Say You Love Me (15 page)

So she said, “As you wish.”

“And you
are
feeling better this morning?”
he asked somewhat hesitantly. “Fever all gone?”

“Yes, I’m quite well finally.”

His smile suddenly turned sensual. “Excellent. Then I will leave you to your own devices today, but will return to spend this evening with you.”

Kelsey could have kicked herself for not realizing why he was asking after her health. And she had no doubt at all what he meant by “spend this evening with you.” She could have postponed it further with just a complaint or two. Now, blushing, she could only nod her concurrence.

18

The cook arrived that morning just after Derek left
.
And just with the little time that Kelsey spent with the woman, she knew they were going to get along splendidly. Alicia Whipple didn’t put on airs, claimed she minded her own business, and after Kelsey got through the embarrassing part of having to explain that she would be receiving a gentleman caller in the evenings, the only polite way to put it, Alicia assured her that whomever she entertained was Kelsey’s own affair and none of hers.

Her situation was a problem. She didn’t doubt that there were people of the servant class who would refuse to work for someone like her, figuring they would be tarred with the same brush.

For some servants, who they worked for was a matter of pride, and working for a lord’s mistress was definitely nothing to be proud about. But there would be others who wouldn’t care, who just needed the work, and she would find her people from these.

A carriage and driver showed up around
noon. The driver, not Derek’s, informed her that he was now in her employ. He explained where he would house the carriage and horses—the town house didn’t come with its own stable—and where he could be reached whenever he was needed. And that made her realize that she would need at least one footman, when she had thought she could make do with a smaller staff.

She made her first use of the carriage that afternoon. After giving it some thought, and after the sweet kiss that Derek had left her with, she decided to try to make the evening somewhat romantic, rather than the sordid affair it was. To that end, she arranged with Alicia a nice dinner with wine, and gave her ample money to supply it.

Thankfully, Derek had left her with more than that kiss. The wad of pound notes he’d handed her had added up to nearly one hundred, and he had merely said, “This should ride you over for a bit.” Indeed. Large households could be run on much less, and her household was small.

She left Alicia to shop for the food, but she did some shopping of her own. It took quite a while to find what she was looking for, because she wasn’t familiar with London. Finally, she’d had to explain her needs to the driver. She did finally find a shop that supplied negligees of the fancy sort—or rather, her driver did. And although she’d never owned anything even remotely similar—her sleeping gowns were all of the warm, ser
viceable kind—the woman who sold her the ensemble, which came with a matching robe and slippers, assured her that all new brides were wearing negligees on their wedding nights these days.

Whether that was true, or whether the woman had sensed Kelsey’s hesitancy and had just been determined to make the sale, she didn’t know, nor did she care. The negligee was exactly what Kelsey had envisioned when she’d gone hunting for it, so she was quite satisfied with her purchase. Now, if she would just have the nerve to wear it when the time came….

Derek hadn’t told her what time he would be returning that evening. She should have asked him, but not knowing wasn’t too much of a problem, or at least Alicia didn’t think so. The gentry were accustomed to eating at unusual hours, after all, depending on which party they were attending, and food could be kept warm.

As it happened, he arrived earlier than anticipated, just after sunset. She didn’t know it, but he’d had to force himself to stay away even that long, to give her some time to herself, he was so eager to commence their relationship. And he didn’t mention it, which was fortunate. She was nervous enough. Knowing that he would have preferred to take her straight up to bed would have undone her.

He was quite the gentleman, however, giving her no indication by look or word what was on his mind. And he arrived with flowers
in hand—unnecessary, but very thoughtful. Arranging them helped to put Kelsey at ease during those awkward first moments.

He was dressed rather formally, but then she imagined his valet didn’t let him out of the house of an evening dressed any other way. His cravat was perfectly tied, and a bit of white lace showed at the cuffs of his dark brown coat, which stretched so tautly across his wide shoulders. It was sinful, how handsome he was, and she felt so dowdy in comparison.

She had arranged her hair only a bit more fancy tonight, but it was the best she could do. She had brought no formal clothes with her, just a few day dresses for traveling and one gown, which she was wearing now, that could be used for an informal evening. But it was nothing fancy.

It was plain rose taffeta with the short puffed sleeves favored for evening wear, in the empire style, but very unsophisticated for London in that the scooped neckline wasn’t the least bit low, as was fashionable. There was nothing provocative about it, no lace or fancy trims to make it a bit more elegant, but Derek still couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off her.

They shared aperitifs in the parlor before dinner. Kelsey hadn’t thought beyond a little wine, but Alicia had taken stock of what was in the house before going to the market, and fortunately, she’d made a few extra purchases.

Derek kept the conversation light even after
they adjourned to the dining room. He mentioned a stallion that his friend Percy had bought that week that was expected to do well at the races. He spoke of his school days and told her about his best friend, Nicholas Eden, and how they’d met. Some of his family was then mentioned, at least his cousin Regina, who had married Nicholas, and his Uncle Anthony, whom he had gone to watch demolish some contender today at Knighton’s Hall, whatever that was.

Fortunately, he kept the conversation going with anecdotes about himself, because there was not much she could tell him about herself without lying or giving away the truth. They had no history yet that would lend to discussions about things they had done together—nothing that wasn’t disturbing in some way, at any rate.

Over dessert, he finally cleared up the mystery of what had happened in Bridgewater. “The girl I instructed to deliver the supplies to the cottage was let go.”

“Because she didn’t deliver them?”

“No, she was let go before I gave her the instructions, which is why she didn’t bother to carry them out or turn them over to someone else to do. Would have been nice if she’d told me that at the time, but she didn’t. She was miffed with the housekeeper for discharging her, and simply packed up her things and left.”

“Then I owe you an apology.”

“No, you don’t,” he assured her.

She shook her head. “Yes, I do, for thinking you were thoughtless and inconsiderate—and for tossing that note you left me in the fire and wishing it were you instead.”

He stared at her incredulously for about two seconds before he burst out laughing. Kelsey blushed. She wasn’t sure why she’d made that confession, except it went hand in hand with her apology, to explain it anyway.

But she had no idea why he found it so funny until he remarked, “That’s quite a temper you keep under wraps. Would never guess it was there, listening to you.”

“I suppose I do have a bit of one, though it’s rarely had occasion to be provoked,” she admitted. “It runs in my family, I guess, at least on my mother’s side.”

Which was an understatement. In fact, folks would say her mother’s temper was a bit too hot, considering she’d killed her husband during one of her tantrums, unintentionally, but final all the same.

She peeked at him under her lashes. “You don’t mind?”

“Hardly. Tempers run high in my own family, so I’m used to it.” Then he smiled. “And I don’t believe I’ll be provoking yours often.”

She smiled back at him. What a nice roundabout way to say that he’d be giving her no reason to find fault with him. She was glad then that she’d gone to a little extra effort to make their evening special. Although looking at him, how she could have thought that any
thing to do with him would be sordid, she didn’t know.

It was just the sinful aspect of what they were going to do, she supposed, but she really ought to get over thinking of it that way. She’d made a bargain. She’d kept her family off the streets by doing so. She ought to be infinitely grateful that Derek Malory was the one who’d bought her.

She imagined that many women would consider her lucky. Maybe after that night, she would too. But there was still the night to get through—or rather, what was going to happen upstairs. And it was time. They had enjoyed a very nice dinner. She had even bolstered herself with the wine. She could delay it a bit more, but that wasn’t going to make it easier, was only going to increase her nervousness.

So, blushing, she said, “If you don’t mind, I will retire now to change into something—cooler—to sleep.”

“Good God, yes! That is, please do.”

She blinked, unaware until that moment just how eager he was to bed her. Knowing that he was so eager caused a warmth inside her that was actually pleasant—and had her blushing even more furiously.

She stood up to leave. “I will see you shortly, then—upstairs.”

He caught her hand as she passed and brought it to his lips. “You’re nervous, m’dear. You needn’t be. We’re going to have fun together, you and I, I promise you.”

Fun? He thought of lovemaking as fun?
Imagine that. But she could only nod. Words wouldn’t escape her tight throat. She wanted to cry for what she was about to lose. She wanted to get it over with. She wanted to shoot her Uncle Elliott for putting her in this house, where she was about to have a wedding night—without the wedding. And deep down, she wanted to taste Derek Malory’s kisses again. Good God, she didn’t know what she wanted anymore.

19

Kelsey donned the negligee with trembling fingers. She
had known she wouldn’t feel comfortable in it, and she didn’t, but she stubbornly refused to take it off.

It was indecent by itself, not due to any transparency but because the sides were split clear to her hips, revealing more leg than she’d ever shown to anyone. It was made of soft pale blue silk, sleeveless, the bodice in a deep V, the straps mere ties that could be undone easily.

If not for the robe in the same soft silk, she wouldn’t have dared to wear it. But the robe covered her legs and arms. There was still a bit of her breasts showing, even with the robe belted closed, but under the circumstances, she supposed that was appropriate.

She was standing by the fire, combing her hair, when the knock came at the door. The words wouldn’t come to tell Derek to enter. He obviously felt he didn’t need them, because the door opened, and there he stood, his eyes coming directly to her, widening a bit, darkening…

“We
really
have to work on those blushes, Kelsey,” he said in an amused tone.

She lowered her eyes, the heat in her cheeks feeling hotter than the fire behind her. “I know.”

“You look—beautiful.”

He said it as if that wasn’t quite the word he wanted to use, as if he were a bit in awe. And he was standing in front of her within moments, taking the comb from her hand, setting it aside, lifting a lock of her long hair to his cheek, then letting it drift back to her waist.

“Absolutely beautiful,” he repeated.

That drew her gaze up to him, and the look in his green eyes, so admiring, warmed her even more. His being so close, though, was causing her to feel other things, a tickling in her belly, a tightening in her breasts. Even the smell of him, spicy, was thrilling her senses. And she found herself staring at his mouth, almost willing him to kiss her, remembering how much nicer it had been before when he was kissing her, how she wasn’t self-conscious then, how her thoughts had scattered, giving her some peace.

The belt of her robe came undone—with his assistance. Her blush started again as the thin silk pooled at her feet. But she heard his indrawn breath, felt his eyes slowly traveling the length of her.

His voice was exceedingly husky when he said, “We will have to buy you more of—those,” and a hand indicated the negligee. “Many more.”

Must we?
She thought she’d said it aloud, but the words hadn’t come out. And she was too tense now, waiting…waiting.

And then his hands were gently cupping her cheeks. “Do you know how much I’ve been looking forward to this?” he asked her softly.

She had no answer for him. She didn’t need one, because he’d no sooner said it than he was kissing her, seriously kissing her, parting her lips, his tongue delving, tasting, dueling with hers. He’d moved closer. Her breasts now touched his chest. And she was getting weak with the need to lean against him, until she finally gave in to the urge.

He groaned at that sign of yielding and lifted her in his arms, carried her to the bed and laid her gently there, then leaned back to gaze at her while he removed his coat and cravat. Her eyes met his and went no further. Her lips parted, trembled, but she couldn’t look away, so intensely sensual was his gaze, so mesmerizing.

She hadn’t extinguished the lamps in the room. She wished she had, she was so self-conscious. She wanted to dive under the covers too, but didn’t, remembering what May had said about men liking to gaze at a woman’s body, and she might as well have been naked already, the soft silk molded so clearly to her skin in her prone position. But it was so hard lying there, waiting for him to join her.

She couldn’t know how enticing she was,
with her black hair spread out over the pillows, her knees bent just so, so that one slim leg peeked out of the blue silk. With her full lips parted, she seemed to be begging for the return of his mouth. And those black-lashed, turbulent gray eyes, fearful—surely not. But they somehow made Derek feel like a bloody Spartan about to ravish a village maid. Strange feeling, and it did absolutely nothing to tamp down his raging desire.