herself some tea and wait for him when she heard voices in the hall. They were yelling, or at least one of them was. She was uncertain about the others.
She was about to seek out the source of the commotion when the door to the breakfast room flew open and her uncle rushed in, followed closely by Adam, Harry Greer, and Tafford.
"There you are you greedy whore!" her uncle snarled, and Lucy stepped back as if she'd been struck. "How dare you defy me! You were to marry Archibald, not become a duchess."
That was enough to raise Adam's ire the rest of the way because he sprang in front of the earl, shielding Lucy with his own body. "Enough! I will not have you speak of my wife that way!" There was a note of dangerous anger in his voice, one Lucy had never heard before and it made her shiver involuntarily. She'd never seen Adam angry, but she had a feeling she was about to.
"She is my ward!" Wellsford howled. "I dictate what she does and does not do!" Lucy could see the veins in his neck throbbing and wondered if he might have a fit of some kind. Not that she would particularly care, but it might make a mess on Adam's fine rugs.
"Not any longer you don't," Adam informed him, pulling himself to his full height, his body now more like a small mountain than that of a man. "I am in charge of her now. Legally and in all other ways."
Glowering, Wellsford stepped forward, now toe to toe with Adam. "Then honor the contract your brother made and give me my money!"
"No." That single word conveyed a wealth of emotion, and Lucy thought that if her uncle was smart, he would simply walk away. Then again, he had never been the brightest man she knew.
"Yes," the earl countered, unwilling to walk away without what he felt was his due. "We had a contract. Archibald and I. And if you don't honor it..."
With a bored look, Adam relaxed his stance a bit now that it became clear that Wellsford wasn't going to strike Lucy. "I hate to inform you, Wellsford, but Archibald St. Vincent is, at this precise moment on his way to the peninsula to defend his country. He has also signed a number of new documents indicating that he was coerced into agreeing to various contracts that in his words 'would harm those innocent of all blame,' which includes your niece. My wife."
"Gone?" Some of the bluster went out of Wellsford. From his expression, it was clear t
hat he hadn't anticipated Archibald renouncing the contracts. "But he can't be. We had a deal."
Moving forward and essentially forcing Wellsford to back up, Adam advanced on him. Lucy could see the muscles of her husband's body flex and, though she knew it was totally inappropriate, she found herself growing more than a little aroused at the sight. Soon, Adam had her uncle pressed up against the wall, her relative's usually sallow skin now a sickly yellowish green. He rather looked as if he was about to be ill.
"Gone," Adam repeated slowly and quietly as if he was dealing with a dull witted child. "And he is not coming back. Ever. It was either that or die for his crimes, and while I would have accepted that, the Prince Regent felt that it might be a waste of a devious mind that could be put to better use elsewhere." Then he shrugged, once more imitating his sister's signature move of uncaring. "It is of little consequence to me, so long as he is out of my life, not to mention the life of my wife, and that he does not darken our door ever again."
Clearly this wasn't something that the earl had anticipated and he stood there gaping at Adam, his mouth opening and closing so that he resembled a fish. "But the money..." he finally managed, and then his mouth snapped closed as if he'd realized what he had said.
When Adam snapped his fingers, Harry appeared at his side with a small bag. Plucking the bag from his friend's hand, Adam emptied some of the contents into his palm, and Lucy gasped in surprise. There, glittering in the morning light, were some of the many jewels her uncle had sold off over the last several years. She'd never thought to see them again. Immediately, her eyes flew to the Bow Street Runner who stood silently next to the duke, an air of thinly disguised danger clinging to him. There was also a slight smile on his face, one that indicated he was more than a little pleased with this turn of events.
"How dare you come here and speak of money?" Adam hissed, now radiating power and seeming every inch the Devil Duke he was rumored to be. "After you sold these jewels, taking that money for yourself and leaving your ward nearly destitute?" He shoved the gems back in the bag and returned it to Harry, who promptly tucked it back into his coat for safe keeping. "Then you dare attempt to sell the daughter of an earl to the highest bidder, as if she was a common trollop?"
On A Cold Christmas Eve Page 7
