Page 13 of A Private Wager
“I shall find out and, if possible, do what I can to make it right. He is not who I thought he was—who I wanted him to be.”
“Few people are.”
The silence stretched once more inside the carriage. Some of the tension between them had dissipated, but War was aware that it would take little enough to reignite it. Still, he had some hope that they would not forever be at odds.
They traveled for another hour until the carriage began to slow, easing into the inn yard of The Monk’s Head. The Tudor-style building, with its cantilevered upper floor and dark wooden beams, was well maintained. Everything was crisp, clean and well kept. As soon as the wheels stopped turning, the hostler was there, opening the door and offering to help with their bags.
War helped Lucy to disembark, and they walked into the darkened common room together. Lanterns blazed on the tables, but with the dark, wood-paneled walls, the dimness of the room was impenetrable. Seeking the innkeeper, a portly man standing behind a counter, he set about procuring a room and supper for them both.
Minutes later, they were taking the stairs up to the largest room the innkeeper had. There was already a fire laid in the hearth and an ewer of water warming before it.
Taking the pitcher, he poured some of the warm water into the basin. “I’ll leave you to freshen up. I’ll return in ten minutes.”
***
Lucy watched him walk out, noting that the door closed and locked behind him. He wasn’t locking her in so much as locking out everyone else. She understood all too well that his cousin was dangerous and that, until Barton Warfield could be located,they had to be extremely cautious. But it wasn’t thoughts of his cousin which prompted her nervousness. It was her wedding night.
They were alone in a bedchamber that they would share. One bed. Two of them. And she hadn’t entirely forgiven him yet, try as she might. Would he demand his husbandly rights? She hoped not. She was’t entirely certain she was ready for that. But if he kissed her, would she have the strength to refuse him?No.She knew that without question. When he kissed her, she lost all sense. Nothing existed but the two of them. It was maddening and infuriating and also the most glorious thing she’d ever experienced.
Shaking off those thoughts, she attended to her most pressing needs first and then washed up, taking off as much of the dust and dirt of the road as possible without a proper bath. Stepping behind the dressing screen that had been provided, she removed her gown and donned her nightrail and a very sturdy and warm wrapper. In truth, despite the somewhat intimate nature of the garments, they covered her more modestly than many of her gowns. But she still felt exposed in them, vulnerable in a way that she did not when clothed to be in company.
She had just tidied up when she heard a soft knock and the snick of the key in the door. He had returned.
“May I enter?” he asked, the door only slightly ajar.
“Yes,” she replied quickly, though she had been tempted to deny him for the sake of a few moments’ reprieve.
The viscount, her husband, stepped into the room and immediately moved to the washstand where he quickly stripped off his coat and cravat. His waistcoat came next. But when he tugged his shirt free of his breeches, Lucy turned away. Of course, it was a small room. And the windows that had been meticulously cleaned offered a clear reflection of his nakedness behind her. Distorted by the imperfections of the glass, she stillhad the impression of strong muscles and sun-bronzed skin. She could see the light dusting of hair on his chest. It left her rather breathless and, though not precisely uncomfortable, definitely discomfited.
As if he’d sensed her unease, he turned. She could see in the reflection on the wavy planes of glass that he was looking at her rigid back. A smile tugged at his lips, but it didn’t appear to be unkind. He wasn’t laughing at her, at least.
“I’ve no intention of pouncing on you, Lucy. A loud, crowded public inn is no place for our wedding night. I will not force myself on you. Not now. Not even when we reach Stonecrest. Make no mistake, however, our marriage will be consummated. And sooner rather than later. But when that occurs, it will be because you want it to happen.”
Lucy felt her face flaming with embarrassment. “You should not say such things. It’s terribly improper.”
He was walking toward her then, stopping only when he was directly behind her—close enough that she could feel the heat of his body. Compulsively, Lucy swallowed, suddenly a bundle of nerves.
“Propriety,” he said, “has no place in any bedchamber we share. Marriage isn’t about being proper. It’s about passion and affection…respect. All of those things come in to play, Lucy. But this will not be some bloodless union between us. Perhaps I should have spoke to you of this before. Alas, I did not. And now we find ourselves embarking on a life together with no notion what to expect from one another.”
She whirled then, her eyes wide and her expression very animated as she nearly shouted at him. “It isn’t that I don’t know what to expect. Well, it is. When you are a woman in this world, you are expected to spend the entirety of your existence in a state of ignorance! We are never told what wifely duties entail untilwe are expected to perform them! I am out of my depth, with no notion of what to say or do in our current situation.”
“Did you like it when I kissed you?”
“What?” She gaped at him.
“When I kissed you in the garden…did you enjoy it?”
If it was possible for one’s flesh to catch fire from the heat of a blush, she surely would have been consumed by the flames already. “That is not a question—”
“No. It isn’t a question,” he said. “Because I know the answer. I know that you enjoyed when I kissed you. And I enjoyed kissing you, Lucy. Very much. And while I will make no further demands of you tonight, I would have a kiss. I would at least have that pleasure.”
She could hardly deny him that. They were married, after all. It was their wedding night.You don’t want to deny him.
It was true. She didn’t wish to deny him. There was an insatiable curiosity inside her—a need to know if it would have the same effect on her this time as it did before. That first kiss they’d shared in the garden had left her unsettled and desperate to feel that kind of madness again.
“One kiss,” she agreed cautiously. “That is all.”
He smiled a devastating and all-too-tempting smile. “Until you ask for more.”
