A Marquis for Mary (8 page)

“It was all she was capable of,” Edward said softly.

Flynn nodded. “But Mary is capable of so much more. She is not like Alice, not in any slight way.”

Edward jerked his head toward his future brother-in-law, surprised that he had shifted the conversation to Mary. But then, why wouldn’t he? It was obvious Flynn cared deeply about his wife’s sister.

“I can see that,” Edward reassured him. “Her light from within is…it is uniquely her.”

“She’s been through a great deal,” Flynn continued. “Her father’s ways are…well, she saw Gemma suffer. She had to fear every day for her own welfare.”

Edward squeezed his hands at his sides. “The idea that she had to live that way makes my blood boil.”

A shadow of a smile crossed Flynn’s face. “I have stood by silently in the face of his behavior, waiting for the moment when Mary was safe and I could turn my full wrath on that scheming bastard.”

Edward lifted both brows. “You have plans for him?”

“Oh, yes.”

“I would very much like to be a part of them,” Edward said without hesitation.

Flynn stared at him, as if sizing him up for a moment. Then he nodded. “I think together we could ensure that bastard suffers nicely for what he did to our wives.”

Edward wanted to elaborate. To scheme, but before they could, the door behind them opened and Gemma and Mary entered the parlor. All thoughts of vengeance or Alice or anything else unpleasant emptied from Edward’s head, replaced by only the vision that was Mary.

She was utterly beautiful in a pale blue gown stitched with yellow flowers. Her dark hair was spun up in a complicated fashion, leaving tendrils to frame her slender, beautiful face. She had never been so beautiful, and the pounding thud of desire that accompanied every moment he spent with her had never been so loud and strong.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” Gemma said with a knowing smirk in his direction before she slipped from her sister to stand beside her husband. “I think Lord Woodley approves, Mary.”

Mary’s cheeks darkened with the most fetching blush. One that crept down her chest and disappeared into the wonderfully low neckline of her pretty gown.

“Gemma,” Mary protested softly.

Edward stepped forward to take her hands. “I most definitely approve.”

Gemma took Flynn’s arm and all but dragged him toward the door. “Come, Crispin, let us make sure the carriage is ready.”

In the past, Flynn might have refused that very obvious ploy to leave Mary and Edward alone for a moment. But this time he said nothing, only nodded toward Edward as the two left the room. Left Edward alone with the most delectable, fascinating woman he had ever encountered.

“You look beautiful,” he murmured, drawing her closer now that they were alone. “I feel as though I could lose control just looking at you.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “Like what happened in the garden?”

He smiled. “So much further than in the garden. At some point your sister will take you aside and explain to you how much further we could have gone…damn,
should
have gone that day. But Mary, I want to promise you now that the first time I claim you as my wife, it will be good for you. There will be pleasure. So much pleasure.”

He nearly balked at the direct, passionate words that were spilling from his lips. He had never been an orator or a poet, finding words of desire easy to find. But with Mary, he could have written sonnets.

“I have no doubt that you will make me very pleased,” she whispered. “And I can’t wait.”

Edward stifled a groan, but he couldn’t stop himself from pulling her against him. He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Her lips parted and he tasted her, drinking in her sweetness, fantasizing about kissing every inch of her body as he did her lips and mouth.

When he forced himself to pull away, she was breathing hard.

“It feels like forever since we did that,” she panted. “We have been utterly surrounded since the engagement. Even when we are alone, we’re not alone. Chaperones abound!”

“We did give them reason to be cautious, I suppose, but I may die if we have to wait another ten days before the wedding,” he agreed.

There was a slightly wicked light that entered her eyes as she looked at him. “We could always sneak away tonight.”

He lifted both brows. “From our engagement ball?”

She nodded. “Serafina and Rafe are hosting us and I have been to their home what seems like a hundred times. They have the sweetest little hidden room just behind the east entrance to the ballroom. I think it is a preparation room, but no one ever uses it. We could find our way there tonight.”

Edward could actually feel the throb of his pulse in his rapidly hardening cock. Alone with Mary in a tiny room, no one around to disturb them. He could give her that first taste of pleasure right then and there. A secret only the two of them would know.

He swallowed. “Meet there at midnight, then?” he asked, his voice trembling.

“Come along, Mary, Edward!” Gemma called from the hallway. “The carriage is here.”

Mary smiled as she leaned up to press a second, sweet kiss to his lips. “I’ll be there if you will.”

She turned and moved to join her sister and brother-in-law in the foyer and Edward watched her go. There was a stirring in his heart that he had not felt for a long time.

He was falling in love with this girl. And not like he had with Alice, in a burst of lightning inspired by her beauty and manipulations he had not seen until it was too late to go back. No, this was something different. Something special. Something
real
.

And someday soon, perhaps after they wed and their lives calmed down, he would tell her those words. Better yet, he had a sneaking suspicion she might say them back. So when he exited the foyer, he had a spring in his step and a lightness to his heart that he hadn’t felt in years.

Mary could hardly concentrate as she bounced up on the balls of her feet and looked to the large clock beside the entrance to the ballroom. It was nearly twelve, just moments until her assignation with Edward.

The ball had been wonderful, of course, filled with friends and family who only wished her well. And her father. Who also wished her well in his own way, she supposed.

Just as that thought filled her mind, she turned to find the man, himself, standing beside her. He was listing slightly, obviously drunk on the Duke of Hartholm’s spirits.

“Hello again, Father,” she said, some of her pleasure fading as she watched him try to right himself from his cockeyed position. “You look as though you are enjoying yourself.”

He sniffed. “Hartholm is trying to corral me into a corner away from the more important folk, as usual.”

Mary could hardly contain her smile. Crispin’s brother, the very handsome Duke of Hartholm, and his wife were two of the most wonderful people she had ever met. They had helped her in her failed recent attempts at finding a mate without ever judging her or making her feel like a disappointment.

And Hartholm was
very
good at managing her father.

“I’m certain His Grace wouldn’t corral you,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

He caught it with a scowl. “I had a talk with your new little family, Mary.”

She froze. “With the Woodleys?”

“Yes, Lady Woodley seems to think very highly of you despite how you caught her son in a trap.”

Mary’s jaw dropped open. “How I—that was all
your
doing!”

“Once you are married, you will continue to sponsor me, Mary. Gemma has all this time and you will have even more access to the better life. Perhaps I could even court your new mother-in-law.”

Mary drew back in horror. “Lady Woodley?”

He smiled. “She would raise my lot considerably, wouldn’t she?”

The clock behind her chimed and Mary jumped.

“I have someone to meet, Father,” she said, her pleasure for the night rapidly bleeding out in the face of his smug satisfaction. “Good evening.”

He let her turn for a moment before he drew her back. “Don’t foul this up, Mary. If you do, I promise you’ll be sorry.”

She shook his hand away and rushed blindly through the ballroom, past the smiling faces of her friends, through the crowds preparing to dance and revel in her happiness. A happiness she couldn’t feel as she found the little side room tucked away behind a screen near the east entrance of the ballroom and stepped inside.

Mary shut the door behind herself and leaned against it in the dark, trying to catch her breath, trying to shake off the stench of her father’s greedy and appalling behavior.

The sound of flint interrupted her attempts, and she gasped as light brightened the room. Edward stood near a worn-out settee, holding a candle. He had a lopsided smile on his very handsome face and Mary turned away so he wouldn’t see the tears glistening in her eyes, the dismay she couldn’t hide when the light hit her.

But looking away didn’t help. His smile vanished and he rushed toward her with a gasp. “What is it?”

He lifted the candle to examine her, and she swallowed hard and fought for control. “It’s nothing,” she lied. “Nothing at all, Edward.”

He set the candle down on a table and caught her shoulders in both hands. “Tell me the truth. What has put such an expression on your face at a ball that is meant to celebrate you?”

She swallowed hard. If she did as he asked, he could think less of her. Others had done so after seeing her father’s worst true nature. But Edward was right that honesty was the best policy. He would find out soon enough at any rate.

“Oh, it’s that I bumped into my father and he was just awful,” she admitted. “He finally talked to your family, which I’m certain will lower their estimation of me. Worse, he—he—”

“He?” Edward encouraged.

Mary sucked in a breath that didn’t feel like it helped it all. “Oh God. He threatened to
court
your mother, a thought that is stomach-turning enough. He also expects to be taken care of by you, as he has been by Crispin all these years. You have been trapped into a very lopsided bargain, Edward. You will probably come to regret it if my father has his way.”

She sucked in a breath to continue her tirade, but when Edward glided his hands down her bare arms and caught her hands, the touch silenced her. She stared up at him, blinking as she awaited his response.

“Sweet, sweet Mary, please don’t upset yourself,” he said softly. “I assure you, I have warned my family about your father and they will not judge you because of him. Except to marvel, as I do, how you and your sister escaped his clutches to become such beautiful, proper ladies.”

She sighed. “Oh, how humiliating that you had to
warn
your family about him. You may think they don’t judge me but—”

“They don’t,” he said, his tone firm, brooking no further argument. “As for him courting my mother, I would like to see him try. She would put him out on his ear!”

He laughed and Mary couldn’t help but join in. “I-I don’t know Lady Woodley as well as you do, of course, but it is hard to picture her allowing my father’s awkward wooing.”

“Your father will calm down once we are wed,” he reassured her.

She shook her head. “But with his ‘assistance’, everyone must think I am trapping you. Using my wiles to—”

He leaned in, and suddenly his mouth was on hers, silencing her in the most pleasant way. She leaned up into him, wrapping her arms around his neck with a shuddering sigh as she allowed him to sweep her away.

“If anyone ever asks,” he whispered as he swept his arm beneath her knees and carried her to the settee behind them. “I will tell them I used my wiles on
you
. That I forced you to be my bride.”

“So you intend to seduce me into marrying you?” she whispered, settling on the settee and staring up as he loomed over her.

“As often as I can,” he said.

His mouth returned to hers, but this time there was more force to his kiss, more purpose. To her surprise, her entire body reacted in ways she had never experienced. All the tension from her encounter with her father bled away, replaced by tingling pleasure that started at her very private core and spread from there. Her skin was on fire, her nipples hardened, her legs clenched. It was like madness in physical form.