The lady tamed, p.19
The Lady Tamed, page 19
Jeremy laughed. “You’re jesting. It’s his favorite topic of conversation. Doesn’t he pester you about it, too?”
“No. Actually, I was surprised to realize that Father hadn’t brought up the possibility with me when we married,” she said with a laugh.
Jeremy grinned, his heart full. “With all that is on your plate, I suppose he didn’t want to add to your worries if it never happened. He told me his concerns last year before we decided to wed.”
Fanny squinted at him. “Is his advice why you’re always trying to keep me in bed in the mornings after we make love?”
Jeremy shrugged. “The duke has mentioned conception sometimes needs a little help, but that’s not why I keep you in our bed.”
Her eyes narrowed even more. “Why then?”
Jeremy grinned. “Pure selfishness. The minute your feet hit the floor, you’ll put on clothes and pin up your hair, and I have to share you with everyone else.”
He brushed his fingertips down her spine. He loved it when it was just the two of them, and naked, but Fanny needed more in her life than just a husband. Now he would have more, too.
She touched his face. “Jeremy dear, even when I’m not with you and working, I think of you.”
“I believe you.” Jeremy brought her hands up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “A baby to love. Can this be happening?”
Her eyes narrowed again. “A baby that my father will try to steal away to play with the minute we turn our backs,” Fanny warned.
“I don’t mind. At least our child will know he has a grandfather who cares about him.”
Fanny sighed. “He, or she, will know their parents love them, too.”
Jeremy finished undressing Fanny and drew her to the bed. “You know, the duke has been telling me about your mother and how he took care of her when she was increasing. He said he spent every night rubbing her back and legs, in the last weeks before you were born.”
“You really can’t go wrong with Father’s advice on the subject when it sounds like that.”
He eased Fanny down until she was flat on her back and then climbed up on their bed with her. He put his hands on her stomach and lowered his head to kiss her belly.
But the babe was still too small to be noticeable, so he turned Fanny over and kneaded the tightness in her shoulders away, the way he often did after a long day at her desk.
Fanny sighed deeply and let out a grateful moan, too.
“You know, if I can do half as well as your father, I’ll consider myself a good husband.”
Fanny turned to look up at him. “You are a good husband now. I got lucky the day I met you.”
“I’m the lucky one.” He leaned down to Fanny’s ear to whisper, “But you haven’t seen me at my best yet. Just wait. You are going to be so spoiled in the years ahead. I promise to never stop loving you. No matter how round you get.”
Fanny laughed softly. “I’ll hold you to that when I’m only capable of waddling and get stuck in a chair the way Rebecca did at Christmas.”
“I promise to love you no matter what,” Jeremy vowed. He went to work on Fanny’s back, kneaded away the stresses of her day. When she was nearly asleep, he gently turned her and she smiled dreamily up at him. And Jeremy considered himself the luckiest man alive—he’d found his home.
The End
New Series: SCANDALOUS BRIDES
Scandals rarely take place in the center of the ballroom, but on the fringes anything is possible.
WICKED WITH HIM
* * *
Revenge brought them together. A cunning ruse may bring them back together for good.
DESPERATELY SEEKING SEDUCTION
* * *
Lord Stratford’s new valet is hiding an outrageous secret!
LOVE AND OTHER DISASTERS
* * *
Anything he covets can be lost to others…even her.
Start Wicked With Him
Scandalous Brides Book 1
* * *
Roman Crawford felt a tug on the back of his coat and turned his attention from the ballroom to see who had snuck up behind him unannounced.
“Don’t turn to look at me,” a woman whispered urgently.
He tried not to roll his eyes. Past lovers could be so tedious sometimes when they hoped to regain his attention. But he didn’t recognize this particular woman’s voice, so no doubt it was a lady long forgotten and of the belief that he would enliven her evening if offered a chance to get under her skirts again. She was in for a rude realization. He had loved and lost, and had no time for any game but his own. “Why shouldn’t I look? Clearly you seek my attention.”
“I don’t want my family seeing me talking to you,” the woman whispered with fear in her voice.
In Roman’s experience, neglected women tended to want people to look at them and become jealous, to prove they still mattered. He scanned the ballroom for familiar faces, for husbands of previous lovers, but saw none within his immediate view.
He relaxed but truly wanted to turn and end the game, though he had to admit he was amused by her stealthy approach. “Who would your family be?”
There was a long pause. “You don’t recognize me by my voice?”
He shook his head. The voice nagged his memory but not enough to produce a name to match its sweet tones. “No.”
“I feared as much.” The woman sighed heavily. “We’ve never spoken directly to each other, sir.”
He almost laughed out loud. “Then how could I know your family?”
“You do know some of them well, but you are not on good terms with my side. Not that I blame you.”
“You have my complete attention now,” he murmured, straightening and letting his eyes sweep the room one more time. There were many in this room whom he knew well indeed, depending on the length of their acquaintance. There were few he actively loathed though.
One irritating creature stood directly across from him, holding court among his cronies. His senses came alert when he noticed an absence in that man’s vicinity.
“For how long has this dislike been so apparent?”
“At least the last year,” she said quietly.
He stiffened as the only possibility immediately came to mind. The softly spoken woman behind him could only be a connection of the despicable creature he was trying to ruin. George Sweet had been a target of Roman’s rage for one year exactly. Everyone knew why. “And would you happen to be a close relative?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
He turned his head slightly. “Sweet Paragon?”
“Shh,” the woman hissed, confirming his guess about her identity was correct.
Roman knew exactly who was trying to talk to him, and why she was trying so hard not to be seen. He could hardly believe she’d dare. Lady Amity Sweet, niece to the current Duke of Ravenswood, sister to the man he loathed beyond all reason, shouldn’t have sought him out. Not unless she was wanted to be used in Roman’s bid for unending revenge against her older brother. She could be ruined in the blink of an eye. “How may I be of assistance?”
“Ruin me.”
Roman blinked, believing he’d misheard his own thought coming from her lips. “I beg your pardon?”
“Ten minutes. Beneath the staircase. Meet me there and tell no one.”
No one would believe him if he did, anyway. He could hardly believe he was the recipient of such a scandalous invitation from her of all people.
Roman glanced over his shoulder into the darkness and found Lady Amity Sweet, slender and lovely to behold, huddled against the outer wall of the townhouse. “Now why would I want to risk my neck sneaking off with you when I could ruin you here just as well as anywhere,” he snarled. “If I ever wanted to.”
She straightened from the wall. “Because being found together does not suit either of our purposes,” she snapped. “You’re used to ladies you barely know making requests for you to meet them for a tryst. You never see them again. One more scandalous liaison could hardly be a burden now, could it?”
He was surprised Lady Amity had noticed the way he treated the women in his life—or dared mention them to his face. Women were temporary amusements unless it’s the one you loved.
Yes, many women sought him out for an all-too-brief fling. But Lady Amity Sweet never should. The woman was an incomparable. A diamond of the first water. Followed and guarded day and night. Had she had enough of her status at the top of the heap and slipped away for a taste of danger?
He glanced around again, weighing up the significance of her approach. If Amity wouldn’t guard her reputation from scandal, why the hell should he worry about it?
Roman had already considered what use Amity might be to him, but there was only so far he would go extracting his revenge, of course. He did not ruin innocents.
Not like her brother had.
But Amity was well placed to feed him information about her brother’s interests in the future. He was already well advanced on a way to impact George Sweet’s pocket this week. There was no way to immediately benefit from the woman’s approach, aside from the ruin she asked for.
He would send her on her way for now but perhaps arrange to meet at a later time.
Ever since George Sweet had ruined and married the love of Roman’s life, he had gone out of his way to interfere in George’s private affairs. Roman had spent the last year actively working toward spoiling her brother’s chances of success every time their interests collided. They were enemies. They moved in the same circles thanks to his money, but otherwise ignored each other in public.
And Amity had now come to him for ruin.
He stepped into the dark with her, keen to hear her reasons and to arrange a further meeting far from prying eyes. “Be quick in explaining or you’ll be ruined just standing here alone with me.”
“But that is what I want. Ruin, and tonight.”
She couldn’t be serious. He stalked toward her. “Say that again.”
Her hands landed on his chest to hold him back from crowding her too closely. “I know what he did to you and Melody, and I hate him for separating you from the woman you loved. I could do nothing then. Now I need your help to stop him meddling in my love life.”
Of course, Amity should have suitors by the dozens…but the mention of them irked him. She was beautiful and well-dowered and connected to a powerful family. But her brother, and the rest of her family, had kept any circling fortune hunters at bay up until now. “Whom do you love and not wish to be separated from?”
“That is none of your concern.” Her fingertips scraped his chest as she balled her hand into a fist. “My family have arranged for a proposal of marriage to be made to me tonight without my agreement or encouragement. Before everyone. I will not be a pawn, married off against my will, but they will not listen to me. Not with the Duke of Ravenswood giving his blessing to the union, too.”
Ravenswood, Amity’s uncle, was an influential figure in society, of course. His sons were acquaintances of Roman’s, and more to his taste since they disliked their cousin George almost as much as Roman did. While annoying George Sweet was always a pleasure, infuriating four strapping lords and a duke was not his goal.
“I take it you want them to regret underestimating you by any means available,” Roman drawled.
“Yes,” she insisted.
“I still don’t see how ruining you is anything but a punishment for me. I don’t want to marry you, I’m afraid.”
“I don’t want to marry you, either,” she shot back in a hiss of sound that impressed him for its venom. “I only want your help to make it clear I’ve been ravished…before any proposal of marriage can be uttered. When it’s clear I’m not the paragon they boast about, their choice for my husband will rethink his decision and perhaps they’ll give me peace.”
He inhaled sharply, believing her. But caution was called for. “This is certainly a trap.”
“Only for them, I swear. They’re so pleased with the match, and convinced I’ll just go meekly into this man’s bed, that they can’t conceive I’d try to thwart them. But I will have my freedom, one way or another. Your revenge will be taken in secret as you view George’s public humiliation.”
“Embarrassing for you, too, Sweet Paragon,” he warned, dragging his fingertips up her arms. “Especially when I will not come forward to say it was me who lifted your skirts.”
“I’ll hold you to the promise not to speak up and claim my ridiculously high dowry for yourself,” she whispered, drawing her hands slowly down his chest until she was no longer touching him. “Society is about to find out just how badly their description suits me. It’s beyond the pale that his grace started the rumor that gave me the title Sweet Paragon before I came out, and now no sensible man dares think themselves good enough to come courting without gaining his approval first.”
“Ravenswood started the rumors about your purity himself?”
“I remember the night with perfect clarity. All the family were present. My wiser male cousins all but fell off their chairs laughing at the description. More interesting men have been avoiding me ever since I came out because of a stupid name.”
Amity had been on the marriage mart for some years now. Most of those who’d come out the same year were long married, and a lot had already given their husbands their heirs. “I merely thought you were overly particular,” he murmured.
“My family is. But how would you know fact from fiction when we’ve never spoken before, and why would you have when it was clear you were besotted by your Melody?”
He had been, and had been taunted for missing out on her dowry ever since, too. But that was not why he’d pursued Melody to marry him. He was in love with the sweet, innocent girl, tricked into a similar situation that now faced Amity.
Amity tugged on his sleeve. “Will you ruin me?”
He lifted his hand and brushed hers off his arm. “I’m ruining you now.”
“You think me naïve? I am well aware of the requirements for a tryst. This is a bad location for one. You need to get away cleanly and there are only two exits here, and both lead to the revel makers inside.”
He’d rather not be found with his breeches down around his ankles and Amity’s pale legs wrapped about his waist. He cast his eyes about the balcony and saw that she had a point, there were no other exits unless he wanted to risk breaking his neck in a fall. “I take it you’ve been planning the matter of your ruin quite seriously?”
“I’ve seen enough scandals and forced marriages to know location is vital to avoid detection. A balcony will be the first place my brother will search for me.”
He grunted. “Where were you to offer advice on the night your brother stole Melody away from me,” he grumbled.
“In the ballroom, along with everyone else watching events unfold. A terrace is where they slipped away to. Five minutes. Meet me,” she urged, and then she glided back into the ballroom, chin high as ever, serene smile gracing her lips.
Roman shook his head before returning to his spot holding up the doorframe, pretending nothing had happened as he watched the dancers pass him by.
No one seemed to have missed him, but he noticed Amity’s brother was looking around rather anxiously. Roman held his breath. He spotted Amity talking with a male cousin, and George Sweet visibly relaxed too, before he turned back to his circle of friends with a laugh.
The supercilious jackass was so in love with his own importance, Roman felt sick to his stomach that another woman was at his mercy.
He wasn’t truly surprised George would try to control his lovely sister by forcing her into a marriage she didn’t desire, too. It would serve him right to have his night befouled by a scandal, though he could hardly believe Amity would be serious about the matter—or that he was considering agreeing to her request. Surely, she could have chosen someone else to ruin her tonight. Someone better suited to marriage should they be found together would be best.
However, as he studied the fellows loitering in the ballroom, he easily saw why she’d approached him, of all people. She was desperate, and this room was filled with the most ambitious, scheming younger sons in society—all with their eye on marrying well to increase their own fortunes. A collection of entitled prigs with empty pockets watched her closely even now. Roman might be the only bachelor present who did not need money nor want to marry someone with a large dowry
He glanced at his pocket watch. Five minutes till Amity’s planned rendezvous. Should he meet with her under the stairs? It certainly was tempting, even without her assurances. She tempted him…and it might have nothing at all to do with revenge.
He wasn’t blind. Amity was a stunning woman, and the thought of her with someone else for her first time sat ill with him.
It was just an added bonus that if he played along with her scheme, he’d see George Sweet brought low by scandal all in one evening.
And if he didn’t end up trapped in a marriage with Amity, he should have no regrets or suffer guilt. Amity clearly had everything figured out. Location to meet before heading off, timing, his escape route, and her eventual discovery alone, no doubt. She was against her brother, which made her a friend of Roman’s forever.
But did he dare take the risk he wasn’t being played for a fool? He was curious how far she’d go. A kiss? Far more? A proper ruin? That was what she claimed to want from him.
He’d only find out the truth if he met with her.
Roman moved from his spot, circling the room so he would pass close to George Sweet before he decided. The man laughed like a braying ass, his wife—Roman’s sweet Melody, by his side forever now instead of Roman’s—was smiling up at her husband as if she’d only ever loved him.
