Lily and Rose nodded. They loved their grandmother’s ring and the story attached to it. They also knew it would be perfect for Rhia.
Aidan swallowed hard. He knew what that ring meant to his mother and it meant a lot that she would be willing to give it Rhia. “Thank you, mother.”
Lydia squeezed his hand. “I knew that there needed to be someone special enough for that ring. Trust me Aidan. It will be perfect for her. And, I don’t think you will even need it sized. My mother always said that no matter what she did through the years, her ring would always fit. I am certain it will be like that for Rhia as well.”
Aidan smiled at his mother and she rushed over to a small jewelry box that sat on her chest of drawers. She opened a compartment and pulled out the ring box.
She brought it over to Aidan, and though he had seen the ring many times, Aidan sucked in a breath. He could see himself giving Rhia this ring and the future they would have together.
The ring was silver gold with a large emerald cut diamond in the middle and two smaller emerald cut diamonds on either side. The rest of the ring was smooth on the band and Aidan knew this was it. Could see himself giving Rhia the ring and her accepting with tears in her eyes and love shining from every inch of her being.
Lily and Rose were standing off to the side, and when he reached out and took the ring box from his mother, they both burst into tears.
He looked up to see his mother’s eyes swimming with tears also. He touched the ring with the tip of one finger and smiled.
Then, he shut the box, put it in his jacket and pulled his mother in for another hug. “Thank you, mother, I know how much this ring means to you.”
Lydia sniffled and Aidan pulled out his handkerchief and handed it to her.
She wiped her eyes and dabbed at her nose delicately, and then tucked the handkerchief away.
Aidan smiled and saw Cole helping their sisters calm down as well.
Lydia touched Aidan’s scarred cheek, “I know you didn’t think love would find you, but I am so grateful it did. I cannot wait to call her my daughter.”
Aidan smiled, “I think tomorrow at the ball, I will ask her. That way all of London knows I am taken. The beast finally found a bride.”
Lydia smacked his arm lightly. “I don’t want you to give them fodder for gossip or rumors. And you most certainly aren’t a beast.”
Aidan chuckled. “I know. I want to do this right. And I don’t want Katarina thinking she has a right to me, or for any of those mothers there to think that I am available. I will be taken and that’s final. Everyone will know. I am glad that everyone will see what a perfect duchess I chose. She will be perfect at it. I have no doubt.”
Lydia smiled, “Of course she will. I will make sure the gardens are ready and you can ask her in private first. Then we will announce it before Katarina can try anything.”
Cole laughed from where he was standing. “Oh, you just know she is going to love that. Getting upstaged by a wonderful girl like Rhia. It’s beyond perfect.”
Aidan chuckled too. “I do like the idea of it. It has a certain charm and for us to knock her off her pedestal? I am definitely all right with that. She has given us so many problems and has caused Rhia such heartache, that I am looking forward to knocking her down a peg. It is definitely needed.”
Lily and Rose giggled and Rose said, “I am excited to see her face. Oh it will be perfect. Rhia’s and Katarina’s.”
Lily said, “I can’t wait to see Rhia wear that ring. She is going to love it. And Katarina? Well, it will be sweet, sweet justice.”.
A knock sounded at the door and Lydia rose from her seat to answer it.
It was Mrs. Peabody. “Excuse me, my lady, there is a problem with some of the new maids and footmen. I wanted to ask for your advice or help if you may?”
Lydia nodded, “Of course. Lily, Rose and I will be down shortly.”
Cole spoke up, “I can help also.”
Aidan said, “I need to go check on Rhia, and help her today. I was thinking of taking her out to see some of our land.”
Cole laughed, “Have fun winning her over. Not that you need to try hard, she looks at you like you hung the stars in the sky.”
Aidan grinned, “I like that thought. I cannot wait to make her my wife. That is certain.”
Lydia said, “Just be careful. She is still trying to recover.”
Aidan nodded, “I will remember that. Thank you.”
Lydia grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “You are welcome.”
Aidan kissed her softly on the cheek and shook Cole’s hand. Then, with the ring heavy in his pocket, he turned to Rhia’s room.
He felt nervous and excited. He wanted to show her all the property around the manor. He wanted her to fall in love with his home. Their home.
Because with the ring he had in his pocket, tomorrow night at the ball he was going to get down on one knee and ask her to be his wife. He just hoped that she would say yes.
He got to her door and knocked softly. He heard a rustle of skirts, and soft, deliberate footsteps, then Rhia opened the door and he grinned. “Good morning Rhiannon. I hope you slept well.”
Rhia smiled back, “Good morning Aidan. I did, thank you.”
Aidan took her hand and brought it to his lips and gave her a soft kiss to the back, and then turned her hand over and kissed the center of her palm.
She looked up at him, a sparkle in her eyes. She brought her hand up to cup his face, and Aidan pushed her back in her room and kissed her softly after he shut the door.
She kissed him back, “Well, I certainly don’t mind having every morning start this way, I am not complaining.”
Aidan smiled again. “Me either. I loved it. Be careful what you wish for, I am certainly more than happy to greet you that way every morning.” He leaned down and kissed her again.
“Can I take you somewhere?” he asked, putting his forehead to hers.
Rhia sighed and nodded. “Of course.”
Aidan took her hand and they left the room. Rhia’s leg did great until they got to the stairs. Aidan saw the apprehension on her face and he scooped her up into his arms.
He knew that they had guests, but he didn’t care. There wasn’t anyone around, and he wanted to hold his woman in his arms. So, he was going to do just that.
He walked down the stairs and put her down at the bottom. He looked around and kissed her cheek. Wishing he could do more, but knowing someone could see them, he let it go.
He led her out the front doors and they walked carefully and slowly down to the mews.
Rhia pulled him to a stop, “What are we doing?”
Aidan kissed the back of her hand again. He just couldn’t help himself.
“We are riding around the estate today.”
Rhia frowned up at him. “I cannot ride Aidan remember? It hurt my leg too much.”
Aidan smiled, “Do you trust me?”
Rhia nodded, “Of course I do.”
“Then trust that I won’t hurt your leg. I want to see how well you do with me on my horse. I know you did all right with it when we rode here.”
Rhia laughed, “I don’t really remember that. I was cold and shivering so much that it is more of a blur.”
Aidan chuckled, “I remember for the both of us. You were in my arms just fine on my horse. Can we give it a try? If it hurts your leg too much, we can stop.”
Rhia bit her lip, and Aidan pulled it from her teeth. “I told you not to punish this lip Rhia. It is too important to me. Especially now.”
Rhia laughed, “All right, let’s give this a try.”
Aidan went to where his horse stood, already ready for their ride. Rhia looked up at him, “You knew I would go along with this?”
Aidan chuckled, “I really hoped you would. And, I was right.”
Rhia smiled and Aidan walked to the horse and swung up into the saddle. He looked so good up there, and she sighed softly.
This handsome man she had only known f
or such a short time was quickly taking over her thoughts. He reached his hand out to her, and without doubts or reservations, she grabbed it.
He hauled her up in front of him with hardly any effort, getting her situated on his lap, and she laughed. “Well, you certainly know how to get a girl to do what you want.”
Aidan guffawed. “Only you Rhia, only you.”
Rhia melted into his arms, and her leg didn’t even twinge. It was quite comfortable with his thighs supporting hers.
It felt so good to be on a horse again. She had missed it more than she realized.
Aidan reached around her and picked up the reins. With Rhia cradled in his arms, he felt invincible. They went out the doors of the stable and Aidan nudged the horse to give them more speed.
Rhia laughed as they started galloping and Aidan squeezed her tighter. She felt free. And it felt wonderful. He gave her this too. She didn’t know what to do for him in return, but she wanted to do something for him.
They got to a copse of trees and Aidan pulled the horse to a stop. He got off the horse and grabbed Rhia by the waist and carefully slid her down his body.
She sucked in a breath, and he did also. They were all alone out here. Just like they were yesterday.
Rhia looked up into Aidan’s deep green eyes and he leaned down and kissed her. She tried to keep her eyes open to see him, but her eyes fell closed as Aidan’s lips touched hers.
He kissed her softly at first, and then she felt the tip of his tongue trace the seam of her lips and she opened her mouth to deepen the kiss.
She put her hands around his shoulders and they burrowed into his wealth of hair of their own volition. Kissing him felt so right. Aidan pulled back, breathing hard. “This wasn’t my goal when I brought you out here. I just wanted to kiss you.”
Rhia let his hair go, and let her hands slide down his arms. “I get lost in your lips Aidan. I didn’t know it could be like that.”
Aidan’s eyes closed and he took a deep breath. “I love your hands on me. I get lost in your lips too. I just hope you know I don’t want to push you too hard, too fast. I haven’t done this before. Or felt this way.”
He ran his hands through his hair, disheveling it further. “I can’t seem to help myself when you are around. I know you aren’t the kind of woman to be treated that way. I just kiss you and the world fades away.”
He turned to look at her and cupped her face in his hands. Rhia smiled up at him, “I know you wouldn’t treat me that way. You don’t have it in you to treat people badly. It never crossed my mind.”
Aidan breathed a sigh of relief and put his forehead to hers. “There is something about you Rhia, I feel it deep inside, and I want to see more. Explore more. But, for now, let me show you what I brought you here to see.”
She nodded and he pulled away from her and took her hand, kissing it quickly, he led them around the copse of trees, pointing out different things he found, the trees he used to climb, and such.
He showed her a lot of the grounds and they kissed and talked throughout the day, happy to be together, away from prying eyes and Rhia loved seeing Aidan in his element.
Seeing how free he was out here was good for her heart. And he loved taking her around, hoping that she would fall in love with his land, because after tomorrow night, it would soon be her land as well.
He could tell that she was getting tired, so he gathered her in his arms, and got back on his horse. He rode slowly toward home, and nudged her awake when they made it to the mews.
He swung down first, and lifted his hands to help her down as well, Lily ran out to the mews and jumped up and down excitedly.
“Rhia! Your gown arrived today! Come try it on. We need to see if there is anything we need to fix. The ball is tomorrow night. We have no time to waste!”
Rhia laughed, suddenly not tired in the least, “All right, I really want to see this beautiful dress that you ordered.”
Lily helped Rhia over to the stairs and between Lily and Rose, Rhia was able to climb them.
She was out of breath, but she felt so good knowing she had climbed the stairs.
Aidan had come up behind them, watching to make sure Rhia could get to the top. Sure enough, she did great.
They walked to Lydia’s suite and Aidan was shut outside, and he walked to his own room to change his clothes. He knew that he needed to greet the guests in his home sometime.
The night before had been magical for Rhia. She had never had someone pick such a magnificent gown for her before and trying it on with the girls had been such a wonderful experience. Rhia loved Aidan’s family so much. Especially his mother. She hadn’t felt this loved since her own mother had passed away and it made Rhia so happy that Lydia treated her like one of her own daughters.
The next morning, Rhia had most of the day to herself. Aidan and Cole were busy putting up decorations, as were Rose, Lily and Lydia. She didn’t love spending the day alone, but Aidan had brought her a book and Rhia hadn’t read one in so long, that she was thrilled to get the chance to lose herself in the pages of one.
She had asked them if they needed any help, but Aidan had refused. Telling her that he wanted the ballroom to be a surprise. She loved that he wanted to surprise her, though she felt silly for not helping out.
He had come this morning to her room and kissed her senseless before he went to help out. Which made her bury her fingers in his hair as he did so. When he finally pulled away, his lips were swollen and wet from their kiss, as hers were. She also felt her cheeks warm from his beard. She loved that beard of his. She traced his scar and Aidan kissed the palm of her hand before he left.
She loved his kisses and was quickly getting addicted to them and the feel of Aidan surrounding her in his large arms. His body blocking out the world.
She had been disappointed because she hadn’t seen him last night. He would normally say goodnight to her, but he must have been too busy, because he hadn’t come. It was fine, she knew he was a busy man and couldn’t devote all of his time to her, but she had missed him, and his kisses dearly.
She thought of him through the night, unable to sleep because she was excited and nervous about the ball. She wanted nothing more than to have him dance with her, and to be held tightly in his embrace. To spend the night dancing with the man she loved. In front of all those people.
Aidan knew she had never danced at a ball, but he told her he was confident they would be able to dance together at least once. She smiled at that.
She was sitting in her room, reading a book Aidan had gotten for her the night before, when her door was opened so hard it hit the other wall. She jumped, the loud noise in her quiet room unexpected, and she watched as Katarina again sauntered into her room without knocking or caring about Aidan’s words to stay away from her.
She sighed. “May I help you?” The words were barely out of her mouth before Katarina stalked up to her, “You had better not think of coming to my ball tonight. A whore doesn’t belong among polite society. I will not have such filth dirtying up my ball.”
Rhia leaned back in her chair, taken aback by her rudeness once again. “I believe it is Aidan’s decision, not yours Katarina. Heavens, you don’t have a nice thing to say about anyone do you? Once again, I have to remind you that making assumptions about someone is not polite, and isn’t done around society. I am not a whore, not Aidan’s or Cole’s. What is your problem? You know nothing about me. Not a single thing. But you seem to think it’s all right to come into my room, multiple times and call me a whore. I think you should leave. Since you still cannot just speak to me in a normal fashion.”
Katarina sucked in a breath. “I will speak to you however I wish. Your feelings mean nothing to me. This ball is my key to a better life. And I won’t have you there causing a scene and having people gossip about you. That takes the attention away from me, and I won’t have it. I won’t stand for it.” she sneered the last words out.
“I am attending the ball because it is Aidan’s de
cision, not yours. He has asked me to attend. So has his mother, and his siblings. I am afraid you will have to go try to intimidate someone else. Nothing you can say to me is going to scare me away. Go find someone else to bully.”
Katarina was seething, her fists were clenched and she was breathing hard. “You will not come to my ball if I have anything to say about it. You are nothing to me, nothing to those people. They will eat you alive. You are just an upstart girl trying to up her way in the world by any means necessary. You don’t know how to handle a man like Aidan. Trust me on that. A cripple like you? The only way you could be anything in his world is by spreading your legs. That’s just a fact. I will get my way about the ball. I always get my way.”
With that, she turned, her nose in the air and left the room.
The door stood open and Rhia was breathing hard, trying not to cry. It seemed like that was something she was bound to do quite often around that woman.
She slumped in her chair, not caring that the door stood open. Still stunned that someone would think she would act that way. Still angry that no matter how good of a person she was, they would see what they wanted to see.
She was in love with Aidan, and she wasn’t sleeping with him. She wasn’t that kind of girl. Yes, she knew in the stable’s things had gotten heated and a little out of control, but she never thought Aidan would use her that way. She didn’t think he was the sort of man to act that way.
She knew Katarina was trying to get a rise out of her. And it was working. She couldn’t let it affect her. She needed to let that girl know in no uncertain terms that she wasn’t going anywhere.
She had finally made up her mind about staying. About Aidan. She was in love with him, and she wouldn’t run from him. Not now. Because now she didn’t want to leave. Not when she had found something in Aidan that she never thought she would. She knew without a doubt this is where she needed to be. She wouldn’t let Katarina try to bully her to leave.
The Duke Who Loved Me Page 26
