He arched a brow. “Not exactly what I expected my wife to say when I told her we get a few days of privacy after our wedding.”
She laughed and slapped his chest playfully, but her mood sobered as she said, “I only meant, shouldn’t we be helping?”
Lucien shook his head. “Right now I don’t think there’s anything we can do. Dane is doing his research and Gray will be there to assist. And I have a thought about someone else who could help, but it will take a few days at least for him to receive the message I sent and either come here or send one in return.”
“So you’re saying Felicity is as safe as she can be,” Elise asked.
“For now.” He smoothed the tangled locks away from her forehead and she shivered at his touch. “We are going to find a way to save her,” he promised. “Together, this time.”
She nodded as love swelled inside of her. “Yes, together,” she whispered. “It turns out we are far stronger that way. I’ll never forget that again.”
He leaned in to kiss her, erasing all troubling thoughts from her mind, making her lose herself in pleasure once more. And in that moment, she realized that anything was possible, everything would work out and all she ever wanted was right here in her arms.
Epilogue
Ten Days Later
Lucien stepped into the parlor, a letter in hand, and took a moment to look around the room. There was an incredible sense of rightness in what he saw. Gray and Rosalinde sat together by the window, talking softly. Celia and Dane were nearby with Felicity, looking over papers spread out on the table before them.
And then there was Elise. She stood beside the fire stirring her tea, and when he entered the room, her face lit up with pure joy, pure pleasure, a pure welcome home.
Despite the troubling circumstances surrounding Felicity, Elise and Lucien had been enjoying a wonderful honeymoon period. He woke every morning to her beautiful face resting next to him on the pillows. She found ways throughout the day to touch him, to connect with him. And at night they surrendered to so many varied pleasures that his body thrummed just thinking about it.
But most important of all was that, slowly but steadily, they were rebuilding the trust and bond between them. Being broken had been the worst time of his life, but the break had led to healing stronger than ever. When he looked into his future, it seemed almost too bright to believe.
And it would be, if they could resolve the situation with Felicity.
“Good afternoon,” he said.
Elise moved toward him and kissed him on the cheek before she said, “Would you like tea, love?”
“Nothing, thank you. Where is Mama?”
“Upstairs,” Gray said. “She complained of a slight headache.”
“Probably better, as I do have some news.”
He saw Felicity stiffen visibly before she straightened up from her place standing with Celia and moved toward him. “News about me?”
He nodded. “Yes. Dane, I know you said that you are not as accomplished in tracing money trails as you are in other aspects of investigation.”
Dane shrugged almost apologetically. “Indeed, it was never my specialty.”
“Well, I have reached out to someone who has quite a deal of experience in financial dealings and he was once very close to our family, so he can be trusted.”
Felicity’s lips parted and her eyes went wide as she took yet another step toward him. “Lucien, you didn’t,” she whispered.
He wrinkled his brow, confused by the horror in her voice. “Didn’t reach out to Asher? Indeed, I did.”
Felicity made a soft sound, her face crumpling ever so slightly, and then she bolted from the room. Stenfax stared as she left, and turned his attention to Elise.
She was pale, but she met his gaze with a slight shake of her head. Rosalinde got to her feet. “Let me go after her. I know this is incredibly difficult.”
As she left, Dane said, “Who is Asher?”
Gray and Elise exchanged a look, and Gray said, “The son of an old servant of our father. He was about our age and was sometimes allowed to join us in our games. We all looked at him as a friend.”
“At least I thought Felicity did,” Stenfax mused softly, staring toward the door where she had fled.
“She…did,” Elise said slowly. “It’s a bit more complicated.”
Stenfax turned on her, eyes wide at that comment, but before he could ask more, Dane asked, “So the son of a servant could help us how, exactly?”
“Our family paid for his education,” Stenfax clarified, still trying to determine what Elise could have meant by complicated when it came to Asher and Felicity. “He is a widely respected solicitor now and has managed the finances of many a titled gentleman. If anyone knows about money trails, it’s him.”
“I see. Well, if you feel he would be of help, I’d welcome his expertise.”
“Good, because I’ve received word he’ll be here within a few days. I haven’t explained the situation to him beyond that Felicity is in a bit of trouble and we need his help. I thought it better to explain the particulars in person.”
Dane nodded. “I agree. No need to create more evidence with letters explaining Felicity’s situation. I look forward to meeting him.”
As Gray, Dane and Celia began to talk to each other again, Elise stepped up next to Stenfax, slipping her hand into his. He tilted his head as he looked at her. “Do you want to tell me what Felicity’s outburst was really about?”
She touched his face gently and smiled. “Were you really so blind that you never knew Felicity was in love with Asher all those years ago?”
“What?”
She nodded. “She’ll likely kill me for telling you, but you should know that bringing him here is a hornet’s nest waiting to be knocked from a tree.”
He sighed. “Well, it’s a hornet’s nest that could save my sister, so I am not sorry I’m risking it. Thank you for telling me.”
She leaned in and kissed him, and his mind emptied of its troubles in an instant. When she pulled back, she said, “No more secrets. It’s what I promised, it’s what I meant.”
He held her gaze evenly. “And it’s what I believe, my love. With all my heart. Just as I love you with all my heart.”
“And I love you. And once we’ve saved Felicity, which I know we will, I intend on spending the rest of my life proving it.”
He cupped her chin, not caring that everyone else in the room could see. “My love, you don’t need to prove anything. Not ever again.”
Then he leaned down and kissed her. And for that moment, all was right in his world.
Excerpt of
Adored in Autumn
Seasons Book 4
Asher Seyton swung down from his horse and looked up at the dark and shadowy house that rose up before him. It had been six years since he last crossed the threshold up those eight stone stairs. Six long and sometimes lonely years that were haunted by memory and longing he’d never been able to fully suppress.
Now he was back and he’d have to face those feelings again. Fully.
The door opened at the same time a servant came rushing down to take his horse. Asher blinked as the young man gave him a smart bow and murmured something about taking care of the animal. He’d held that same job once. He’d held many jobs on this estate while growing up here.
“Thank you,” he said before he began to take those eight stairs two by two. At the top, he was greeted by a familiar face, that of Taylor, the same butler who had served here during his father’s time as the last Earl of Stenfax’s valet.
“Mr. Seyton,” Taylor said with a wide and very welcoming smile. “My goodness, it is good to see you again.”
“And you, Taylor. You haven’t aged a day.”
Taylor arched a brow and shook his head. “You flatter, sir.”
Asher shifted at being called sir by a man who’d once boxed his ears. A man who had also taught him how to execute a
formal bow just like the one the boy had performed toward him a few moments before.
“You are up late,” Asher said, shaking off the strange feelings that mobbed him. “It is after midnight.”
“Lord Stenfax received your message that you would be arriving tonight very late,” Taylor explained as he stepped back and motioned Asher toward the foyer. “I volunteered to greet you.”
Asher caught a breath as he entered the foyer. The house looked exactly the same as he remembered it. Beautiful, fine, but still welcoming. Rather like the family who had resided here for generations. A family that had allowed him to sometimes be part of it.
Until…
Well, there was no use thinking of that. Not when he was…home? It oddly felt like home to him.
“It was kind of you to do so,” Asher said and noticed that Taylor had his hand out. “Er?”
“Your hat, sir? And your coat?” Taylor said.
Asher shifted as he removed those things. “I am accustomed to this, of course, but not from a man I once called sir,” Asher said with a laugh. “Is there no way for us to go back to a less formal interaction?”
Taylor’s face softened. “You’ve made good of yourself, Mr. Seyton. You should embrace all that comes with. In the end, there is no going back, only forward.”
Asher swallowed. Yes, those were good words and ones for him to keep in mind as he made his way through the tricky maze he would surely find here. After all, he’d been called under mysterious circumstances. Stenfax hadn’t been explicit in his explanation of why Asher was needed so desperately. He had only written:
Felicity is in some trouble.
After that, nothing else had mattered. It would have taken being drawn and quartered for Asher not to make it here as soon as he could manage.
“How is your father, Mr. Seyton?” Taylor asked, drawing Asher’s attention back to the present.
He smiled. “Well, thank you for asking. His hands bother him a bit, but he very much likes the sea air and the countryside that retirement affords.”
He kept his smile on his face and did not add that he sometimes felt his father was hiding out. He’d never really been the same after his second wife had died. A woman Asher had never met, thanks to circumstances he still didn’t fully understand even after decades. And after the situation with Asher, his father had declared he was done with service and quit his duties here rather unexpectedly.
“That’s wonderful,” Taylor said. “When the family returns to London in the spring, perhaps I’ll have to take a day and make a call on my old friend.”
“He’d love it,” Asher said with a wider smile. “He’s only a day and a half away from here, you know. I intend to call on him whenever Stenfax releases me from this duty.”
Taylor’s face pinched a little and Asher stiffened. Whatever was happening with the family, it was clearly bad.
“Well, you must be exhausted after your long ride,” Taylor said. “A room is ready for you.”
“My old one,” Asher said with a grin. He wondered if his initials were still carved on the wooden beam by the window.
Taylor’s face twisted in something akin to horror. “Of course not, sir. You have a chamber prepared for you in the guest quarters. The Rose Room.”
Asher’s eyes went wide. He had never considered that he would be placed as a guest in the house he’d once served. And in the Rose Room, so named because it overlooked the gardens. It was the one of the best chambers in the guest side of the house.
“I see,” he said slowly.
“Shall I show you up?” Taylor asked.
Asher shook his head. “No, I remember where it is. You go to bed, Taylor.”
The butler seemed a bit uncomfortable with that idea but then nodded slowly. “Very well. The boy who took your horse will also bring your valise up and leave it by your door before he goes to bed. You’ll find it there in the morning.”
Asher nodded. “I remember that well. Good night.”
“Good night, sir.” Taylor gave one of his smart bows and left the foyer.
Asher stared around him once more, then sighed deeply. He was here so late, it seemed he would have once more sleepless night before he discovered the truth…before he faced Felicity again. He wasn’t certain if that fact made him pleased or frustrated. Both, perhaps. He needed the time to prepare himself, but he also longed to see her.
He took a deep breath and then climbed up the stairs. He’d slid down this banister once as a child, following behind the current Earl of Stenfax. Oh, how his father had boxed his ears then. He’d reminded Asher he was allowed to pretend, but he wasn’t one of them.
Of course he wasn’t.
He turned reached the top of the stairs. Go left and he would find his way to the guest quarters and the Rose Room where he could rest his head. Go right and he’d slip toward the family doors. He still knew Felicity’s by heart. How many days and nights had he passed by it and gotten a powerful thrill knowing she was just behind it? Wondering what she was doing or wearing. Or not wearing.
He would have moved to his room, but just as he allowed himself a quick peek down the hall, Felicity’s door opened and she, herself, stepped outside.
Asher nearly pitched over backward down the steep staircase at the sight of her. Her blonde hair was down in long waves around her shoulders and back and she had a dressing gown tied tightly around her slender waist. Her feet were bare and she held a candle in her hand.
She turned toward him and her breath caught at the same moment their eyes met. Her expression brightened with a brief moment of pleasure and for a flash she looked just like the innocent, bright and happy girl he’d known and wanted all those years ago.
But then she swept that reaction away, her expression becoming guarded. And even from five feet away, even by candlelight and dim lamp light, he saw something that broke his heart.
He saw the hollow emptiness in her eyes. It was masked as bored sophistication, but he saw the truth.
“Asher,” she murmured as she took a long step toward him.
His body clenched at the sound of his given name formed almost in half-time from those full lips he’d only tasted one time. Lips he still dreamed about, fantasized about.
Even now, his body lurched with want. His hands shook with the desire to stride across the short distance between them and sweep her up against him, feel her mold into his body until there was no space, no breath, nothing but her and him and them.
But it wasn’t six years ago and he understood life so much better now. What he wanted wasn’t possible. His father had said as much then, now he knew the truth.
A woman like Felicity was out of his reach.
“Hello, my lady,” he choked out, reverting to formality to protect him from desires.
It was all he could do, in the end.
Coming January 2017
Other Books by
Jess Michaels
Seasons
An Affair in Winter (Book 1)
A Spring Deception (Book 2)
One Summer of Surrender (Book 3)
Adored in Autumn (Book 4 – Coming January 2017)
The Wicked Woodleys
Forbidden (Book 1)
Deceived (Book 2)
Tempted (Book 3)
Ruined (Book 4)
Seduced (Book 5)
The Notorious Flynns
The Other Duke (Book 1)
The Scoundrel’s Lover (Book 2)
The Widow Wager (Book 3)
No Gentleman for Georgina (Book 4)
A Marquis for Mary (Book 5)
The Ladies Book of Pleasures
A Matter of Sin
A Moment of Passion
A Measure of Deceit
The Pleasure Wars Series
Taken By the Duke
Pleasuring The Lady
Beauty and the Earl
Beautiful Distraction
About the Author
Jess Michaels writes erotic historical romance from her home in Tucson, AZ with her husband and one adorable kitty cat. She has written over 60 books, enjoys long walks in the desert and once wrestled a bear over a piece of pie. One of these things is a lie.
Jess loves to hear from fans! So please feel free to contact her in any of the following ways (or carrier pigeon):
www.AuthorJessMichaels.com
Email: [email protected]
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