Claiming His Wife (38 page)

"I don't know."  The sad
repetition made him feel almost panicked, because he truly didn't
know what to do, but he took heart from the fact that she wasn't
trying to get away.  If anything, she was snuggling closer to
him, seeking comfort from him. 

"You don't have to decide anything
right now," he said, suddenly realizing that she must be wrung out.
 Not only had she been furious when she'd first come into the
room, but he'd spanked her for quite a while.  She was so limp
in his arms... she must be exhausted.  "I'm going to take you
to our room."

Lifting her up, he was both relieved
and a bit worried when she didn't argue.  

As he'd expected, Peters was out in
the hall, about a hundred feet away.  Far enough that he
probably hadn't been able to overhear much, but that he'd be able
to warn others away from the hall.  After a few quick
directions to the butler, Alex headed for his room, Grace lying
unmoving in his arms.

In their room, Alex practically babied
her.  Not to make up for the spanking, she knew that... but
she wasn't entirely sure why.  Because he felt guilty?
 Because he'd been telling the truth and he cared for her?
 

Peters brought food and
drink, which Alex practically hand fed her, while holding her on
his lap.  To her surprise, she was both hungry and thirsty.
 Especially thirsty.  She would have thought that she
wouldn't be able to eat a thing, but once she got started, she
devoured nearly the entire plate.  Alex undressed her and
tucked her into bed, before disrobing and crawling in behind
her.

She lay somewhere between sleep and
wakefulness as he curled himself around her, his front pressed
against her back.  The thick ridge of his cock wedged between
her sore buttocks, but he didn't press himself on her.
 Instead, he just seemed to want to stroke her.  To be as
close to her as possible. 

"Why didn't you come and talk to me?"
she asked, her voice a mere whisper in the room.  Facing away
from him, yet surrounded by his body, it was once again easier to
make herself vulnerable.  To speak about the past that had
hurt her so badly.

"I don't have a good reason," Alex
said, tucking her even more tightly against him as he buried his
face in her hair.  "Youth and stupidity are the best
explanations I have.  I was hurt you left me.  Angry.
 I wanted to make you come back to me instead of going to
you."

His fingers stroked between her
breasts, down to her stomach, up and down and up and down.  It
didn't feel sexual.  It felt comforting.  The kind of
small, intimate touches that he'd used on their honeymoon, as if he
just couldn't get enough of touching her.

"If I'd known..."

"I was too hurt to tell you."
 Although now she wished she had.  Youth and stupidity
indeed.  Too hurt.  Too proud.  Too angry.
 Although, even if he had told her, would she have believed
him?  

Maybe eventually.  If
he'd acted the way he was now.  But she wasn't sure that he
would have, back then.  They'd both changed over the years.
 Matured.  They were different people.  Grace no
longer saw the world as so black and white, she also no longer saw
it as always rosy and good.  Being in love didn't mean that
life would automatically be easy and wonderful.  Watching her
friends had taught her that.  Edwin and Eleanor's path had
been particularly rocky, even though it was obvious that they loved
each other.

Was her and Alex's relationship
something like that?

"I don't blame you."  Now Alex's
voice was bitter.  "If I had heard you saying something
similar about me... I almost wish I'd never made the deal.  I
could have had you without it."

Grace snorted.  "You may be
underestimating my father's lust for money.  It's all he cares
about."

That was the difference, she suddenly
realized.  Her father only cared about money.  If Alex
was the same as her father, he might have faked his way through
their courtship and wedding, maybe even their honeymoon, but once
the deal was set, he would have turned his back completely.
 That was how she'd always interpreted Alex's behavior when
they came back to London.  He didn't need her anymore.
 

But her father would have never
protected his wife in such circumstances.  While he might not
have divorced her, he wouldn't have paid for her housing and
clothing either.  He would have used his money to force her
back to him.  And if he did go after her, he certainly
wouldn't have done it in the same method as Alex.  No, her
father liked to shut his wife and daughters away when they caused
him trouble. 

Alex didn't just let her see her
friends, he took her to them.  He stayed by her side.
 Allowed her to go out when she wanted, even without him.
 Showed her tenderness, caring.  Spanked her to correct
her behavior, rather than caging her in punishment.  And after
he spanked her, he comforted her.  Held her.  Like he was
doing now.  

She couldn't remember if
her father had
ever
 held her in such a way.  She'd certainly never
witnessed him doing so with her mother or sisters.

The offer to withdraw from business
with her father floated through her mind.  That was definitely
something her father never would have done.  Not for
anyone. 

"Will you really end the agreement
with my father?" Grace asked, twisting slightly so that she could
look at her husband.  When he answered, she needed to see his
face.  Her eyes felt swollen and gritty, and she was sure that
she looked a fright, but this was too important to hide away from.
 Alex's face was serious, and at least he didn't seem repulsed
by her tear-stained face. 

"Absolutely.  I'll send a note to
him first thing tomorrow morning."

"Don't."

"Don't?" he echoed, looking
confused.

Grace nodded.  "I believe that
you would, and that's enough."

Her throat tightened, even though
there were other things she wanted to say... but she just couldn't
yet.  It didn't matter.  The look on Alex's face was
almost euphoric, like she'd just given him the greatest gift in the
world.  Swiftly, he turned her, pulling her face against his
chest and cradling her there.  One hand stroked up and down
her back, the other reached down to cup her still burning
bottom.

Strangely, even though it stung where
his fingers pressed against her sore buttocks, it also made her
feel safe.  Loved.  Closing her eyes, she nestled in.
 Exhausted, she found herself quickly dropping into
sleep.

******

Alex wasn't sure what eventually woke
him.  He and Grace had slept in a tangle of limbs, both of
them needing it after the emotionally fraught afternoon.
 

At first, he thought he'd be more
frustrated that such a stupid miscommunication had kept them apart
for so long.  Then he'd realized it had been far more than
that.  Their relationship hadn't had the foundation of trust
that it needed.  If they had been more open about their
feelings for each other, she would have felt more comfortable
coming to him, questioning him, rather than running with little to
no explanation.  That was just as much his fault as it was
hers.  As was his conversation with her father.
 

He'd never make that kind of stupid
mistake again.  

Grace should always feel valued.
 Cherished.  No matter whether he thought she could hear
or not, he'd never disparage her again.  She was worth far
more than any deal. 

Perhaps it truly had taken
losing her for him to realize how much he valued her, because he
wasn't sure if he would have had those same thoughts before.
 If she had come to him, if she had told him she overheard, he
would have expected her to understand why he'd done it.  Now
he understood that it didn't matter why, he should have never
spoken like that to begin with.  It didn’t mattered what her
father thought, or how he did business, Alex should hold true to
his own standards. Standards that didn’t include running down his
wife, just because the man in front of him didn’t value her the way
Alex did.

Thankfully, it seemed that she had
grown up as well, because she'd finally forgiven him.  At
least, he assumed that was why there were fingertips stroking
sensually down his chest.  

When he opened his eyes, she looked up
at him.  Although her eyes were still pink around the edges,
and slightly swollen, she looked beautiful.  Her face was no
longer flushed, and she looked... lighter somehow.  As there
had been a measure of sadness in her eyes that was now
gone.

"Hello," he murmured, sliding his hand
down to her bottom and rocking against her.

She winced and a little whimper
escaped her lips, but she didn't stop stroking his chest, even
though he'd just reawakened the fiery sting from her earlier
spanking.  Her reaction just sent even more blood surging to
his already hard cock as she squirmed against it.  

"Hello," she responded, almost shyly.
 Tipping her head back, she looked at him more fully, and he
was overwhelmed by the trust he saw in her eyes.  It was
hesitant, wary, but it was there.  "I'm sorry I threw that
tantrum earlier... I should have just come to talk to
you."

"Yes, you should have," Alex agreed,
but his voice was also soft and mild.  He kissed her, gently,
tenderly.  "I'm glad that this time you came to me though,
rather than running.  I'd rather have you throwing things at
me than leaving me again."

Grace giggled, blushing as she thought
about her childish behavior.  She almost wondered if her
display had been another test for him.  To see what he would
tolerate from her.  Wanting to know how he'd react.  If
it had been a test, he'd certainly passed.  

"I won't run again," she said.
 Even though it was true, she could still hear the slight hint
of uncertainty in her voice.  This new rapport between them
was still fragile, even if she was finally giving herself leave to
hope.  She wanted to think that she would stay and try to work
things out... but what if he did something awful again?

She squeaked as he rolled her onto her
back, settling himself between her legs, pinning her to the bed.
 The position made her bottom throb a bit.  Even though
it had recovered somewhat during her nap, the surface was still
quite sensitive.  Still, she loved the feel of Alex's weight
on top of her, solid and imposing.  The head of his cock was
brushing against her pussy lips, making her want to rock her hips
and push him inside of her.

When she'd first woken, she'd started
touching him, almost in wonderment that he was there... but also
because she'd been aroused. 

"If you run again, I won't
make the same mistake I did last time," Alex said quietly, his eyes
boring into hers.  His words had the feel of a vow.  "I
will chase you down and I will blister your bottom.  First,
for leaving me again, and secondly, so you tell me
why
. I’ll
admit, I'm not sure I would have handled it the way I should
have, if you had come to me the last time.  What I said to
your father was wrong, and it did take our separation for me to
realize how wrong.  If you had come to me, I would have
expected you to understand, but it's me who should have had a
better understanding of how to be a husband.  I thought I was
happy with the marriage we had, but now I know I want more.  I
want what Edwin and Eleanor have, what Hugh and Irene have, and
what I'm fairly certain Wesley and Cynthia are going to have.
 I'm sorry it took me so long to get my head out of my
ass."

Grace reached up, cupping his face in
her hands, feeling the wiry scrape of his facial hair against her
palms.  The tender, fierce look in his eyes was everything she
could have ever wanted. 

"I want that too," she whispered,
unable to speak any louder when her throat felt so choked with his
beautiful promise.  Even the promise to spank her if she ran
was beautiful, because it showed how much he cared.  "I love
you."

"I love you," he murmured back, his
gaze flickering over her face, until he met her eyes again.
 The warmth and caring she saw in them slid through the last
of her defenses, melting every sliver of ice still in her heart,
and crumbling the remains of her walls to dust.  She had no
trouble believing that he meant every word that he said.

It would be so easy for both of them
to resent the other.  They'd both made mistakes, at the
beginning of their marriage and throughout their separation, but
neither of them wanted to dwell in the past.  Alex had been
focused on their future from the very moment he'd decided to
reconcile, and Grace had joined him in that outlook after she
realized he was serious and that there might be hope for the kind
of marriage she'd always wanted.  

She drew him down for a kiss, rocking
her hips against his, wanting - needing - him inside of her.
 Alex pulled his knees up to take his weight, allowing him to
slide his hands down her sides, caressing and teasing the sides of
her breasts, before cupping them more fully.  Moaning against
his lips, she canted her hips upwards, seeking him, as he thrummed
her nipples with his thumbs.

Hot pleasure flashed through her,
making her need simmer.  She craved the intimacy of
love-making, a physical enactment of their declarations to each
other.  Whimpering as Alex pinched her nipples, her fingers
tangled in his hair as she kissed him harder, more desperately.