Page 23 of The Viscount Needs a Wife (All for Love #2)
T he duchess supervised getting Annis undressed, bathed, fed, and into bed herself, and Annis subsided into her familiar bed and slept like a proverbial log.
She was woken the next morning by the duchess at the very late hour of ten o’clock with the news that her wedding was set for two o’clock in the afternoon.
After that, things were a whirlwind, as the duchess swept her off to her own suite to select a suitable gown to be quickly altered to fit her, as none of Annis’s gowns were fit for a bride, being too plain and worn.
The gown selected was a lovely pure-white muslin, so fine and sheer it needed a chemise and petticoat for modesty’s sake as well as to widen and stiffen the skirt in the new fuller fashion.
The bodice was so small and cut so low as to be almost indecent in Annis’s view. She blushed looking at herself in it.
The gown was adorned with gold ribbon and gold embroidery, with elaborate puffed sleeves with layers of embroidered muslin falling over them like the petals of a flower.
Fortunately, the duchess had similar-sized feet to Annis, and Annis was able to pair the gown with white satin slippers, a reticule, a fan, and a matching satin shawl with gold embroidery.
The whole ensemble was so exquisite and rich, Annis felt quite overwhelmed.
When the duchess produced a string of milky white pearls to go with it, it was too much, and Annis burst into tears.
“My dear, don’t cry! This is supposed to be a happy day!” The Layne girls were also present, like a flock of pretty birds, but the duchess chased them away in the face of Annis’s distress and sat her down on the bed.
“Now tell me, do you not wish to marry the viscount?”
“Of course I do! It’s like a fairytale,” blubbered Annis, wiping her eyes.
“Well, that is a relief! I am very fond of Emrys—he has such a kind heart!”
“Yes, he does,” admitted Annis with a lachrymose smile.
“Oh, you love him!” said the duchess accusingly.
Annis nodded, kneading the handkerchief. “Is it so obvious?”
“Only to me. I was madly in love with the duke, too, before we were married. I was deathly afraid he was going to break my heart. Fortunately, he realized eventually that he also loved me, and everything was wonderful. My dear, Robert tells me Emrys is mad for you. What is distressing you so?”
“He loves his wife—it’s been too soon, I—”
“It is quick I grant you; I was surprised. But there is perhaps something you don’t know.
Caroline betrayed him before she was killed.
The children don’t know, of course, and we tried to hush up it after that unfortunate misunderstanding than led to Robert punching him in the eye.
Particularly after she was killed so tragically. She broke his heart, poor lamb.”
Annis’s heart contracted. Why hadn’t he told her? “I didn’t know.”
“Well, there. So, you see it is perhaps not so surprising that he has fallen in love with you—”
“Oh, but he hasn’t! It’s all physical!” She flushed scarlet. “And being a gentleman and wanting to protect me and give the children a suitable mother. They’re fond of me, you see, and I of them. He has never pretended that he loves me, though.”
The duchess regarded her for a moment in silence.
Then she patted her hands and squeezed them.
“Give it time. One look at you in this gown and I expect he will lose his head entirely. With gentlemen the physical attraction often comes first.” She glanced at Annis sideways.
“He’s not the handsomest of men. Are you attracted to him? ”
Annis closed her eyes and whispered. “Oh, yes.” She swallowed. “His clothes don’t do him justice.”
Sarah blinked, flushing faintly. “I think, my dear, that might be a shade too much information. But I am glad you find him attractive, for that really is essential in building a lasting bond.”
The duchess then organized for her to have another bath and for her hair to be dressed by her own maid.
She was dressed in the hastily refitted gown with all the accoutrements and led to the chapel by the waiting duke, where she found her soon-to-be stepdaughters had been pressed into service as flower girls.
The whole household, including most of the servants, had turned out to witness her nuptials, and Annis had to fight tears all the way down the chapel’s short aisle to the point where the duke left her beside Emrys and took up his other role as Emrys’s groomsman.
Emrys was wearing that black silk evening jacket and breeches, for once his neckcloth was tied with precision, and his too long hair was confined with a black ribbon. He had shaved too. He looked quite resplendent, and to Annis’s partial eyes, as handsome as any man could be.
Emrys’s gaze widened at sight of her, and he flushed faintly as his eyes took in her gown and it’s low-cut, narrow bodice that threatened to spill her breasts free for all to see.
She wore the pearls and the chain with her father’s ring which nestled it in the space between her breasts.
When he took her hands, he murmured, “You look beautiful,” in a tone that made her blush.
She said breathlessly back, “Black suits you, my lord.”
The ceremony was short, and the whole thing passed in a blur for Annis. After signing the parish register, the party decamped to the ballroom, where tables had been set out for the whole household to eat, including the children and servants.
*
The duchess had given them the rose suite for their wedding night and had all their belongings moved there. From the moment Emrys clapped eyes on Annis in that dress he’d been in a fever to get her alone. It seemed like hours before he was able to sweep her off upstairs and into their rooms.
Closing the door on the world, he set her on her feet and turned her in his embrace, staring down at her exposed bosom with hungry eyes. “At last! Do you know how delectable you look in that gown?” he asked hoarsely.
“About as delectable as you look in that suit,” she said softly with a delicate blush.
He groaned, “Annis! There is no comparison!”
“Well, it’s all the duchess’s fault! I would never have chosen anything so—so brazen. I feel half dressed!” she said with an exasperated smile.
“It is very different from your normally staid dresses. I think that is why I’m losing my mind.
” He cupped her face. “It is going to be very difficult for me to restrain myself.” He kissed her softly and groaned again.
“God, I’ve missed you, I feel like I’ve hardly seen you since we got back yesterday. ”
Her delicious bosom heaved with a breath and made his already hard cock twitch. “It is true, we have hardly seen each other since then.”
“I missed you last night in my bed,” he confessed. “I like cuddling up to you.”
She smiled and blinked at him. “Really? Well, it might be something I can get used to, too.”
“I hope so. I don’t mean to sleep alone again. I don’t like it.” His eyes roved over her, devouring. He felt like a starving man at a feast, not knowing where to start. “You got my note about there being no body near the ruins, didn’t you?”
“I did. Thank you for that. It was—a big relief.” Her face showed a flicker of distress, and he drew her closer, stroking her back comfortingly.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t believe you killed him,” he said, kissing her hair. She smelled of roses.
“Perhaps not,” she said with a sigh. “But if that is the case, he is still out there.”
“Yes, but you have me now. And the protection of my name. As a viscountess he won’t be game to touch you.”
She nodded, but he got the feeling she wasn’t convinced.
“I really don’t want to talk about that right now, do you?”
“No.” She put her hands on the lapels of his jacket, and he leaned forward to kiss her.
Her hands slid up round his neck and he pulled her closer against him, his heart thudding in his chest. He needed to take this slowly for her sake.
He wanted desperately for it to be good for her.
His memories of the first time with Caro haunted him.
It had taken months to recover from that.
Given the way things had ended, he wondered if they ever truly had.
“Just let me get rid of this damned neckcloth and jacket,” he said pulling back from kissing her.
God, he was as nervous as a boy, which was ridiculous—he hadn’t been nervous two nights ago.
No, he hadn’t, he thought as he ripped off his neckcloth and struggled out of his jacket, because he’d had no intention of taking her that night.
It had been all about her pleasure. What had him tied in knots now was the prospect of causing her pain, or at least discomfort, all in the name of his pleasure.
That made him uncomfortable. The thought subdued his lust a bit, which was all to the good.
He needed to recapture that playfulness of the morning before they left the inn.
He needed to relax and just let things flow.
He had promised her pleasure, he would give her pleasure, and be damned to the rest—it would happen when she wanted it to.
I have learned a few things since I was twenty-two, after all.
He kicked off his shoes and removed his waistcoat and turned back to her.
She eyed him, speculatively he thought, and she surprised him with her next question. “Aren’t you going to remove your shirt?”
“Do you want me to?”
She nodded, blushing faintly. “I like your chest,” she confessed.
Pleased, he grinned and complied, ripping the fine cotton off over his head and discarding it carelessly with the rest of his clothing. He only wore his breeches now, and he had no intention of taking those off, yet.
He took her in his arms again and surveyed her with satisfaction. “Now with you, I think we will start with your hair and your shoes and stockings. I want to savor this bosom for as long as possible,” he said, dropping kisses on her forehead, cheeks, and nose before finding her mouth.