Taming the Wicked Wulfe (The Rogue Agents) (28 page)

“I’m going to ride up top with the Coachman,” Justin said before shutting the door.
 
The women felt the coach shift and then they were on their way.

“Rebekah, you do know you are more beautiful than she is.
 
I’m going to ask you something and you can tell me it is none of my business.
 
Have you slept with Thorn?”

“Once, you know that.”

“Oh, dear.
 
Rebekah,” Clarissa stopped and cleared her throat.
 
She felt her face burning, but she hoped what she told the woman would be beneficial.
 
“Rebekah, Justin and I were making love in the carriage.”

Rebekah sat straight up and her eyes flew open.
 
“You were what?”

Clarissa looked her in the eyes, “We were making love.”

“But it sounded as if someone were being killed.”

“Yes, well…”

“No, I don’t believe it.
 
It…” she broke off thinking back to another time.
 
There had been groans that time, but they had been all male.

“Rebekah,” Clarissa held out her hand to her cousin.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said and shrunk into the corner of the carriage, refusing to look at Clarissa.
 
Her head pounded even more if that were possible.
 
She only wanted to go home, climb into her bed, and forget this terrible night had ever happened.

Chapter 15

Rebekah pulled the covers over head, blocking out the light that tried to pierce through her eyelids.
 
Her head pounded and her stomach roiled.
 

“It is a gorgeous day,” a feminine voice said.
 
“At least it is if you did not indulge in too much champagne last night.”

“Go away,” Rebekah muttered.

“She can be surly, can’t she?” Another familiar feminine voice said.
 

“Rebekah, it is your choice how we do this, but you are getting up and facing the day.
 
Whether you will admit it or not, you need assistance.
 
And we can help you.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about, and I am perfectly content staying here, in my bed, not facing the world.”

“I am sure you are,” Clarissa said, “but that is not the Rebekah I know.”

“You should be too embarrassed to want to see me,” Rebekah said angrily bringing her cousin into focus.

“Embarrassed for loving my husband?
 
Never.
 
Perhaps a little disconcerted over being caught in the act, but life goes on.
 
Now are you going to get up under your own power or are Tessa and I going to pull you from that bed?”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh, we would and we will.
 
You are to meet the third member of our trio today and I think it is about time.
 
Between the four of us, we are going to figure out how you can seduce your husband.”

“I don’t want to seduce Thorn.”

“Of course you do.
 
You just have memories to overcome.”

“I don’t…”

“Does your body feel out of control when he enters a room?
 
When he kisses you?” Tessa asked softly.
 
Rebekah hid her face under the covers again.
 
“I don’t know anything about your past, but I do know it is not worth both of you being miserable and hating one another the rest of your lives.
 
That is a very long time to be unhappy.”

“I hate him for turning me into this person I am,” Rebekah said.

“Of course you do.”

“Who do you hate?” Tessa asked.

“My father,” Rebekah answered, admitting the fact out loud for the first time.

“Don’t transfer that hate to Thorn.
 
He doesn’t even know what happened.
 
Give him a chance.
 
Theodore and Sarah believed in the two of you.
 
Perhaps you should as well.”

An hour later, the trio arrived at a magnificent townhouse.
 
They were seen out of the carriage and before they could even knock on the door of the house, it flew open and a beautiful dark-haired woman came down the stairs.
 
She hugged Tessa and then Clarissa, talking the entire time.
 
All three women were laughing and hugging and Rebekah felt like she did not belong.

“Mikala, I would like to introduce you to my very dear cousin, Lady Rebekah Wulfe.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Mikala pulled her into a hug.
 
Her voice had a deep huskiness to it.
 
“Wait.
 
Wulfe.
 
I know it has been almost two months since I had the baby, but Wulfe married?
 
There must be a mistake.”

“No mistake,” Rebekah said.
 
“I am Lady Thornton Wulfe, better known to many as the Wicked Wulfe.
 
I am also a look-alike to his ex-mistress.”
 
She turned to look at Clarissa.
 
“I want to go home.”

“Oh, no you don’t.
 
You have to finish your story,” Mikala said, linking her fingers with Rebekah’s and dragging her inside.
 
“Besides you have to meet my gorgeous little daughter.”
 
She led the women inside the house and to a very cheerful looking salon.
 
A little bassinet sat beside a rocking chair and contented coos could be heard from it.
 
“She’s awake,” Mikala said excitedly.
 
She bent over and lifted her daughter into her arms as if the babe were not her first.
 
Just then another woman entered the room.
 
“Dru, what are you doing here?”

“Can’t I come see my great-niece?”

“Of course, I was just making introductions.
 
Rebekah, this is my daughter, Diana.”

“I love that you named your daughter after the goddess of the hunt,” Clarissa said laughing and taking the little girl from her friend’s arms.
 
“I would expect nothing less from you.
 
She is beautiful.
 
Gabe must be so proud.”

“I am,” a deep voice sounded from the door.
 
Rebekah looked at the man in confusion.

“Director McKenzie?”

“No,” Mikala laughed, huskily.
 
“Mack and Gabe are brothers, and do look quite a bit alike.
 
This is my husband, the Duke of Hawkescliffe, Gabriel Hawke.
 
Everyone calls him Gabe or Hawke.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace.”
 
Rebekah dipped into a deep curtsy.

“And you are?”

“Lady Thornton Wulfe,” she cringed even as she said the name.

“It is a pleasure indeed.
 
Your husband is a good man.”

Rebekah looked at the duke, a startled expression on her face.
 
This man, this pillar of society thought her husband was a good man.
 
He must be confused.
 
“You must be referring to my deceased brother-in-law, the Duke of Wulfcrest,” she said.

“No.
 
I knew him as well though, and he was an excellent man to have on your side as well.
 
No, I definitely mean Thorn.
 
Can’t think of a man I’d rather have watching my back.”

Shock rippled through Rebekah and she somehow managed to say, “Thank you,” before slipping away from the group.
 
She gravitated towards a window, across the room from the others.
 

“I’ll take Di up to the nursery and allow you ladies some privacy to visit.”
 
He took the babe from Clarissa and dropped a kiss on Mikala’s lips before leaving the room.
 
Rebekah felt like a voyeur.
 
She also felt a piercing ache deep inside and found herself rapidly blinking.
 
How could that tender scene nearly bring them on after having not cried in years?

“You don’t know how wonderful it is to see you both,” Mikala said.

“Motherhood has been good to you, Kala,” Clarissa said.

“I think so.
 
Fatherhood has been good for Gabe, as well.
 
Now, what is going on?
 
Clarissa, you sent a note saying you needed my help.”

“We have not been introduced,” Dru walked over to Rebekah.
 
“My name is Drucilla, but everyone calls me Dru.
 
I am Mikala and Derek’s aunt.”

“It is nice to meet you.
 
I am Rebekah.”

“Sometimes the girls can be overwhelming.
 
It happens when you’ve been friends for years.
 
They forget what it’s like to be the newcomer in the group.”

“Clarissa and I are distant cousins.”

“I see.
 
Let’s go join them,” Dru threaded her arm through Rebekah’s and led her over to the other women.
 

“So you want to seduce your husband?” Mikala asked.

“Mikala, have you no couth?”

“Tessa and Clarissa said…”

“Stop,” Dru raised her hand.
 
“Has anyone asked Rebekah what she wants?
 
No, you all just assumed.
 
Now, Rebekah, tell me, what do you want?”

Rebekah stared at the women staring at her.
 
“He makes me feel strange when he comes around.
 
He kisses me and I get hot and flushed.
 
I think I want him, but last time I thought I did as well.”

“Bad experience?” Dru asked sympathetically.

“Not the best.”

“Anything else?”

“I do not want him to choose his mistress over me.”

“That a girl,” Dru patted her knee.
 
“Now ladies, we will open the floor for suggestions, but please, one at a time.”

“You could corner him in a carriage,” Clarissa suggested, laughing at Rebekah’s flushed face and expression.

“What’s so funny?” Mikala demanded of her friend.

“Oh, you know how stuffy and boring balls can be.
 
Sometimes you must find your own fun.”

To Rebekah’s shock and dismay the other women nodded and joined in the laughter.
 
“I can’t do this,” she jumped up and began pacing the room.

“Do what?” Clarissa asked, cocking her head curiously.

“Treat the marriage act so lightly,” Rebekah said.
 
“You talk about it as if it is something you find enjoyment in, as if it brings happiness to you.”

“But it does,” Mikala said, a look of confusion on her face.
 
Clarissa and Tessa also nodded their heads in agreement.
 
Dru was the only one that looked concerned.
 

“My dear, have you ever talked about what happened to you?” Dru asked softly.

“No, and I do
not
want to start,” Rebekah stubbornly looked down each woman.
 
She knew that Clarissa knew bits and pieces, but no one but she and Gertie knew every detail.
 
Gertie was the only one she had confided in all those years ago, and it had been Gertie that had found her lying in a growing pool of blood at the bottom of the staircase.

“Were you raped?” Mikala asked.

“No,” she said vehemently.

“Are you certain?” Mikala queried once more.

“Positive.
 
I…”

“Yes?” Clarissa encouraged her to speak.

“I…I wanted it to happen.”

“But…” this time it was Tessa who looked so understanding.

“It was less than stellar and the results might have been wonderful, but I will never know.
 
And that is all that I am saying.”

Clarissa stood and crossed the room, taking Rebekah’s stiff body in a tight hug.
 
Clarissa just hugged her unresponsive cousin tighter.
 
“He needs to know.”

“No,” Rebekah argued, her voice sounding slightly hoarse to her own ears.

“All right,” Drucilla said, taking over the situation.
 
“Come and sit down,” she patted the settee next to her and Clarissa guided her to sit down, taking the spot next to her.
 
“The first thing you need to know is that it is perfectly normal to talk about the act of sex.
 
Mothers have been telling daughters for generations what to expect in the marriage bed, although it is not always correct information.
 
Tell me, why do you think maids whisper and giggle when they see a handsome footman or even a young lord that catches their eye?”

“My father is a minister.
 
We had no wait staff.
 
If we had a wayward thought, we were beaten.
 
When I went to live with Sarah and Teddy, I was so consumed with helping her with the twins that I never paid attention to the servants other than to see they were doing their job.”