For the Roses (51 page)

"The way you understood why I waited to tell you the reason I'd journeyed to Montana?"

"This is different," she argued. "I don't know my father well, but I can't imagine he would have a poker face."

Harrison raised an eyebrow. "A poker face?"

"He'd let his feelings show. A good poker player never lets others know what he's thinking. I'll bet you win lots of games of chance, don't you? You rarely let anyone know what you're thinking. Does everyone rest during the afternoons?"

The switch in subjects didn't faze him. He was getting used to how his wife's mind worked.

"Most women do."

"What about men?"

Harrison stripped out of the rest of his clothes before answering her. "Some men rest, but I'm not going to. I want you too much. You about finished talking, sweetheart?" She rolled onto her back just as he came down on top of her. She put her arms around his neck and stared up into his eyes. Her fingers caressed the back of his neck. "Do you like my clothes?"

"Hell, no. I hate your clothes. I like you naked."

He wasn't giving her the assurance she needed. She decided not to worry any longer about anything as foolish as her wardrobe. She had something far more important to do now. She was going to make love to her husband, and she was determined to drive him completely out of his mind first.

"How long are we allowed to stay in our room and rest?"

He nibbled on the side of her neck while he answered her. "A couple of hours. Why?"

"That should be long enough. Please get off me."

His head snapped up. "You don't want me to…"

"Oh, yes," she answered breathlessly. "I want you to, but I want to first."

"I don't have a prayer of ever figuring out what you just said, do I?"

"Do you want me to explain or would you rather I showed you?" He immediately rolled onto his back. "Show me."

She was blushing like a virgin but behaving like a temptress. Harrison stacked his hands behind his head and waited to see what she would do.

Mary Rose sat up and then leaned forward on her knees. The look in her husband's eyes helped her get past her shyness. She slowly untied the satin ribbon holding her undergarment together over her breasts, and then pushed the straps down.

She took her time disrobing, and she was pleased to notice Harrison's breathing had become uneven. Once she'd completely removed the chemise, she leaned forward and let her breasts rub against his chest. Her hair spilled down across his shoulders.

"Are you ticklish?" she whispered the question as she trailed her fingertips down his hard, flat middle. He inhaled sharply. "No."

She moved down his body then, and he fully expected her to find out for herself if he was telling the truth by kissing his stomach.

She kissed his arousal instead. He almost came off the bed. He clenched his jaw tight and closed his eyes. She caressed him with her fingertips and with her mouth, and, dear God, he couldn't stand the torment long. When she took him fully into her mouth and began to suckle him, he let out a loud raw shout and forced her to move away from him.

He wasn't gentle with her. He was close to gaining his release, and he was determined to give her pleasure first. He lifted her up, roughly parted her thighs, and forced her to straddle him.

"Take me inside you," he ordered in a voice that sounded as though he were in acute pain. She shook her head. "Not yet," she whispered. She leaned forward and put the flat of her hand on his shoulder. And then she began to torment him with sweet kisses. The tip of her tongue rubbed across his lips. Harrison cupped the back of her neck and leaned up, forcing her to deepen the kiss. Her tongue moved inside then to stroke the roof of his mouth.

Harrison couldn't stand being passive any longer. His hands moved to fondle her breasts. She moved restlessly against him, letting him know how much she liked the way he touched her. He stroked her stomach, and then his hand moved down between her thighs, and he began to ready her with his fingers. When he felt her wet heat, his hands moved to her hips. He lifted her up until the tip of his erection penetrated her and slowly forced her to take him deep inside her.

She wasn't certain what she was supposed to do now, but the urge to move made her begin to rotate her hips.

He let out a low groan and clasped her hips tight. It was all the encouragement she needed. She focused all of her concentration on pleasuring him and gaining her own satisfaction. Her movements were instinctive now, though certainly awkward, but Harrison didn't seem to mind. She stayed in control until he reached down and began to caress her into gaining her own orgasm, and when he couldn't hold out any longer and he thrust up hard inside her and spilled his seed, the silky walls surrounding him began to spasm and tighten. She cried out his name in a near shout as she found her own fulfillment.

Moments later she collapsed on top of him. The side of her face rested against his chest. His heartbeat thundered in her ears and seemed to be as erratic and loud as her own. It took him a long while to come back to reality. He held her in his arms and couldn't seem to stop stroking her while he slowly regained his strength and his wits.

When he was finally able to speak again, he said, "What was that all about?" She suddenly felt embarrassed by what she'd done to him. "You didn't like it?" she whispered. He heard the worry in her voice and started to laugh. Not like it? Just thinking about her sweet wet mouth coming down on top of him made him want to make love to her again. Hell, he was already beginning to feel the first stirrings of arousal.

He twisted her hair in his hand, forced her to lift up her head and look at him, and then grinned at her.

"Yeah, I liked it. Couldn't you tell?"

She smiled with pleasure. "I thought you did. I like the way you taste." He let but a low groan. Then he pulled her down for a long kiss. One wasn't enough, and so he kissed her again and again, and it wasn't long at all before they were both restless for more. They made love a second time, though the pace was much slower. Harrison wouldn't let her have much control. He was determined to torment her in just the same way she'd tormented him. They were both thoroughly undone and satisfied.

When at last it was time to get dressed, Mary Rose was yawning. Harrison looked just as tired, she was happy to notice.

Ann Marie insisted on putting her hair up in a cluster of curls behind her head. Mary Rose gave in once the servant explained she was following Lady Lillian's instructions.

Harrison told her she looked beautiful. After three hours of being gawked at and questioned by a horde of well-meaning relatives, she wasn't so certain how she looked. Everyone seemed to have an opinion about the way she walked and talked. The evening was a strain on her, for she wasn't used to being the center of attention, but she held on to her smile and tried to be understanding about their curiosity. Her Aunt Barbara was a force to be reckoned with. The woman was tall and very well endowed. She accepted Mary Rose as her niece the moment she saw her. She took her into her arms, smashed her face into her bosoms, and began to pound her on her back as though she were a crying infant in need of calming.

"You poor, poor child," she repeated over and over. "It's all right now. You're home with your family. Everything's going to be fine. We're all here to love you and take care of you." Aunt Barbara wouldn't let go of her. Uncle Robert finally came to her rescue. "You're smothering her, Barbara," he announced a scant second before he pulled Mary Rose into his arms and hugged the breath right out of her.

She looked at Harrison while she was being embraced and saw his amusement. He stood across the drawing room with her father, watching her being pulled in three directions at once. She smiled at him and then turned her attention back to her extremely affectionate aunt and uncle. Their acceptance of her was humbling, though several of their comments were most bewildering. Her Aunt Barbara seemed to think Mary Rose had suffered some deplorable injustice over the past years. She wasn't a victim, for heaven's sake, but by the end of the evening, she realized all of her relatives thought she was.

She tried not to become angry with them. They didn't understand what a rich and full life she had with her brothers, she reasoned, and that was why they all thought she'd been deprived. She was introduced to her cousins and found them all perfectly delightful. The oldest was just fourteen and getting ready for her introduction to society. Her five younger sisters were like stair steps in age and appearance. The youngest was a boy, named Robert after his father. He was seven years old and didn't want to be bothered meeting his cousin. The moment he'd run into the drawing room, he'd spotted Harrison and hadn't left his side since. The child obviously adored Mary Rose's husband. The children weren't allowed to dine with the adults and were sent upstairs when supper was announced.

Mary Rose thought it was odd to exclude the children, but she didn't make her opinion known, for her Aunt Lillian had already cautioned her to guard what she said.

She was seated between her Aunt Barbara and her Aunt Lillian. Harrison was at the opposite end of the table.

Dining, she soon realized, was a solemn affair. No one spoke above a whisper, and waiters hovered about while they served the food from beautiful silver platters.

Mary Rose made her first error before she'd even begun to eat. She asked her aunt if they were going to say grace. Her father heard the question and suggested she lead them in a prayer of thanksgiving. She did just that, but didn't finish her prayer. No one would have heard her anyway, given the fact that her aunt Lillian was screeching like an attacking Indian.

"Dear God, William, they raised her Catholic. What are we to do?"

"You poor child," Barbara interjected. "You poor, poor child."

"I'm not Catholic yet," Mary Rose said. "I haven't made up my mind which religion I shall embrace."

"You haven't made up your mind? Victoria, the Elliott family have been faithful members of the Church of England for years and years. You're an Elliott, my dear," Lillian explained.

"Can't I be an Elliott and a Catholic at the same time? Or Jewish or…" Lillian's loud gasp of disapproval made Mary Rose stop. She guessed she'd rattled her aunt with her opinions, she concluded, when the dear woman knocked over her water glass.

"I didn't wish to upset you," Mary Rose said. "My brothers and I decided to study all the different religions before we made up our minds."

"We have our work cut out for us, Lillian," Barbara announced. Lillian nodded agreement. "It's difficult to know where to begin. There's so much to change." She turned to her niece. "If your mother or your grandmother could hear you talk about other religions, why, they'd both die of fright."

"They're already dead," Elliott snapped. "I find it admirable Victoria would wish to learn about other religions. Indeed I do. I'm certain, of course, that she'll decide to join the Church of England." Mary Rose didn't argue with him. She wasn't certain she'd do any such thing, but she didn't want to get into a lengthy discussion at the table.

Harrison was irritated by Elliott's decision. "The choice will be hers to make, won't it, sir?" Elliott shrugged. He decided to change the subject to a less upsetting one. Lillian's face was bright red. She'd had enough surprises for one evening.

"Victoria, did you know you were named after your grandmother?" Her eyes widened. She leaned toward Aunt Lillian and whispered, "I was named after the old bat?" Lord Elliott heard his daughter. He tried hard not to smile. Lillian let out a loud groan and her hand went back up to her throat again. Mary Rose realized she'd spoken out of turn, and she tried to think of something to say to redeem herself.

Her father seemed to take it all in stride. His voice was droll when he said, "No, Victoria, not the old bat, the other grandmother."

And then he smiled at her and suggested they eat.

The rest of the meal was subdued. Mary Rose had been hungry when she sat down, but now her stomach was too upset for her to even think about eating. She moved the food around on her plate and pretended to enjoy herself.

She didn't care for the formality. Suppers were supposed to be loud and chaotic. It was the only time all her brothers were together, and each would catch the others up on what he'd accomplished during the day. They would argue and tease each other, and there was always something they could all laugh about.

She felt as if she were at a funeral now. She wanted to go upstairs to bed. She didn't dare ask to be excused, however, and dutifully followed her aunt Lillian's instructions all through the long, seemingly endless meal.

Her father made a lovely toast in honor of her return and her marriage to Harrison. Barbara came up with the idea that a reception held in late September would be a wonderful way to celebrate the union. Lillian embraced the notion.

They began to make their plans in hushed voices. Mary Rose was soon lulled half asleep. She wasn't allowed to go to bed for another hour, and by then she was so exhausted, she could barely make it up the stairs.

Ann Marie was waiting for her. And so was the rose. The long-stemmed red flower had once again been placed on her pillow. The sight of the rose made her smile.

She was sound asleep by the time Harrison joined her. He leaned down to kiss her good night and was inordinately pleased to see she was holding on to the flower while she slept. He removed the rose, got into bed, and let her hold on to him instead.

Tonight had been difficult for her. He had seen how confused she looked, and at times he was certain she was overwhelmed by all the attention she was receiving.

She hadn't eaten any of her supper. He noticed, of course, and thought that the constant criticism she received was the reason for her loss of appetite. It had certainly destroyed his. Mary Rose had handled herself well. She'd reacted to the chaos much better than he had. He'd been shaking with anger over her relatives' thoughtless remarks, but she'd been quite gracious to all of them. Harrison fell asleep worrying about his wife. Yes, this evening had been difficult. And it was only going to get worse.