Page 24

A s he’d done before Thea had moved up to the castle and taken over the marchioness’s rooms, Shay stood at the doorway watching her as she wrote. Unlike when she’d lived in the cottage, his arrival was not announced by his heavy boots on the wooden porch. Instead, thick carpet in the hallway muted his steps and he was able to watch her longer than he’d been able to before.

She was beautiful, despite the shabby gown and messy hair. He knew under the gown would be a new shift, silky and adorned with the best French lace. He was certain because he’d purchased them for her himself and instructed Frannie to get rid of her other tattered garments. New gowns would arrive soon enough but it was those shifts that intrigued him.

He’d not gotten the chance to see them yet, though they’d been prominent in his recent fantasies.

For a moment he thought Thea had escaped a smudge of ink that morning, but then he saw it, on her wrist today. Seeing it brought a smile to his face, just as his wife looked up to catch him there.

“Good morning, my lord.”

He made a noise and waved his hand. “No need to be so formal. I plan to call you by your name. Thea.”

He enjoyed seeing the shiver shake her shoulders.

“And what would you like me to call you? Dearest husband?”

“It is rather long. Might I suggest, the god who makes my legs tremble with desire ?”

“Yes. That is quite a bit shorter. I should have thought of it.” She laughed.

He stepped closer and cleared his throat.

“I have something for you.”

“Oh? A present? Was the castle not enough?”

He shook his head feeling nervous, and held out the ring. There was no box and he realized then he could have gotten one before now, but it was too late now.

Thea gasped as she looked down at the ring, a pearl locked inside a knot.

“It’s beautiful.”

“You will have access to the Flemming jewels as is your station, but this piece belonged to my mother.” What he couldn’t say was that it had never been part of the Flemming jewels.

“Thank you. I will cherish it always.” She smiled as she slipped it on her finger. But his nerves kicked up again when the smile faded slightly.

“What is it?” he asked. If she didn’t like it he would get her whatever she wanted. Anything to make her happy.

“You’ve not invited me to your bed since we married. Did I do something wrong? If so, you need only guide me in how you would prefer—”

“Thea,” he interrupted because he couldn’t stand to let another second go by with her thinking she had displeased him in some way. Not when quite the opposite was true. Leave it to his new wife to just blurt out the thing that had been silent this last week. What she lacked in size, she made up for in courage. It was time for him to be as brave. “You have pleased me in all ways. That is not…”

He paused, realizing he’d inadvertently traversed into an area he hadn’t planned to discuss. Not yet.

“I must admit,” she said, “I have thought of little else. I don’t know how I’ll manage to finish this book when I don’t give a damn about who has the blasted feather.”

He laughed at her language. It was not the first time he’d heard her curse, but for some reason he enjoyed hearing such coarse words on her tongue. His body stirred and he wondered if she’d done that on purpose.

Perhaps women were born with inherent instincts on how to lure a man to his doom. Like a flower’s sweetness lured the honeybee. Her honesty was yet another thing that brought him closer to her desk.

“I want you just as much,” he admitted for he was not going to be weak when his wife was so brave.

“Then you have no regrets on marrying me yet?” she asked. She smiled, but he could tell this had been on her mind. Damn his inattention for making her think such a thing.

“There’s nothing I regret except not making sure you knew how wonderful you are.”

“But you’ve not asked me to your rooms.” Thea was not one to back away until she’d gotten to the heart of the matter. He would tell her the parts he was comfortable with, at least.

“You’ve been writing long into the night and I didn’t want to disrupt.”

She tilted her head to the side in a challenging expression before standing.

“You have disrupted me nearly every day of our acquaintance until we married, why would the evenings be different?” She stepped around the desk and he couldn’t help but look toward the door so to know his path of escape if needed. She was like a lioness circling her prey.

She’d batted his first excuse away, so he offered another.

“I didn’t know how to ask. Our wedding night had been one thing. An expectation to consummate our vows. But how could I ask for more from a woman who never planned to marry in the first place?”

She shook her head.

“No. You are not a man who would forgo something he wanted because of a bit of awkwardness. You didn’t hesitate before. I don’t think that is the reason you hesitate now.” She took a few steps closer.

He was in danger of telling her everything.

But then he remembered, he had another card to play, so to speak. He had something she wanted. Him. He could distract her by giving her the very thing they both wanted.

It was an easy thing to turn the tables on Thea. To step up, meeting her so their chests touched. He bent to kiss her. No, it wasn’t a kiss so much as a claiming of her mouth.

When she was gasping and dazed, he scooped her into his arms and carried her through the private doors between her rooms and his. He set her down in front of his bed and began tugging at their clothes. Now that he’d started down this path, he couldn’t wait to lie with her.

He ripped her gown in an effort to unfasten the buttons.

“You are a danger to my wardrobe, my lord.”

“I will see you are not forced to walk around the estate naked.” He paused and then looked at her. “Perhaps I should rethink the situation.”

She batted him playfully in the arm and he took the advantage by grasping her arm and kissing the spot of ink that had been tempting him on her wrist. “I do hope I’ll not have to replace all my linens having all this ink in my bed.”

She laughed again and reached for the falls of his trews. She managed better than she had the first night, but she was still too slow for his liking. After another button, he took over, all the sooner to get to her.

He pulled off one of her stockings and then the next before tugging the ugly dress off of her. And then he stepped back.

“The modiste will receive my thanks for this work of art,” he mumbled.

He’d asked for something pretty. Silk and lace. And the woman had delivered. The lace cutouts were strategically placed at certain areas to tempt a man. He could just see the shadow of a pink nipple, and the hint of blond hair lower between her legs.

As lovely as it was though, he found he wanted to rip it from her body like the last one. Some hint of his intentions must have shown in his eyes for she stepped back and held up a scolding finger.

“No you don’t, my lord. I love this new shift and I’ll not have you ripping it. I will remove it.”

“Then hurry.”

Fortunately, she did.

They came together with a groan of pleasure as if they’d been away from each other for years instead of a mere week. He was quite proud of his distraction. And perhaps it wouldn’t matter this time. If he could just focus on the pleasure of being with her, he shouldn’t care what name she cried out.

He rose above her, knowing she’d thought this position the only option initially and he wanted to show her all of them. She looked up at him as he rocked into her and he felt like the god he’d mentioned earlier. Not for the first time he couldn’t believe his good fortune.

He shifted so he could touch her in the place that escalated her pleasure. Not that he wanted to rush, but he worried his control was slipping and wanted to see to her first.

Her eyes went wide for a moment when he caressed her and then her gaze focused on him. “Yes, Shay. Yes!” she chanted.

He tried to ignore it. Tried to take in everything else that was happening between them. The heat of their bodies where they touched. The way her pupils seemed to fill in, blocking out the brown. They way her blonde hair was strewn around his pillow. That bit of ink on her wrist.

It was working. When she clung to him and then called out, he was right there on the edge with her. He was able to block out everything but the buzzing in his ears as heat pulsed down his spine and into Thea.

He collapsed next to her, panting for breath, and smiling. Perhaps he’d only needed time to determine a path forward.

But then she curled into him, looked up into his eyes and said, “That was perfect, Shay.”

Hearing her say the name he’d claimed for years should not have slammed into his gut like fist from a prizefighter. He’d never blinked an eye when anyone else had said it. Even in the early days at Heriot, hearing his friends call for him with a name that was new and awkward didn’t cause this level of discomfort and pain.

His other lovers had used that name. Over and over, quite loudly in fact, and it hadn’t bothered him in the slightest.

Why now? Why did hearing her say that name cause such a visceral reaction? Perhaps it was the intimacy they shared when they were in bed together. It was different in every way, including this.

He couldn’t fathom how he would survive hearing her say it another day let alone the years that stretched out before them. He couldn’t avoid lying with her, this past week had been torture. And he didn’t want to avoid her. He wanted her to know him.

There was only one thing to do.