Blood Marriage (51 page)
Authors: Regina Richards
The set ended and the young man Harriet had been tormenting made his escape. He was replaced by a new, unsuspecting victim for the waltz that was about to begin.
Nicholas bowed deeply to Mrs. Huntington, then handed her over to a waiting partner before starting back to where Elizabeth and the duke stood near the French doors.
High-pitched giggles rang across the room as the first strains of the waltz began, transforming Marlbourne's expression from bored to wolfish. Elizabeth turned to see what had caught her father-in-law's attention. Identically lovely middle-aged ladies in matching pink dresses scurried across the room, their blonde curls bouncing in rhythm with their jiggling bosoms.
"Oh, Dukie dear. You've finally returned to town! Why have you stayed away so long, you naughty man?" One Grady twin rapped her fan playfully against the duke's knuckles.
"My apologies, my dove. I confess I'd forgotten how, uhm, delightful the city can be." Marlbourne's eyes slid over both women in a blatantly suggestive manner, sending them into another fit of twittering giggles.
"We heard you were nearly killed doing the bravest thing, Dukie -- catching a murderess," said the other twin in a breathy voice. "It was in all the London papers. Are you fully recovered? Is there something we can do to help you feel better?"
The women's lips pursed in identically sympathetic moues. Marlbourne's smile turned wicked. He gave a sigh so deep it verged on a moan of anticipation.
Elizabeth opened her mouth to assure the women her father-in-law had suffered no permanent harm. It snapped closed again as a man's hand wrapped her wrist.
"Goodnight, Father," Nicholas said over his shoulder as he pulled Elizabeth out the French doors and onto Mrs. Huntington's terrace. Without pause he towed her past the punch bowl and down the steps into the pink garden while the strains of a waltz drifted out of the ballroom behind them. Nicholas slowed as they stepped onto the moonlit lawn. Then taking one of Elizabeth's hands in his and placing his other hand at the small of her back, he danced her whirling and twirling across the lawn, past the pink roses toward the entrance to the garden path. Couples strolling in the flower-bordered lawn stopped to stare. Elizabeth scowled at her husband in mock censure.
"Scandalous man. You're as bad as your father."
"Worse." He increased the pressure of his hand against the base of her spine, forcing her closer, causing the tips of her breasts to brush his coat. The eyes of a young miss strolling nearby with her escort went round and she gave a tiny hiccupping laugh. Nicholas didn't miss a step, his voice low in Elizabeth's ear. "But there's a difference. My affections are reserved solely and forever for you, Elizabeth."
They'd reached the garden path. He took her by the hand, rushing her at breath-stealing speed through the tall hedges. They emerged into a garden awash with white roses, just as it had been a year ago. Nicholas paused and pulled Elizabeth close, kissing her tenderly there among the clouds of white flowers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, returning his kiss as he lifted her off the ground. He spun them in slow circles, crossing the garden, his lips never leaving hers. When he finally stopped and set her on her feet, she was deliciously dizzy -- from the scent of roses, from his kisses, from pure happiness.
"There's something I've been wanting to, umm...try," he whispered against her lips. He tilted his head toward the garden gazebo which stood just a few feet away glowing white in the moonlight.
Elizabeth smiled and he kissed her again. With his hands on her hips he gently forced her backward toward the arched entrance of the gazebo – the same one Amanda and Leo had been married in after destroying the original on the night of their engagement.
They were just two steps short of the entrance when a woman giggled. Nicholas stopped abruptly. Elizabeth half-turned in his arms. Amanda's head popped out from one side of the entrance. Her spectacles were askew on her tiny nose. Her blonde hair was mussed. And what little could be seen of her neck and shoulders appeared quite bare. She looked past Nicholas to Elizabeth.
"It's definitely worth trying, but you'll have to find another gazebo. There's one in each of the rose gardens. I'm afraid this one is going to be occupied for a quite some time." She winked.
"Oh!" Elizabeth said, one hand coming up to cover her smile.
From inside the gazebo Leo's voice rumbled, "The one in the red garden is the most comfortable, Nick. I recommend it."
"Thanks, Leo."
Nicholas laughed at Elizabeth's gasp as he scooped her up into his arms. "You heard the man,
mea amor
. He's an expert on the comfort of garden gazebos.”
“Then white must wait for another night,” she said and nipped playfully at his neck. “Besides, I'm grown rather fond of red."
The End
About the Author
Regina Richards lives in Texas with her husband, three children and a jolly old beagle. Please visit her website at
www.reginarichards.net
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Epilogue
About the Author