Claiming His Bride (7 page)
Read Claiming His Bride Online
Authors: Marie Medina
“What the devil are you laughing at?” William demanded.
“Indulge me by telling me who you believe I am married to.”
“I beg your pardon, my lord?”
“My wife’s name is
William took a step forward. “But Isabella told me she was
supposed to marry you. I promised her I would be here to stop the wedding.
However, my carriage broke down. I arrived only to be told that the bride and
groom had gone to their hotel.”
“And how long has it been since you had a letter from her?”
William’s face flushed. “I already told you. We didn’t
exchange letters at all. When she told me about this marriage, I left to invest
in a business venture with my uncle. I can now provide a home for her, even if
it is not as grand as her father’s.”
“She’s been keeping your secret quite well. She’s in
waiting to give birth to a child I am going to assume is
yours.”
The man paled.
“Child?”
“Yes, a child. Isabella couldn’t fit into her wedding dress,
so our fathers made different arrangements.”
William turned speechless eyes toward Bastian, but soon
focused his gaze behind him. Bastian turned to see
“Hello, Jack,
are
you working for
the Winterbourne’s today?”
Bastian crossed his arms as his gaze bounced back and forth
between the two of them. “Jack?”
William turned crimson again, but he did bow to
William, Lady
Aslet
. His Lordship, your father, got
my name wrong the first time I made a delivery to your house, and I never dared
correct him.”
“William?” she said, her eyes going wide.
“Yes.”
“You do know William, my dear. You simply didn’t know you
knew him.”
seemed to recover right away. “You sent the flowers and
ribbons
because you thought Isabella was
Lady
Aslet
?”
“Yes, because I didn’t know about the switch.
Or the child.”
He grabbed
have a home now, my own business as well. I can take care of her. It will be
harder with a baby, but not impossible. I live near my aunt and uncle, and I
know they’ll help.”
Bastian started to object to this man touching his wife, but
she fixed William with such a compassionate look he didn’t dare interfere.
“I’ll help you, though you know you’ll have to speak to my
father.”
William paled again.
“I’ll talk to him first, and trust me, he’ll be glad to have
her married, whether he says so or not. He was angered by her actions, but I
could tell it saddened him to see her gazing out the window so often in those
days before she left.”
“Thank you.”
“Come to our house on Tuesday afternoon. You obviously know
where we live.”
“Yes, Lady
Aslet
.” He shifted his
feet, coloring again and gazing timidly between the two of them. “I’m sorry if
I caused any problems.”
Bastian started to speak, but
Mystifying, but no harm done.”
She peered toward the house.
“Now you should probably go. We don’t want people asking too many questions.”
He kissed her hand and bowed to Bastian before scurrying
away toward the front gate.
“Nothing, was it?” He drew
making love to my wife.”
“You wasted little time this morning.”
“And I’ll waste even less once we get home.”
****
gave the box of ribbons to Agatha to be sent to her sister. She felt so silly
now at not having guessed the mix up. Isabella always tied her hair back with
ribbons at night, and pink roses were her favorites as well. Of course, she
hadn’t known the roses were from the same person, had she? Her anger had faded
completely, and now she felt sorry for what Bastian had endured. Yes, it had
been his own fault, but how could he have guessed what was really going on? The
switch had been gossiped about so widely that being far from
have escaped hearing about it.
She looked down at the silver charm she’d bought for Bastian
nestled in its box. Laughing, she pocketed the present and went to find
Bastian. He had been gracious enough not to pressure her in any way regarding
his declaration. It had been a week since they’d discovered the truth, and he’d
been twice as adamant in all his attentions, telling her how much he loved her
every chance he got, but he’d followed every declaration with a kiss or some
other distraction. Part of her believed he was subtly trying to give her time,
while the other part of her knew he was worried her feelings hadn’t reached
that point yet.
But they had, and she intended to tell him now. She found
him in his study rifling through some papers in a drawer. He stopped what he
was doing immediately, and then he smiled when she locked the door.
“You need a private word with me, my dear?”
“Indeed, I do.” She walked around his desk and sat on the
edge, presenting the box to him. “I bought you a present.”
He opened the box and gazed down at the charm. Lifting it
from its paper, he laughed. “Oh dear, am I as bad as all that?” He drew his
watch and chain from his pocket and attached the small, silver bull’s head to
the chain.
She laughed.
“Just a reminder for you.
I don’t want your stubbornness dividing us ever again. Now that we know the
truth, it
is
rather amusing.”
He pulled her down into his lap. “Perhaps for you, darling,
but I was in misery some days.” He lifted her hand and kissed it.
She turned her hand and caressed his face. “All that time
you were worried I loved another, I was falling in love with you.”
Bastian didn’t move. After several seconds, he lifted his
hand to press hers to his cheek. “
could you perhaps rephrase that so we’re absolutely clear here?”
She laughed.
“Afraid of another
misunderstanding?”
“Yes, I loathe them with all my heart, you vixen, now say it
again.”
She laughed even harder. “So now I’m a vixen again, am I?”
Taking his face in her hands, she gave him a gentle kiss, and then another.
“Well, this
vixen
loves you very
much, despite your flaws. They’re all precious to me, and I want the pleasure
of putting up with all of them every single day.”
“That’s quite a unique declaration, my love.”
“Well, I think you deserved a unique one. You’ve kept me
guessing from the moment you took my hand at our wedding reception.”
“I was terrified. You seemed anxious to get as far away from
me as possible.” His fingers gathered her skirt, hitching it higher and higher
until his hand could slip underneath.
She
smiled and leaned down to kiss him when his eyebrows went up playfully. He
kissed her back deeply as his hand slid up her thigh to her
quim
.
He flicked his thumb over her swollen nub before parting her nether lips and
sliding one finger into her.
She shifted to let him play with her. It still amazed
her what
he could do with the lightest caress. He pressed
several kisses to her neck, stoking her need, but then he withdrew and moved
her up onto his desk. As he took her mouth, he pushed her skirts up and spread
her legs. His slow teasing strokes made her whimper against his lips, and his
dark eyes made her tremble when he pulled back to look at her.
“I love you, Victoria. I planned on having a true marriage,
a happy one, but I didn’t expect to be this happy so quickly.” His fingers
continued their slow caress.
“I love you, too.” She moaned as pleasure began its slow
build.
“Tell me what you need.”
She dropped a few kisses on his cheek,
blushing
a little as she whispered, “Your mouth.”
She felt his response, the quickening of his breathing and
increased pressure of his fingers.
“You want me to kiss you, my dear?” His husky tone told her
he could barely contain himself, the teasing perhaps as torturous for him as it
was for her.
She leaned away from him, arching her back. “You know what I
mean, Bastian.”
He lifted his fingers to his lips, licking them slowly. Her
core clenched as he kissed her and let her taste her own desire. “Are you
saying you wish for me to pleasure you with my mouth,
“Yes.”
Bastian went down on his knees immediately, making her cry
out when his tongue went straight to her clitoris. He sucked hard between rough
strokes, making it difficult for her to stay upright. One of his hands inched
up to her waist and lowered her back on the desk, and then he put her legs over
his shoulders as he intensified his assault. She cried out when her orgasm
broke and dug her heels into his back. Wave after wave of pleasure overtook her
as he continued to lick her and make her shudder with bliss. She tried to move
when it became too much, but he kept her firmly beneath him and drove his
tongue into her trembling passage.
“So stubborn,” she murmured, though the words came out a bit
slurred.
He finally relented and slid his hands under her back to
lift her just enough for a slow kiss. He deepened the embrace, making
everything fall away. She didn’t even notice him freeing his cock from his
pants, but suddenly he was inside her, thrusting hard.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and arched back to let
him fill her. Wet as she was, the friction still built right away, and the need
in her core overwhelmed her and made her cling to him. Soon they shuddered
together, a slow but nonetheless intense release taking her to new heights. He
buried his face in her neck as he came, whispering words of love.
tears as she whispered her love back. He kissed the trails of tears, the
tenderness on his face causing her to lapse into silence mid-sentence.
He chuckled low in his throat. “Left you speechless, have
I?”
She smiled and sighed.
“Speechless,
breathless … heartless.”
Chuckling again, he said, “Heartless?”
“You did steal it from me, dearest.”
“Only because you stole mine first, and one does need a
heart to live. I had no choice but to go after yours.”
“Well then, I’ll forgive you.”
He kissed her soundly, lifting her into his arms. “Let’s go
upstairs,
he said as their lips parted.
“There’s a perfectly good couch right here, Bastian.”
He grinned at her. “I see my wife is going to prove to be a
model of efficiency.” He moved to the couch quickly and placed her on it, soon
covering her body with his.
“Just impatient to feel you inside me again,” she said,
trying not to blush but failing.
“I love hearing about your desire for me.” He kissed her
neck as his fingers worked at the tiny buttons of her dress.
“I know.” She giggled as he caressed her breasts. “It certainly
spurs you to—” A gasp cut her words off as he suckled one of her nipples, and
she didn’t regain the ability to speak for over an hour. She had a feeling his
decided talent for silencing her in this way would never diminish.
Epilogue
Bastian looked at the other couples walking in the park as
they laughed and talked together. He always felt comfortable with
but today she seemed unusually quiet. They walked behind Isabella, who pushed
her daughter Millicent in a pram, and William, who kept inching up beside the
pram to make sure Millicent hadn’t come into mortal danger since the last time
he looked.
heavily upon his arm, which she’d done several times that day. He lifted her
hand and kissed it.
“All right, darling?”
She nodded at him absently, a look he could only describe as
dreamy crossing her face. Then this look faded, a pleasant but bland smile
replacing it as she nodded to a couple passing by.
Bastian nodded as well before whispering, “Are you sure?”
“Yes, Bastian.”
When Millicent made a cooing sound, that
dreamy look returned, again quickly replaced by a much more subdued one.