Kathryn Smith - [Friends 03] (22 page)

Smiling, Letitia replied that would be a lovely idea. As they left the room, the younger woman began to talk about Julian and Sophia's wedding. Would Sophia prefer white roses or red? And surely she didn't
really
want a small reception, did she?

Sophia answered all her questions absently as they walked arm in arm down the stairs. Her mind wasn't focused on the wedding but rather on her future husband and whether or not it was possible to earn his trust.

And still retain Letitia's.

"I have an announcement to make."

Julian waited until all eyes were upon him before continuing. His gaze traveled from Letitia on his left, around the table to Gabriel, Lilith, Brave, Rachel and finally settling on Sophia. He held her gaze as he spoke. Sophia blushed but she didn't look away.

"Sophia and I are getting married."

A collection of gasps rose up from the other couples at the table. Julian couldn't help but chuckle at them. He could only imagine what must be going through Brave and Gabe's heads right now. And Lilith's for that matter. She had made her disapproval of him very clear that night at Penderthal's.

But what he really wanted to know was what Sophia was thinking. Had she really come there earlier to give him the chance to back out of the marriage? Did she think so little of him and his word that she thought he'd take it back so easily? If so, the kiss they shared in the ballroom should have done much to change her mind.

Christ, that kiss had shaken him so badly, affected him so deeply he had to leave the room lest he fall to his knees and beg her to allow him to make love to her right there in the ring!

It was becoming more and more obvious that concern for Letitia was only one of many reasons for marrying Sophia. His desire for her was quickly shadowing all else. He wanted her in his bed and in his life, and he couldn't imagine ever getting tired of her.

His jaw was sore where Harper had hit it, the inside of his mouth a little raw from scraping against his teeth, but it was all worth it when he remembered the way Sophia had looked at him.

She liked his body. She liked his long arms and the shoulders that he believed relatively narrow when compared to Brave and especially to Gabriel. No woman had ever looked upon him as appreciatively as Sophia. No woman had ever made him feel more like a man or more desirable. And at that moment he wanted her more than he had ever wanted anyone else.

Thank God they would be married in a week, and then she would be back under his roof and in his bed where she belonged. He used to laugh at people who said they would die if they couldn't have someone, but it had killed him to walk away from Sophia that afternoon.

And now here she was, looking more beautiful than any woman had a right to, in a plum-colored dress that flaunted her creamy skin and delectable breasts, and he wasn't allowed to touch her. Only under the table, where his knee pressed against her leg, could he feel her warmth. It wasn't nearly enough, but it would have to do.

"…toast."

Julian's head snapped around. How long had he been sitting there, staring at Sophia like an idiot?

Brave had his glass raised. Everyone else followed suit. "To Julian and Sophia," he said. "May they have a long and happy life together."

Julian raised his own glass as his friends all murmured their agreement. He drank deeply, hoping the wine would take an edge off his passion for Sophia. It was as though he were a boy again, only instead of being aroused by anything and everything, it was all focused on one woman.

Pushing back her chair, Sophia rose to her feet.

Julian followed. "Where are you going?"

Some women might have taken offense to his possessive tone, but Sophia simply smiled.

"I thought the ladies and I might retire to the drawing room and leave you gentlemen to your port and cigars." She flashed that same smile at Brave and Gabriel. "I am sure your friends have many questions they would like answered. If you would excuse us, gentlemen? Ladies."

Brave and Gabriel also rose as the women prepared to take their leave. Sophia was right. No doubt his friends had many questions they wanted answered.

"Have you gone completely mad?" Brave demanded once the three of them were alone.

Julian arched a brow. "Why do you ask?"

His friend looked at him as though it should be obvious. "Because you are marrying a woman who wrote a book about you— and not a very good one at that!"

Smiling, Julian met Brave's worried brown gaze with an easy one of his own. "You married Rachel to atone for your past."

"This is not the same." Brave leaned back in his chair, his posture relaxing somewhat. "Regardless, I seem to remember you questioning my motives and sanity at the time."

Julian tilted his head in acquiescence. "I also trusted you to know what was in your heart." His gaze flickered to Gabriel. "That goes for both of you. Can you not give me the same?"

Gabriel's gray eyes were earnest as they met Julian's. "Perhaps you might care to tell us what is in your heart then, Jules."

Good question. What was in his heart? There were so many things swimming around in his head where Sophia was concerned, he couldn't sort them all out.

"I cannot tell you," he replied honestly after several seconds of sitting under their scrutiny.

Brave leaned forward in his chair again, his forearms coming to rest on the table's polished surface. "Then why are you marrying her?"

This time Julian didn't need to think. "Because it is what I should have done seven years ago. Because I do not want my actions to reflect poorly upon my sister. Because…because I want to." He looked from one man to the other, daring them to question him further.

He could offer up whatever explanation he wanted for his decision to marry Sophia, but the simple fact was that he wanted to marry her. He wanted to know her secrets and share his with her. He wanted to trust her.

Gabriel nodded. "Sounds like a good enough reason to me." He glanced at Brave.

Brave smiled. "To me as well. You know we only want you to be happy, Jules, and if you think Sophia is the woman to make it happen then I wish you every happiness."

Julian stared at them, uncertain if they were being sincere or simply humoring him.

"Well," he said warily, "now that we have that settled, shall we join the ladies? Or would the two of you prefer to question me further?"

"I am for joining the ladies," Gabriel replied, standing. "They are much more pleasing to look upon than you two coxcombs."

Julian took his wine glass with him. "You sound just like Sophia. She thinks I have an abundance of vanity."

"Out of the three of us you
are
the biggest dandy," Brave remarked, also retrieving his glass.

Gabriel walked ahead toward the door. He tossed a good-natured grin over his shoulder. "And you are by far ten times prettier than Brave or I."

Flushing under their teasing, Julian laughed. He had known them both too long to take offense.

"It is not difficult to be better-looking than you two ugly curs," he informed them with a broad smile. "Fortunately you both married handsome women, so I needn't fear for your poor offspring."

This friendly teasing continued as the three men walked from the dining room along the corridor to the red drawing room. They entered the drawing room to find all four women laughing heartily— laughter that died abruptly as they saw that they were no longer alone.

Julian watched the dark flush that flooded Sophia's cheeks with a mixture of emotions. He was desperately curious to know just what they were talking about that made her color so.

He asked her about it later as he escorted her home. They were inside his carriage, and finally alone.

"You are awfully sure of yourself," she hedged. "What makes you so certain we were discussing you?"

He smiled as she struggled to hold his gaze. "You blushed. You do not normally do that— not so deeply. If it was not for my benefit then I demand to know the blackguard's name."

Her expression turned serious under the dim glow of the carriage lamp. "I know ours will not be a marriage in the true sense of the word, Julian, but you may trust me not to cuckold you. I hope that I might do the same."

Julian's smile faded. It never occurred to him to be unfaithful to her. His father had always been true to his mother and he planned to do the same in his marriage.

"As long as you do not deny me, you alone will have my attentions." It didn't come out the way he meant to say it, but he couldn't very well take it back.

She regarded him for a moment. "Then I will make you the same promise. I will be true to you as long as you do not deny me."

He wanted to tell her she'd be true to him or suffer the consequences, but he didn't. He understood what she was saying. She would trust him provided he trusted her.

"I cannot imagine any man ever denying you, Sophia." It sounded so much nicer than demanding she be faithful.

"You did," came the soft reply.

He did? "When?"

Her gaze didn't quite meet his. "Earlier tonight, in the ballroom."

His eyes widened as he stared at her. She was upset because he had stopped himself from ravishing her before dinner?

"Would you have preferred that I make love to you there? On the floor, wrinkling your gown and polluting you with my stench?" Good Lord, had she not smelled him? He'd worked up quite a sweat fighting Harper.

"No." She was silent for a moment. "Did you even want to?"

The sweet vulnerability of the question, combined with that low, faint Spanish lilt was enough to make his groin tighten uncomfortably.

"I want to every time I see you."

Instead of shying away from his honesty, Sophia seemed to be nothing more than astonished. "Really? Do you want to now?"

Was it not obvious? Perhaps not in the dark, but Julian was all too aware of how tight his trousers were becoming. "My God, woman, do not tempt me."

She scooted forward on the seat, closing the distance between them. "But I want to, Julian. I want to tempt you as you tempt me."

He wasn't quite certain how it happened, but one minute she was sitting across from him and the next she was in his lap— and he had put her there. "Do you feel that?" he demanded against her mouth, lifting his hips against her bottom so she could feel the heavy ridge of his arousal through the thin silk of her skirts. "This is what you do to me."

Sophia— his dear, tormenting Sophia— smiled. "Would you like to know what you do to me?"

Julian growled low in his throat. Oh Lord, would he! "What?"

Her lips brushed his as she spoke. "You make me feel hot, Julian. Like there is an itch deep inside me. A hot,
wet
itch."

A shiver of desire raced down Julian's spine. "My God, where did you learn to talk like that?"

It was as though he had tossed a glass of water in her face. She stiffened and pulled back. "Do you not like it?"

Cupping his hand around the back of her head, he hauled her closer. "I love it." He kissed her slowly, teasing her with his tongue as his other hand slid up her ribs to capture her left breast. He found the hard thrust of her nipple and rubbed it with the pad of his thumb.

Sophia's moan echoed in his mouth. She tangled the fingers of one hand in his hair, the others clutched at the lapel of his coat. Her breast pushed against his hand as she squirmed against the straining hardness in his lap.

He had to stop. If he didn't he was going to end up tossing up her skirts right here in the carriage and they were only minutes from Lady Wickford's.

Reluctantly he released her breast and tore his lips away from hers. Her black eyes heavy-lidded and glazed with passion, Sophia gazed at him in bewilderment. "Why did you stop?"

Julian reached up and brushed the tips of his fingers along the smooth warmth of her cheek. "I have waited seven years to make love to you. When it finally happens, it will not be clumsy and hurried in a carriage. It will be in my bed, when I have all the time in the world to do whatever I want to you."

Sophia shifted on his lap, pressing the full curves of her buttocks down upon his aching erection. "What do you want to do?"

Driven to the point of desperation, Julian was tempted to say to hell with it and show her, but just as the thought crossed his mind the carriage rolled to a stop.

They had arrived at Lady Wickford's.

"It is a surprise," he whispered, pressing a soft kiss against her lips. But he had a feeling that Sophia wasn't going to be half so surprised by him as he was by her.

T
he day of the wedding arrived bright, sunny and about seven days too late for Julian's liking.

"For God's sake, Jules! Stop that infernal pacing, will you? You are making me queasy."

Laughing, Brave pressed a drink into Julian's cold hand. "Leave him alone, Gabe. It is his wedding day."

"I did not pace on my wedding day," Gabriel boasted proudly.

Julian stopped moving long enough to face his friend. "True, but I believe you had already begun the honeymoon by the time you and Lilith finally decided to say 'I do.'"

"Ah, so you are randy rather than nervous, is that it?" Gabriel chuckled.

Julian shot him an unamused glance. "We shall see who is laughing after your son is born and Lilith is unable to bed you for several weeks." He took a drink of brandy.

All the humor drained from Gabriel's face. "I beg your pardon?"

Brave flashed the darker man a broad grin. "He is right. It will be some time after the baby is born before Lilith feels like herself again, Gabe. You had better take advantage of what time you have left."

Julian listened to his friends talk about the pitfalls of fatherhood with half an ear. His mind was on the wedding— and the wedding night. Even though he was only minutes away from making Sophia his wife, he was still hours away from being able to make her his. Why had he agreed to break tradition and have an evening wedding? The private ceremony was at six, with drinks to follow and dinner at eight. By the time everyone left, he and Sophia would have just enough time to prepare for the party Gabriel and Lilith were hosting at Eden in their honor. There would be no time for the kind of intimacy he craved until after the party.