Not Proper Enough (A Reforming the Scoundrels Romance) (39 page)

She rocked her hips harder, and he responded by grasping her hips and bringing her down harder. His cock went deeper inside her, and she let out a groan. He held her and reversed their positions so that he was on top of her. She brought her hands down and spread her fingers over his backside, knees bent, doing whatever she could to keep their connection.

“I love you, Fox,” she said. “I love you madly. Desperately. With all my heart.”

“Hush.” He pushed up on his palms and stopped moving, even resisting her hands on him urging him to start again. “You needn’t say that.”

“I take it back.” She sucked in a breath and tried to still her arousal. “I don’t love you anymore. I did, but not now, you awful man.”

He was still hard, but he wasn’t moving. “You can’t take it back. It’s too late. Say it again.”

“No. You said you’d bring me here and fuck me senseless, and you haven’t. I can’t love a man who doesn’t keep his word.”

His eyes got big and wide and then an evil grin spread over his face. He pushed his hips forward. “That?”

“Fenris.”

“Fox,” he said, the word harsh against her ear. He moved slowly in her again, but that wasn’t what she wanted from him. “Then say that other word that sounds like that.” He
covered her and, with his weight held on his arms, kissed her, and she kissed him back. He drew away. “Say, ‘Fuck me,’ Ginny, and I will, as hard as you like.”

“As hard as you like?”

“I’m hoping there won’t be a difference.” He stopped moving.

“God, I hate you.”

“Say it.” He grabbed her arms and pinned them over her head. “I’d die to hear you say that.”

She wrapped her legs around him. “Fuck me, Fox.”

And then he did, and held her while he did, and there really did come a point where she lost her mind while he moved in her, hard and fast. He angled himself in her the way he had before, and he was saying that word and others like it, and then he couldn’t speak, either, and it was just the two of them. They were slick with sweat, the both of them.

His belly slid over hers, and it wasn’t hurting her but she was right there on the edge of discomfort at the very same time her body hurtled toward a climax. He put his mouth by her ear and whispered, “Do you love me now, Ginny?”

She broke. Completely, and then he did, and she held him close, and when she came back to her body, while he was shuddering with his release, she opened her eyes and said, again, “Yes. I do. I love you, Fox.”

The next morning.

T
AP, TAP, TAP
.

Fox tightened his arms around Eugenia and ignored the noise. They were in her bed, and he was warm, sexually sated, and very comfortable. He did not want to be any more awake than he was right now.

Tap, tap, tap.

A door opened. He kept his eyes closed.

“Milord?”

He recognized Martine’s voice but would have continued to ignore her if not for the thread of tension in her words. Martine had a head on her shoulders. He disengaged himself from Eugenia and rolled over. He kept the sheets up. “Yes?”

“Sir.” She gave him a quick curtsey. “The Duke of Mountjoy is here and asking to see you and her ladyship.”

“Ah.” He looked over at Eugenia, still asleep. “Thank you.” Something in Martine’s demeanor set off an alarm, and he frowned to himself. “What else? Is Mountjoy angry?”

She hesitated.

“Out with it.” Jesus, had Eugenia’s brother somehow
found out about the two of them? He didn’t know how, but rumor traveled at lightning speed.

“Mr. Hayden says he went to your father’s room this morning.” Hayden, of course, was his father’s valet of the last thirty years. Martine put both her hands over her mouth, and her eyes slid to Eugenia.

Fox sat up, his heart pounding. “What is it, Martine?”

“Below stairs is in an uproar. He’s threatening to quit, sir.”

Eugenia stirred and rolled over. “What is it? Martine, is that you?”

Fox put a hand on her shoulder. “Your brother is here, so in any event, you will need to get up.”

Eugenia took his hand and kissed it. “Good morning to you,” she murmured.

He squeezed her shoulder and gave his attention back to Martine. “Why is Hayden threatening to quit?”

“Miss Rendell was there.”

“Of course she was,” said a sleepy Eugenia. “She’s staying here, too.”

“No.” Martine’s eyes went wide, and she took a deep breath. “She was in the duke’s bedchamber.”

Under the covers, he gripped Eugenia’s hand. They were both of them now fully awake. “I presume she and my father were not having tea or a pleasant discussion of botany?”

“No, milord. They were not.”

“Oh,” Eugenia said, very softly. “Oh, dear.”

He hung his head and sighed. “Please send my valet to Camber and tell him—my father, I mean—that I would like to speak to him in his office at his earliest convenience. And, if you would, ask Hayden to attend to me in my rooms. Please tell Mountjoy that I will see him shortly. Shoot whomever you feel needs it. Then you may assist Lady Fenris.”

“Milord.”

When Martine was gone, Fox gathered Eugenia in his arms. “Whatever you’re paying that woman, it’s not enough.”

“Hester was in your father’s room?” She gripped his shoulders.

“So it would seem.”

“How am I going to explain this to Hester’s mother?”

He kissed her on the mouth. “When you’re ready, find your brother. If I’m not with him, then I’m still with Camber.”

He slid out of bed and put on enough clothing that he could decently manage the walk to his rooms, carrying his boots and the rest of his clothes. Hayden was there, stone-faced. “Thank you for attending to me,” he said. He dropped his clothes onto a chair and held up a hand. “So there is no misinterpretation, the Lady Eugenia and I were married last night. I’ve sent my man to look after Camber, by the way. I’ve no idea what’s got into my father, but I will deal with that and my wife’s brother as soon as I’m washed and decently dressed. Can you manage that or must I pay you your wages now?”

Hayden bowed stiffly, and Fox waited while any number of offended and stubborn emotions flickered over the servant’s face. At last, he gave a grudging bow. “My lord.”

“Thank you.”

Once he was dressed, he headed for his father’s study. Halfway there, one of the footmen intercepted him. Fox tried to compose himself. He was tired, having spent much of the night most enjoyably not sleeping, and hungry, and in desperate need of tea. And for God’s sake, he was to confront his father about compromising a young woman who had accepted his hospitality. He forced a smile. “Yes?”

“My lord. I beg leave to inform you that his grace requires your presence in the Grand saloon.”

“Which bloody duke are we talking about? Camber or Mountjoy?”

The footman took a step back. “Both, my lord.”

“I will be there shortly.” He took another step down to the first floor then turned back. “Have tea brought there. And chocolate for Lady Fenris.” Because Eugenia drank chocolate in the morning and he’d be damned if she missed hers today. “And food. Something light.”

“My lord.”

The door to the Grand saloon was open. Camber was there. As were Hester and Eugenia, who had, it would seem, dressed
with unusual haste. Her eldest brother wore a thunderous expression, to say the least. Mountjoy’s wife, Fox’s cousin Lily, stood beside him. She was as heart-stoppingly beautiful as ever. There was as well another woman whom he knew he’d met. God help him if he could remember her name. Aigen was there, too, standing with his elbow on the mantel.

Fox composed himself and strode in. “Camber. Mountjoy. What the devil are you doing here, Aigen?”

“You weren’t at Upper Brook Street, so I came here. To warn you.” He glanced at Eugenia. “But now I’m enjoying meeting your delightful relations. I’ve been invited to go hunting at Bitterward.”

“Warn me about what?”

“Dinwitty Lane is writing poetry to Lady Eugenia. Very bad poetry as he’s not a Scotsman, but all the same, I thought you ought to be warned that he’s handing out manuscripts to anyone who looks at him sideways.”

“Did you bring one with you? No? I’ll have to send someone out to fetch me a copy.” Fox walked to Lily and took the hand she extended to him. “Cousin Lily. Lovely to see you.”

She bent a knee. Her gaze landed on the medallion hanging from his fob, and when she looked up, she looked at Eugenia then gave him one of those smiles that stunned a man who wasn’t prepared. Lily was no fool. Mountjoy was damn lucky to have convinced her to marry him. “Well, well, well, my dearest cousin Lord Fenris. I presume congratulations are in order?”

“Yes,” he said. “They are, Cousin Lily.” Fox held out his hand to Eugenia, and she took it. He brought her close and he felt a certain improper glee when Mountjoy’s eyebrows about hit the ceiling. Marriage agreed with Mountjoy. Before he married Lily, the man hadn’t known the first thing about how to dress. His cousin had repaired the most glaring of the man’s defects.

“Take your hands off my sister, Fenris.”

“Your grace. I have the great honor to present Lady Fenris.”

Aigen stood straight. “It’s true, then?”

Mountjoy looked at Hester and nodded at the girl. “Lady Fenris. Delighted to—”

“Mountjoy, darling man.” Lily put a hand on his shoulder and got his attention. “He means Eugenia.”

The young woman whose name he could not recall took a step back, trying to remove herself from what was admittedly a private and potentially volatile confrontation between two families that did not have a history of good relations. He remembered the girl now. Caroline Kirk. Eugenia’s younger brother, Nigel, had married her eldest sister.

Mountjoy goggled at Lily. “Eugenia hasn’t married Fenris.”

Fox put an arm around Ginny’s waist, and pulled her close. “Last night.”

“About time.” Aigen didn’t speak to anyone in particular.

Eugenia’s brother choked. “The devil—”

Lily elbowed him, and Mountjoy closed his mouth. “My dear cousin.” Lily curtseyed. “Eugenia. Felicitations. Mountjoy and I are delighted beyond words. And very sorry we did not arrive in time to attend the ceremony.”

“Are we?” Mountjoy asked Eugenia.

Fox was aware he was holding his breath.

“Yes.” Eugenia rested her head against his shoulder. “We are very sorry you weren’t there to share in our happiness.”

“Camber,” Fox went on. “Forgive me for not having the opportunity to tell you in private.” This was a rare moment, him about to take his father to task like this. “But then, I presume you are about to present us with your future wife.”

“Yes,” Camber said. Good Lord, his father was actually smiling. “Yes, indeed.”

“Thank God.” Eugenia let out a breath.

Hester clasped her hands to her bosom. “You’re not angry, are you? Not terribly, I hope.”

“Certainly not.” Eugenia moved forward and enveloped Hester in a hug, and there were attempts to explain from his father and Hester but, frankly, none of them went well or made good sense.

The arrival of tea, chocolate, and breakfast made a
welcome interruption. Fox served Eugenia her chocolate personally and received a kiss on the cheek for his trouble. “How sweet of you to remember.”

“What the devil is going on, Fenris?” Mountjoy demanded. “I came here because you told me there’d been a fire at Spring Street.”

“There was.”

“And?”

Fox strode to the table and poured himself a cup of tea. “I’m not going to give a word of explanation until I’ve had tea and something to eat.”

Eugenia took over the tea service and proceeded to get everyone served and seated, and if it hadn’t been for Aigen’s quick action the silence might have killed them all. Aigen made his way to Fox and thumped him on the shoulder. “Congratulations. You’ve married above yourself, you scoundrel.”

“That I have.” He looked over at Eugenia, and her smile made his heart a thousand times too big for his chest.

Lily’s gypsy medallion clinked against one of the buttons of Aigen’s coat. When Aigen at last released him, Fox touched the bright metal. Was there magic in it? He doubted it, but then again, he was married to the woman he loved. As far as he was concerned, it was all owed to that bit of metal.

On a whim, he removed the medallion from his watch chain and bounced it on his palm. He winked at his wife.

Aigen watched him. “That’s a pretty bauble.”

“Here, Aigen.” He held out his hand, and Aigen took the medallion from him with a puzzled expression. “It’s yours now. It will bring you luck in love. Just as it did for me.”

“Worked for you, didn’t it?”

“It did at that.”

“Thank you. I could use that sort of luck.” He fastened the medallion to his watch and patted it, then leaned close and said, “Who is that pretty girl over there with your wife?”

“Ah.” Fox smiled. “That, my dear friend, is Miss Caroline Kirk.”