Tenacious Trents 03 - A Reluctant Rake (47 page)

Audrey returned the items to the trunk
and set back on her heels with a sigh.

“Is there something in particular you
needed?”

She startled at his voice. “You
mentioned nightshirts. I was hoping to put on one.”

He grinned. “I rather like what you are
wearing.”

“I can’t lay around naked.”

“I don’t see why not.” If he had it his
way, she would never wear clothing again.

Her eyes grew wide. “Because it isn’t
right. Besides, I am sure someone will be delivering breakfast
soon.”

He glanced out the window. It was
getting light. If he could rouse himself from the bed they could be
on their way to Grosmont.

“Apparently your valet forgot to pack
them.”

Jordan fell onto this back and laughed.
“No he didn’t. I don’t own any.”

Audrey came to her feet. “You said last
night there was a shirt I could wear to sleep in.”

“Exactly,” Jordan pointed out. “A
shirt, not a nightshirt.”

“Oh.” She sank to the side of the
bed.

Jordan lifted the covers. “Get inside.
It is too early to be up.” They could leave in an hour, or
two.

Audrey did as he asked, settling beside
him with her head on his shoulder. He waited for her to ask about
the doll but she didn’t. If she didn’t ask he did need to explain.
He should have told her about Adele and Julia before he made love
to her, when she still had a chance to escape marriage to him and
suffer because of the possible scandal that would affect his entire
family.

“Aren’t you even curious?” His hands
stroked over her hair.

“Curious?”

“The doll?”

Audrey tilted her head and looked up at
him. “I shouldn’t have pried. It is none of my affair. I really was
only looking for a nightshirt. I didn’t mean to snoop.”

Jordan chuckled. It never occurred to
him that she was snooping. He just assumed she needed something and
hoped he had whatever it was.

She worried her lip and studied him for
a moment.

“I love you Audrey
Montgomery.”

A smile broke on her lips and tears
formed in her eyes. Certainly she knew how he felt.

“You do love me?” He held his breath,
waiting for her answer. Surely she loved him as well or she
wouldn’t have allowed him such intimacies.

“Of course!”

Jordan released a breath. “You’ve never
said so.”

A tear leaked out and slid down her
cheek. Jordan put his lip to the salty wetness. What a fool he was.
He should have told her long before now and he wasn’t sure why he
hadn’t and he most certainly should have said something before he
made love to her.

She sniffed and grinned before giving
him a quick kiss. “I love you.”

His heart burst. It was a true, honest
declaration of love. It wasn’t the first time a woman had said
those words to him but this was the first time he believed they
came from the heart and Audrey was the only lady he wanted to hear
those words from. He had only said it to one woman before but he
had been young and foolish and thankfully Angelique had not taken
him at his word and had seen it as the simple infatuation that it
was. What he shared with Audrey was a deep and never-ending
love.

He kissed her again, deeply. He had the
overwhelming desire to make love to her again and not because of
passion or sex, but to be one with her, to soar and crash with her
and to make her heart beat in rhythm with his, forever
bonded.

She pulled him close, matching her need
to his, he did not hesitate and the blankets fell away and they
were joined once again and this time when she cried out, it was his
name.

Jordan stroked Audrey’s upper arm as
she snuggled against him, her head on his shoulder. They had
traveled this way for the past three days and soon they would be at
her parents’ home. What if Mr. Montgomery was at a racetrack in
another county? How far away? He would be damned if he cooled his
heels at her home while he waited for her father to return. He
would find the man first and gain permission. Even if it happened
to be while his favorite horse was running.

The need to make Audrey his wife ate at
him. It didn’t matter that she was his in every way. He wanted to
be able to call her wife!

He must have tightened his hold in his
agitation which had been growing the closer they came to her
estate. What if the man denied his request?

No, he couldn’t think that way. If
necessary, he would tell the man of all the delicious moments he
had shared with his daughter on this trip and he would have no
choice but to grant permission.

“Jordan?” Audrey questioned. “What is
wrong?”

He glanced down into her light brown
eyes. “What if your father denies me your hand?”

She giggled and rose up to kiss him on
the cheek. “He won’t. On that you have my word.”

Jordan only wished he was as confident
as she.

Her hand brushed inside his coat and
her fingertips found a nipple. It didn’t take Audrey long to
realize this was one of the more sensitive areas on his body. Most
women didn’t realize this and assumed they were the only ones who
experienced pleasure from such a caress. She squirmed closer and
kissed his neck. His future wife was insatiable and Jordan grinned.
He had hoped she would not shy away from lovemaking. He just never
dreamed her passion would match his.

He shifted and drew her onto his lap
and found her lips with his. Before long her bodice lay open and
her dress was hiked to her thighs and Audrey was biting her lip to
keep from screaming her pleasure so that the driver did not hear
her. Jordan was hard and aching but as comfortable has his
brother’s carriage was, it was not possible to lay her down.
Instead he shifted Audrey until she straddled his lap. It was time
Audrey knew there were more ways to make love than in a
bed.

Jordan freed his member and pulled her
close. There was a bit of confusion on her face until he prodded
her entrance and then her eyes grew wide.

“Ride me, Audrey.”

“I am not sure I know how.”

He chuckled. “Yes you do, or you will
learn quickly.”

She moved down, taking him inside and
groaned. Jordan let his head fall back. He would never be tired of
being inside of her.

She didn’t move again and he lifted his
head. Perhaps he needed to guide her with his hands. Jordan found
her looking at him. “You said ride.”

“Yes.” It was a bit crass but she
hadn’t taken offense at anything else he had said while they were
intimate and some of his language and suggestions were not usually
said in the presence of a lady.

“This is what Everton was referring to
in the garden.”

Jordan groaned. He had forgotten about
that incident. Well, not completely forgotten about it but it was
the furthest thing from his mind at this particular moment.
“Yes.”

“Then he meant to…” She stopped
speaking when it dawned on her the full extent of Everton’s
intentions that night.

“Don’t think about it.” Jordan took her
lips with his, lifted her hips and then pushed them down. Soon
Audrey was moving on him as if she were born to bring him pleasure,
her mouth never disengaging from his. His hand slipped beneath her
skirt to touch her and they cried out into each other’s mouth as
they gained release as one.

Audrey fell against him panting and
Jordan simply sat there, rubbing her back and
recovering.

They were nearing her home and he
hadn’t yet told her about Julia and Adele. It wasn’t as if he
hadn’t had several opportunities, he simply avoided the topic. But,
he couldn’t put it off any longer.

Audrey slid from his lap and
straightened her skirts. “That was delightful.” She grinned up at
him.

Jordan merely chuckled and pulled her
close and placed a kiss on her forehead. He had to tell her now or
it would never be told and she could easily be shocked when all of
London learned and ended up resenting him for keeping something so
important from him.

“I need to tell you about the
doll.”

Audrey pulled back, eyes clouded in
worry. “Do you have a daughter?” she asked slowly.

Jordan laughed. “No. To my knowledge I
have not fathered any children.” He should be offended but he
wasn’t. Given the number of women he had made love to over the
years he could easily have a passel of bastards, except he had
always been very careful so that the woman he was with never
conceived. Audrey was the first lady he had never even thought
about being cautious. It didn’t matter if she found herself
increasing and he hoped it was sooner than later.

“It belonged to my sister.”

“Madeline?”

“No, Julia.”

Audrey studied him, a quizzical frown
on her face. Her brows lifted a few moments later. “Oh.”

The fact that she didn’t ask who Julia
was meant she knew the story.

She grasped his hand. “I am so sorry.
It must have been so difficult to lose a sister so
young.”

Jordan should have expected nothing but
compassion from Audrey. It was one of the many reasons he loved
her.

“Yes, it was,” he admitted. “However,
we learned last year that they didn’t died.”

“They didn’t?”

“No.”

“Where have they been?” she asked
slowly.

“France for a number of years,
apparently.”

“How very odd.”

Yes, it was, but Audrey didn’t know the
half of it and Jordan explained what had occurred, from the very
beginning, including how he had torn Julia’s doll and that father
had struck her for crying.

“It wasn’t your fault. You were a
child.”

“I know that in my mind, but it hasn’t
lessened the guilt.” That was the first time he admitted his
deepest feelings to anyone. It was also the reason he was so close
to Madeline and was glad when she was sent to school. At least he
knew she would come home from there one day and not run
off.

Jordan continued with what he knew and
how Clayton learned the truth last spring and that they had been
searching for them ever since.

“They are in London yet you haven’t
found them.”

He shook his head.

“Do you think Adele will try to contact
the family?”

“I assume she will, in time. Why else
would she come back now?”

She fell back against the seat and
nibbled on her nail. He simply waited for her to reach the same
conclusion as the rest of the family. Her mouth popped open and she
turned to him and he knew she had. “Oh dear, what will this mean
for your step-mother? The one everyone believes to be the true
dowager?”

“That is our main concern. At least now
that Madeline is married we don’t have to worry about her birth
status being an issue.”

“Does Lord Brachton know?” She cringed
with the question. Most gentlemen did not willingly marry a
bastard.

“Before they married. He loved her too
much to care.”

Audrey relaxed. “That is good to
know.”

“We will deal with the situation when
and if they are found or it becomes public knowledge.”

“There isn’t much you can do besides
continue to search for them,” she agreed.

“But,” he pointed out. “As my wife this
could affect you as well.”

“I don’t see how?”

“It could be a horrible scandal. Rose
could be shunned as well as the rest of us. We simply don’t know
how bad the repercussions could be.” He grasped her hand tight. “I
wanted you to know all of this and have a clear understanding
before you became my wife. You still have the option to change your
mind.”

Audrey brought a hand to his cheek and
cradled it, a loving smile on her lips. “The largest scandal in all
of England would not keep me from marrying you.”

Relief swept through Jordan and
surprised by how much he had really feared her reaction to the
truth.