Page 43 of A Lady’s Dangerous Secret (Scandalous Secrets #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

S he’s going to kill me , James thought, while he waited at the altar for his bride to walk down the aisle.

He stood resplendent in a black, superfine long-tailed coat, gray waistcoat, and black breeches buttoned just below the knee, with white stockings and black shoes.

James now had a valet who had dressed him up finer than usual, it being his wedding day and all.

James felt like a dandy with his cravat meticulously fashioned into an Osbaldeston.

Gabe stood beside him in his formal dress, looking dapper as usual.

The doors of the church opened, and James’s breath caught as the most beautiful image appeared before him.

Well, almost the most beautiful. Charlotte was gorgeous in a white gown with an astounding number of sapphires and diamonds glistening upon her, but her brow was furrowed.

Was she truly angry at him? He had hoped he would have a happy bride on his wedding day, in spite of his tardiness.

He saw her glance at the portly gentleman leading her down the aisle, whom he assumed to be her father, Lord Pulverbatch. Her brow furrowed more deeply. Ah, perhaps James was not the cause for her disdain.

Charlotte pushed her shoulders back and tilted her chin up like the empress of his dreams and looked down the aisle.

Charlotte’s eyes locked with his and her brow relaxed.

A smile spread across her lovely face. As she walked down the aisle, James could not tear his own gaze from those two cornflower-blue eyes that were fixed upon him.

He was the luckiest man in the world. He did not know what he had ever done to deserve such a breathtaking woman as Lottie.

When his soon-to-be bride reached the altar, her eyes were misty.

James grinned like a fool, because he was so happy.

Lord Pulverbatch left her side without so much as a glance.

James would never be able to stop looking at Lottie.

He would make up for all the times her family ignored the treasure that was Charlotte Tipton.

He smiled even further. She would be Charlotte Hughes from now on, and be all his to worship for the rest of their lives.

James took hold of her hands, and the bishop began the ceremony.

He was too busy memorizing Lottie’s every detail to pay attention to what the clergyman was saying.

He noticed that one tendril of chestnut hair had escaped her chignon and curled near her right ear.

He realized her eyes appeared a deeper blue than usual and matched the color of the Strait of Gibraltar as the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea became one.

He had to remember every single part of this day.

James realized belatedly that the wedding guests had emitted a collective gasp and that Lottie’s mouth had formed a delectable O . He blinked and looked around, trying to understand what had happened. The guests spoke excitedly with each other.

The bishop looked down his nose at James. “Lord Thornbridge?”

Now James understood. The morning had been a blur.

He had received an urgent summons from Morris just as dawn was breaking.

James made haste to the docks, but was waylaid by his hackney throwing a wheel.

He had to search for another one at such an early hour.

Finally, he made it to his meeting spot with Morris, where the Bow Street Runner triumphantly held a piece of vellum they had found underneath a floorboard in Roberts’s apartment.

James quickly learned that it was from the registry of the church in which his parents were married.

James rushed back to Mayfair to swiftly change for his own wedding.

He did not have time to notify anyone aside from dispatching an urgent message to the bishop.

James glanced to the front pew and saw his parents embrace with joy, despite the impropriety of the gesture.

He turned back and found Lottie recovered from the initial shock.

She quirked an eyebrow, and James shrugged his shoulders.

Her chest vibrated with a silent chuckle.

Meanwhile, the bishop tried to quiet the guests to resume the service.

The Duke’s voice boomed over the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Marquess of Thornbridge needs to marry his marchioness.” The guests laughed and settled down.

His father ensured everyone’s attention was directed to the front of the church before he took his seat.

The bishop cleared his throat and continued through the ceremony without further interruptions.

When the service reached the final segment, Gabe handed James the gold posy ring that had been worn by generations of Marchionesses of Thornbridge.

The exterior had delicate floral engravings while the inside was inscribed with the words, My Heart is Yours .

James’s father had given him the ring, not knowing if he would ever truly become the marquess.

James looked down at his beautiful bride and tears welled in her eyes once more. He recited the age-old pledge to forever love and cherish the woman before him.

“With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”

James slid the ring onto the fourth finger of Lottie’s left hand. After what felt like eons, the ceremony finally ended.

James looked at the woman he loved whom he could finally call wife .

Husband.

Charlotte could not believe she was married to James.

She arranged the silk skirt of her dress on the seat of one of the ducal coaches to prevent wrinkles from developing before the wedding breakfast at the Westcliffe manse.

James climbed in after her, and his imposing form seemed to take up the entire opposite side of the carriage.

He leaned forward and tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m so happy.”

Charlotte smiled widely back at him. “I am too, but why did you almost miss the ceremony?” She was no longer angry but curious as to what happened. James proceeded to explain the emergent missive that delayed him earlier that morning.

“I thought you had simply forgotten about me just like most of my family. But then, Arthur suspected something terrible had happened to you. I was sure it was le Diable and feared for your safety. I can’t lose you.”

James reached out and grabbed her hands, his large palms easily surrounding her own. “I would never forget about you. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to give a warning in advance. Morris summoned me so urgently, and I assumed I would be able to make it back in time.”

“I forgive you, husband .” Charlotte’s cheeks flushed, and she gazed hungrily at the virile man before her.

“I accept your apology, my wife, my lady, my marchioness.” The side of his mouth lifted. “I didn’t need the title, but you deserve to have what you’re accustomed to and more.”

“I would have married you no matter what the circumstances. Our love is worth more than all the titles, all the gold and diamonds in the world.”

Charlotte tilted her head and raised her eyebrows. She added teasingly, “Or insurance money.”

James looked down abashed. “You know I really wasn’t going to turn you in,” he muttered.

“I’m grateful your father made the case disappear.”

James lifted his eyes. “I hate to admit it since I still don’t like the ton , but I’m glad he has some powerful friends.”

“You’re one of us now,” Charlotte jested.

James let out a disgruntled sigh. Before he could lament his new place in Society, the carriage jolted as it made a turn.

Charlotte, who had already leaned forward while James held her hands, lurched toward him.

James caught her before she could fall and swiftly scooped her into his lap.

He took care not to jostle her left arm.

“Well, this is convenient.” His mood changed and his eyes darkened. He looked like he would devour Charlotte.

“Is that so?” she responded playfully.

“The supervised visits these past few weeks have been torture. Knowing what it was like to be inside you and then having it taken away was a cruel punishment.”

Charlotte’s heart beat faster at James’s dirty words. She squeezed her legs together to curb the pulsation between them.

She wrapped her right arm around James’s neck. “It’s been torture for me too. But we have the wedding breakfast, and we can’t arrive disheveled.”

“It’s our wedding. We can arrive any way we please.” James’s arousal nudged her bottom.

“I wanted us to have a proper wedding night, but I don’t think I can keep my hands off you until then.

” One of James’s hands toyed with her breast as he spoke.

Even though there was a barrier of fabric, her nipple hardened immediately, and moisture pooled between her legs.

Charlotte did not think she could fight the need she felt for James.

“Then ravish me,” Charlotte challenged. She grabbed James’s head and pulled his mouth toward her own.

The moment their lips connected, everything felt right in the world. James thrust his tongue into her mouth, and Charlotte eagerly responded. This was not a slow seduction. It was a pent-up desire that had grown over the past few weeks and was suddenly unleashed.

James broke the kiss, and Charlotte felt the sudden void, only to be replaced by a tingling feeling as his lips traveled down her neck to her collarbone.

Although he was careful not to disturb her wound, he took no time in pulling down the front of her gown, allowing her breasts to spring free from their constraints.

“I’ve been waiting too long.” James looked up at Charlotte for a moment, long enough for her to see the hunger in his silvery eyes before he returned his attention to her breasts.

He devoured them as if they were a delectable dessert.

His tongue lapped her left nipple that hardened in response and a jolt of sensation traveled from her breast to her core.

He sucked her nipple with just a little bit of teeth.

The heady mix between the nipping and soothing motions of his tongue made it even more pleasurable.

Charlotte wiggled her bottom over James’s arousal, wanting more.

His member hardened further, adding to the unmet sexual tension in the carriage.

James moved to her other breast and gave it much of the same attention.

She heard a moan and realized it had escaped from her mouth.

She threw her head back from the overwhelming passion that coursed through her body.

James’s hand crept up her leg and reached her garter, but he kept going.

She felt his calloused fingers delicately trace her inner thigh. Charlotte shivered.

James raised his head from her breast. “Are you chilly?” he murmured.

“No,” Charlotte responded breathlessly, not able to formulate much of a response. James returned to her breast while his hand continued its journey toward her center.

He reached his target and looked at Charlotte once again. “You’re so wet for me. Only for me.”

“Only you,” Charlotte moaned. James let out a groan and then two fingers entered her core and thrusted in and out.

He spread her juices over her pearl and used his thumb to stroke her most sensitive area.

Sensations swelled in Charlotte, and she writhed in James’s lap, trying to handle them all.

Despite the frenzied feeling within her, something was still missing.

James thrust inside her and rubbed her pearl, but the feeling did not grow quickly enough.

“More,” Charlotte demanded. James chuckled, though his voice sounded distant because she was so consumed with reaching her ultimate pleasure.

James lowered his head and sucked her nipple while he continued his ministrations lower down.

Charlotte breathed rapidly, and she rode James’s hand shamelessly.

James gave another swipe of his thumb, and everything exploded.

Charlotte yelled out his name, and her whole body shook uncontrollably.

The most heavenly sensations permeated her.

James eased his thrusting but continued to attend to her pearl. Despite reaching the peak of her bliss, each wet stroke of James’s thumb on her nub caused ripples of her orgasm to continue. She kept calling out his name, not wanting this feeling to ever end.

When all her pleasure had finally been spent, Charlotte’s head dropped onto James’s chest from sheer exhaustion.

Her eyes closed while her breasts remained exposed and uninhibited.

James eased his hand out from under her dress.

Charlotte heard a sucking sound as James licked her juices off his fingers.

Charlotte was too tired to open her eyes, but she quickly formed an erotic image of her husband savoring her.

While Charlotte drifted off to sleep, she distantly noticed that James’s arousal was still protruding into her bottom.

Before she could think more about it, her mind went blank.