Adam's eyes grew dark and Lucy could feel the anger radiating off of him, the sheer rage that would, she knew, probably make him do something stupid. He wouldn't act as carefully as he normally might, risking his life while attempting to save hers. She couldn't allow that. She loved him too much.
"I will cut your tongue out for that," Adam hissed and in that moment, Lucy could see all of the Devil Duke, the reason why her husband was so feared. There was no humanity in him just then, no sense of reason. There was only rage, black and curling, taking over every bit of his mind, and she knew that if he killed Wellsford, he would finally and completely lose his soul. She refused to be the reason Adam gave up his humanity. She wouldn't allow it.
She moved quickly, taking advantage of the fact that her uncle was focusing most of his attention on Adam and very little on her. When he'd first grabbed her, she had tried to grab for the Christmas tree, as if the thing could somehow save her. Instead, she'd managed to do nothing more than pull a small pair of golden sewing scissors, a gift intended for one of the maids who doubled as a seamstress, from the tree's thin, shaky branches. Her uncle had never noticed when she hid the small trinket in her palm since he was too busy brandishing his pistol. The same pistol that was now creeping away from her side and towards Adam.
Gathering her strength, Lucy shoved hard against Wellsford, digging her elbow into his side. With her other hand, she jabbed the tiny scissors down into the top of his hand. They sunk into the meaty flesh, not doing any real damage, but causing enough pain to distract him from whatever he'd been about to do.
Adam saw his wife lash out at the earl and moved quickly, dodging around the gun as it fired, Wellsford's aim veering wildly around the room. Something shattered, probably a trinket of some kind, and then there was another form in the room, one that came flying through the terrace doors, knocking Wellsford to the ground and taking Adam and Lucy along with him.
At first, Adam didn't know who he was fighting, Wellsford or the other man. Then he saw a flash of blue tinged hair and made a grab for Lucy, pulling her out of harm's way. When Harry Greer was angered, men tended to suffer, and Adam didn't want Lucy becoming injured in the process.
Lucy relaxed the moment she felt Adam's arms come around her, and she clung to him, unashamed of her need. There would be time for sorting out the truth of their relationship later. For now, she simply needed him to hold her. When he began whispering words of love and nonsense into her ear, Lucy wondered if Christmas wishes did come true after all.
Chapter Seven
By the time incident with Wellsford was over, Adam had lost many more precious hours in the day. He'd meant for Christmas Eve to be a joyous, family affair and for the first time, he was planning to fully participate as well, Lucy by his side as the perfect hostess. Over dinner, he had planned to announce to everyone that, after consulting with some people from the Home Office, he was going to retrieve every bit of property and money that Wellsford had squandered, including the unentailed jewels, and that the earl was to be stripped of his title. It would, instead, be held in trust by the crown until a new male heir could assume the position. It was unusual, certainly, but then Prinny had never liked playing by the rules, instead preferring to make them up as he went along. For once, that suited Adam perfectly
Secretly, he was hoping to have everything held in trust until Lucy bore him at least two sons. The first born would be next in line for the dukedom, but the second son would eventually become an earl. It had taken much planning and scheming, as well as any number of Bow Street Runners to being the search for the missing pieces of the earldom, and Adam knew he should spare a few moments to talk to Lucy. However, he'd thought he had all the time in the world. Now, he knew that he never again wanted to waste a precious second.
"So where would my uncle have gone?" Lucy asked as Adam led her down the hall. She was so engrossed in his story that she didn't even noticed that they had passed the door to her chambers and were now standing in front of his.
"To the Continent," Adam said simply, not wishing to dwell on the unpleasantness much longer. "He would have been stripped of everything and received a stipend from my estate that would have continued indefinitely so long as he didn't return to England and never bothered us again." He opened the door and led them inside, gratified when she didn't seem to much care where they were. "I knew it was highly-unlikely that he would agree, though he would pretend to accept the agreement in the short term so that I wouldn't immediately turn him over to the Crown." Shrugging out of his waistcoat and undoing his cravat, he tossed them aside. "That would have provided me with time."
"Time for what?" He couldn't help but notice that Lucy was glancing around, finally realizing that he had led her to his chambers and not hers.
Pulling her to the edge of the bed, he sat and grasped her hands in his. "Time to make you love me." There was a note of pleading in his voice and it touched something deep inside of her. "Lucy, I am the Devil Duke. I know this, know that there is probably not a woman on earth who could love me, at least not in only the span of a few days. When your uncle returned, as I knew he would, I had hoped that we would be well and truly together."
"And you thought that I might go with him?" She was incredulous that he thought she would even consider something so idiotic.
Shaking his head, he rose and pulled her to him, pressing his body into hers. "No." He kissed her gently. "I knew you would never be so foolish. But he might have been able to cause trouble, even for someone like me, if he thought he could prove that our marriage was a sham. If that had happened, I might have lost you. He and Archibald would have won despite everything I did. No, I had to send him way, you see, to get the time I needed."
Holding up her hand, Lucy stayed him with a look. "Adam, you speak of time, but I still do not understand. What would more time give you that you did not already have? Even if my uncle had gone and then returned, I would have told anyone who would have listened that he was insane, only after my fortune."
Stroking a finger across her cheek, he pulled her closer until nothing but a whisper's breath of air separated them, and she could feel his erection again, hot and pulsing against her thigh, even though the fabric of her gown. "I would have had time to get you with child, Lucy." He smiled down at her, a sensual expression on his lips. "That condition rarely happens over the course of one night. Often times, it requires a good deal of time, and despite our earlier passion in the library, despite my promises to introduce you to a world of seduction, you are still a virgin. I did not know how much of what you said was motivated by the moment or by something deeper."
"Deeper?" she asked, her breath hitching in her throat as his hands gently stroked the sides of her bodice, the heat of his touch seeping through every layer, including her corset, to her very skin.
He leaned down and kissed her neck, the faintest touch, so light that she wasn't quite certain she felt it. "Deeper." He kissed the hollow of her throat. "While you might have come to me at first out of a physical need that you could not understand, that would have quickly cooled. But if you loved me, could see past the Devil Duke, then you would come to me because you wanted to, because you wanted to be in my bed and make love to me. Then, if and when your uncle returned, even if there was no child, there would still be the love and I had hoped that everyone who looked at us would be able to see it." Another kiss, this one lower, just at the tops of her breasts. "Then you would have been mine, Lucy, well and truly, and nothing could have taken you away from me."
"You are very sure of yourself, Adam," she whispered, arching against him, wanting him to feel her hard nipples, stiff with need. "Did you think it would take so little time to convince me to love you?"
Shrugging, which she was now coming to see was a St. Vincent family trait, he slid his palms down over her arms, and spun her around so that her back was to him. "I had hoped," he said as she felt his fingers begin to undo the laces of her gown. "I had hoped that you would come to love me as I already lo
ve you. I have, I think, from the moment I saw you, trudging down that muddy lane, soaked to the skin."
Lucy's heart soared with joy. Adam did love her. Miracles could and did come true if one wanted them enough. It also occurred to her that she had never said that she loved him either. That would have to change. Immediately.
"And now?" There was a challenge in her voice and though she couldn't see him, she suspected he was smiling.
"Now," he whispered, "I believe that you already love me. I knew it when I looked at you in the ballroom, but it was confirmed when you struck at Wellsford with those infernal scissors. Only a woman in love would defend her husband with a sewing implement." Then the back of the dress loosened and it slid down her body to pool in a garnet-colored heap at her feet. "So do you love me, Lucy? I have longed all day to hear you say it, you know."
Turning in his grasp, She raised herself up and kissed him deeply, pouring all of her need and passion and fear into that one gesture. "Yes, Adam, my lovely and perfect Devil Duke. I do love you. I have since the moment I woke up, wet and muddy, to find myself in your arms. I saw through to your soul then, and I was enamored. I fell so hard, so fast, but I feared that you would never love someone like me, that I was too much of a misfit."
"And now?" He repeated her words from moments ago back to her.
"Now I know that you love me," she sighed as she tugged at the laces on his shirt. "For only a man in love would banish his wife's would-be tormentors to the farthest corners of the earth, not to mention enlist the help of the Prince Regent himself to make it possible." Sliding her hands beneath his shirt, she was pleased when he hissed again, this time in pleasure, much as he had done in his study only a few days ago.
Adam slid his tongue along the seam of Lucy's lips, begging for entrance and he was gratified when she parted for him, allowing him to sweep inside and taste her deeply. She was sweet and tangy, with just a bit of tart, a combination that was simply her.
"I want you," he growled, his body pressing into hers, needing her to feel just how much. "All of you, Lucy. No holding back. For all night and into tomorrow."
With a tug, she managed to pull his shirt free of his breeches and tossed it aside before starting on the placket of his pants. "And I want all of you, Adam. Whatever you wish to do, whatever you wish to show me, I will follow you. I love you and I am yours. Now and forever."
After that, they made quick work of each other's clothes, each stripping the other naked, even though a cold wind had begun to howl outside and the snow whipped against the window. Inside, a fire roared in the hearth and they were warm and cozy. It was as if no one else existed, which suited Adam just fine. Tomorrow, they would celebrate with family and friends, but for now, he would enjoy his wife. This was their night of magic.
Later, much, much later, when Adam had finally introduced Lucy to the pleasures of the flesh and her virginity was well and truly a thing of the past, he pulled her close, and prayed that they would remain this way always, her by his side, laughing and loving. There was no guarantee of tomorrow. He knew that well. But he also knew that he'd finally found a woman capable of seeing past the facade and loving him for who he was. That, he supposed, was the best Christmas present he could have ever received.
Beside her husband in the dark, Lucy heard Adam shift restlessly and reached out a hand to still him. A part of her knew that this dark fire would always rage within him. It was part of who he was, what had allowed him to survive his childhood. But he was also kind and loving, and he had given her the most precious gift she knew she would ever receive - his love. She had no idea how it had happened or what she had done to deserve it. What she did know was that tonight was Christmas Eve, and she should offer up numerous prayers for the blessings she'd received, for she knew that from this moment on, there would only be more to come.
Did you enjoy this book?
Then be certain to visit Bethany's web page at: www.bethanysefchick.com
Check out her other releases in different romance genres, stay in touch with the author, and sign up for her mailing list to be notified of upcoming releases!
Other Books By Bethany M. Sefchick
The “Ghosts, Inc.” series
Novels
Ghosts Of Lovers Past
Heart of Shadows
Passion’s Spirit (coming Spring 2014)
Ghostly Shorts
All Night Long
Dream Lover
Root Beer Float For Two
Key Largo
A Man After Midnight
Music Of The Night
Diamond Girl
You Don’t Know Me
Cold As Ice
Lovers In A Dangerous Time
Promises In The Dark (coming Spring 2014)
Man On Your Mind (coming Spring 2014)
Edge Of Heaven (coming Spring 2014)
The “Aphrodite’s Closet” series
Nobody’s Cinderella
Fairy Tale Theater
A Little Bit of Magic
Finding Prince Charming
Stardust and Moonbeams
Belle Of the Ball
The Enchanted Season
Also Available
Santa Search And Rescue
A Midsummer Night's Delusion
Much Ado About Something - A Short Story
Fairy Tale Lives (coming soon)
The Clockwork Doll: A Steampunk Novella
On A Cold Christmas Eve
Love, Fluff, and Other Stuff (coming soon)
About the author
Making her home in the mountains of central Pennsylvania, Bethany Sefchick lives with her husband, Ed, and a plethora of Betta fish that she’s constantly finding new ways to entertain. In addition to writing, Bethany owns a jewelry company, Easily Distracted Designs.
When not penning romance novels or creating sparkly treasures, she enjoys cooking, scrapbooking, and lavishing attention on any stray cats who happen to be hanging around. She always enjoys hearing from her fans at: [email protected]
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