Page 12 of The Viscount and the Wallflower (The Unlikely Betrothal Series #4)

Chapter 12

A lex reached for Lily and pulled her against him. He was half afraid that he was dreaming and that his angel was teasing him in his sleep, so he needed to feel her in his arms to confirm that she was real. “I was prepared to spend every minute of every day working to convince you of the very thing.” He lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers, pleased that she immediately opened to him so he could taste her tongue against his.

She took control of the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself closer against his body, which was already on fire for her. She undulated against him, and he almost questioned how she had so quickly become a tempting little vixen. He’d delight in knowing he was the recipient of all of her wanton desires .

She pulled her lips away from his. “You didn’t answer me.”

“Yes, love. I’m marrying you. And if your father wishes to question if you are mine, I shall do what I must to bring him around to my way of thinking.”

Lily pressed against him and walked him backwards to the chair in front of his desk and urged him to sit. “Let us not speak of my father just now.”

She placed a hand on each of his thighs to support herself and leaned forward to place a few kisses along his lips. “Remove your shirt.”

He didn’t even question it, making quick work of the buttons and tossing the shirt to the side.

She ran her hands along his chest, and his muscles flexed beneath her touch. Her hands were so soft, and the intoxicating scent of vanilla from her proximity caused his head to fall back. She took advantage and licked and sucked at his neck. His cock fought hard against his breeches, and he rocked his hips, moving himself against the fabric.

Her lips and touch disappeared, and when he lifted his head, she had knelt before him and begun massaging his thighs.

“What are you doing?” The words came out with a sigh. Hoping she would take him into her sweet, beautiful mouth, he licked his lips, watching her reach for the buttons of his falls.

“I’m going to taste my future husband.”

Her hands brushed against him through his breeches as she worked the buttons, and he almost came undone. He’d let her have her fun, and then he fully intended to find himself inside of her again.

His cock jutted into her hand when she released him, and he sucked in a breath from her soft hands moving along his shaft. She lowered her head and licked the liquid that had already escaped the tip. Watching her tongue lick around the tip of his cock was almost more than he could handle.

“Do I do it like this?” she asked before she took in half of his length and closed her mouth around it, sucking him into her mouth.

He clasped her head. “Yes. Just like that.” Alex held her head in place and rocked in the chair so that his cock moved in and out of her mouth. She glanced up at him through her gold-rimmed spectacles, and the heat in her gaze almost set him on fire. He kept his eyes fixed on her, taking him that way, knowing he would spend in her mouth if she continued. As appealing as the thought was, he needed to be inside of her, to feel her body against his, and to know that they would always be together. That she was his, and he was hers.

He pulled her head further off him. “Come here, love.”

She rose, and he lifted her skirts so she could straddle him. When she sat on his lap, facing him, his shaft rubbed against her. He slid his hand between them and guided two fingers inside of her. She was dripping and ready for him, and he groaned at the realization.

“I think you enjoyed sucking my cock.”

She nodded and leaned against him, exploring his body with her hands and kissing her way to his ear. “Very much so.”

Unable to wait any longer, he lifted her up and speared her with his entire length, eliciting a loud moan from her lips. He held her hips and rocked her on top of him, thrusting himself so each movement fully sheathed him inside of her wet heat.

He didn’t have the control of his movements he wanted from their position in the chair. So he clasped her bottom against him and stood, not removing himself from her.

“Tighten your legs around me, love.”

He held on to her bottom and began thrusting into her where he stood. Shifting her to bounce on top of him with each of his thrusts, penetrating her so deep he almost saw stars. She held on to him around his neck and took his lips, kissing him with such fervor, his body responded by bouncing her harder and faster .

“I need to lay you down,” he ground out against her lips. “I am going to spend inside you if I continue.”

“Don’t stop,” she pleaded. “I want this. I’m marrying you.”

Her words made him come unhinged, and he gave her everything he had. She gripped his neck tighter, and her core tightened and pulsated around him when her orgasm came. “Alex,” she moaned into his neck, her teeth grazing his shoulder.

He thrust into her twice more and then held her hips in place tight against him when he released his seed deep inside of her. He’d never released himself inside of a woman before, given he had never wanted to risk the chance of a babe, and the intensity from doing so made his legs wobbly.

She went limp in his arms. Her head rested on his shoulder, and he continued to stand there, holding her against him, wrapping his arms around her as if she were the most precious thing in the world. Because she was. He kissed her neck, then her cheek and jaw. “I love you, Lily.”

Lily gripped him tighter. “I love you, too, Alex.”

He carried her to the bed and sat her down, withdrawing himself from her. He tucked himself back into his breeches and rebuttoned them.

“Your dress is quite wrinkled,” he said, grinning at her. “I believe you will have to sneak to your room to change before you rejoin the others.”

“I don’t want to leave you.”

He leaned down and kissed her brow. “Then don’t. I don’t care about your wrinkled dress. It’s a reminder that I’ve done my job to ensure you are a well-loved and well-bedded woman.”

“I don’t recall being in bed until now,” she said, smirking at him.

“Am I to believe that you are disappointed then, my lady?”

She climbed off the bed to stand before him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Not at all. Knowing how strong you are only makes me more wanton.”

“Well, I am happy to tend to your needs in any way you see fit.”

She laughed and playfully swatted at him, moving to sit in the chair at his desk. “I will need you to introduce me to all my options for doing so.”

He had barely recovered from what they had just done, but he wanted her again. “We need to discuss our plans to marry. You may soon carry our babe, and that risk will only grow greater the longer we delay making you my wife. Because even now I’m thinking about in what position I want to come inside of you next. ”

Lily blushed at his words, and the flushed skin beneath her adorable freckles did nothing to ease his desire.

“You should write to my father right away. He won’t give a fig what I want, but if you express your desire to marry quickly and join our families. He will respond to your title and that of your father’s. And with Knox no longer an option, perhaps Papa will agree.” She wrinkled her nose and glanced away. “He wanted the highest title, but his disappointing, plain, bluestocking daughter was a failure during her season.”

He rushed to her side and clasped her hands. “There is nothing disappointing or plain about you. It is to my good fortune that no one else took notice of what was before them, and not because you are lacking. Your parents lack any sound sense and judgement, and they will not be allowed in your presence if they cannot show you the respect you deserve.”

“You really must love me,” she said, almost as if she had finally accepted it. Her expression changed as she contemplated him. “You said something yesterday. Something about how you did the same thing again. Were you in love before?”

Alex had slipped when he said that out of frustration, but leave it to his Lily to notice. “I believed myself to be in love before, yes. But I asked for her hand, and she declined because she had captured the attention of a duke.”

Lily winced and wrung her hands together. He could see the guilt marring her expression from her rejection of his original proposal.

He knelt before her. “The situations aren’t the same, my love. I only believed myself to be in love then and now I know that could never have been the case now that I have met you. And I know you didn’t truly wish to marry Knox. That was the work of your father.”

Alex took her hands in his and looked up at her. “I didn’t know it was possible to love another person so much. I would meet your father at the dueling grounds if that is what you wished for me to do to right the wrongs he had done to you.” He grinned at her and chuckled to himself. “I would give my life for yours if it would ease even the slightest pain you have endured.”

She shook her head and laughed. “Now look who’s quoting Stormy Wells.” She glanced at the papers on his desk.

“About that, love. There is something else we should discuss.”

She picked up the parchment and then read the one beneath it. “What is this?” She kept skimming the pages and then picked up another one.

“Lily…”

She had a character sheet in her hand that would be unmistakable where the inspiration came from .

“Are you writing about me? Or at least a character like me. The red hair and spectacles seem to be a bit too much of a coincidence.”

“I was inspired by you. In awe of you. I still am, and I always will be.”

She stared at him in disbelief. He wasn’t sure if the expression was one of anger or not.

“When we met, did you only get close to me so you could write about me?”

He clasped her hips, still kneeling before her. “No, sweetheart. I promise. I turned you into a character to work through my feelings for you. Writing is how I think and process things.”

“What were you going to do with these?”

“A man in love is just a man. It doesn’t matter if he is a duke or a pauper, if the woman he loves doesn’t return his affection, his life is diminished to nothing of worth.”

“Why are you quoting lines from Duke About Town to me?”

He drew a deep breath, steadying himself for what he must reveal. For what he’d never revealed to anyone before. “I’m Stormy Wells.”

She gasped and brought her hand to her mouth. “You don’t jest?”

He shook his head. “No, love. You are the only person in the entire world besides my solicitor who knows.”

Alex sat quietly and watched her process the impact of learning his identity.

“I just can’t believe it,” she finally said.

“It started as something I did to make sense of our world, and then I found I enjoyed creating stories and how people would interact in different scenarios in our society. I wrote my first play and had my solicitor send it to a playhouse, not expecting anything to happen. They wanted to buy it. The show was so popular, they came back to my solicitor asking to meet me. When I refused, they asked for more of my work. I never expected the plays to become as popular as they did. My solicitor protects my identity and I just write the stories I am compelled to tell.”

She stared at him with awe and admiration. He sagged against her a bit in relief that it didn’t appear she would change her mind about marrying him after learning his biggest secret.

“You must have made a small fortune.”

He shrugged. “I donated all of it. My solicitor sees the funds are given to the orphanages and charities in the most need. I am already wealthy enough, and all I care about now is that you will still have me.”

“Alex, it only makes me love you more for how brilliant you are. ”

He brought her hand to his lips. “You are the brilliant one. Perhaps with you at my side, we can translate the plays into other languages and earn even more funds for the charities.”

“You would let me work with you?” she asked, shock and delight evident on her beautiful visage.

“I wish to share every aspect of our lives together, love.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Does this mean I get to read your plays before they go to the solicitor?”

“Of course. Anything you wish, you shall have.”

She leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on his lips. “You shall be the very best husband.”

He rose and picked her up off the chair, took the seat for himself, and settled her across his lap. “Let’s work on this letter to your father, and then I’ll show you more of the husband I intend to be.”