Her Secondhand Groom (34 page)

The carriage ride back to Briar Creek was quiet which, considering all that had happened that day, was a welcomed change. Juliet was not only weary from spending so much time at Olivia’s bedside, but she was still trying to make sense of her conversation with Caroline and Emma earlier in the day.

She glanced over at Drake and by the moon’s dim glow shining into the carriage she could see his set jaw and lowered eyelids. Not closed exactly, just lowered.

“
Why don’t you go on up to bed, I’ve something I need to take care of,” Drake said when the carriage came to a stop and he’d helped her down.

“
A―all right. Will you be joining me shortly?”

“
Of course, just give me a little bit of time.” The sadness filling his tone tore at Juliet’s heart. In all her excitement of the day, she’d forgotten that Drake’s first wife died in childbirth. How could she have been so heartless as to even mention the impending birth today, not to mention asking him to join her at Ridge Water?

Juliet swallowed. “Drake, I―I’m sorry if it upset you to go with me today.”

He shook his head. “It’s all right, Juliet.”

“
Are you sure?”

“
I’m sure. I just need a few minutes alone.” He escorted her up to the front door. “I’ll be my usual self tomorrow, I promise.”

And true to his word, he was.

“
Here, I have something for you,” Drake said, placing a breakfast tray down on the bed. Then he handed her spectacles to her.

Juliet slipped on her spectacles, then sat up and pushed a fluffy pillow behind her back. “It all looks delicious,” she said, letting her eyes roam over the array of pastries on the tray.

“
Eat your fill. I’ll just sit over here and wait to eat the crumbs.”

She swatted him on the shoulder. “You’re terrible.”

“
I know.” He reached forward and took a scone.

“
Good, aren’t they?”

He nodded mid-chew. “What are your plans for the day?”

She blinked. “I don’t know yet. I’m still in bed.”

“
I can see that.” His eyes did a slow sweep of her, lingering for an extended moment on her thinly covered breasts.

Blushing, Juliet took the last sip of her tea.

“
Would you care to go somewhere with me?”

“
Sure.” She put her teacup down. “Right now?”

“
I can wait for you to get dressed first.”

“
Well, I should hope so.” She got out of bed and called to him. “Where are you going? Aren’t you going to help me?”

“
No. I’ll send Mary in to help you.”

“
Oh.” With the exception of the occasions when they had to get dressed in their best clothes, Drake had taken to helping her dress. She was hesitant to accept his help at first, but she rather enjoyed it now and would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit she was slightly disappointed he wouldn’t be helping her dress this morning.

An hour later, Juliet was dressed in her best pink day dress and walking into Drake’s study.

“
All ready?” he asked, getting to his feet. He came around the desk, and as was their custom when they went on walks, took her hand instead of offering his arm.

She gladly held his hand in return, and gave it a gentle squeeze with her fingers. He smiled down at her then intertwined their fingers.

“
Is everything all right?” Juliet asked after they’d been walking for twenty minutes and he hadn’t said a word.

He nodded.

“
No it’s not. I can tell by the look on your face. What’s wrong?”

“
I have to make a trip to London,” he blurted.

She blinked up at him. That wasn’t something so out of the ordinary that would make him act so strange. “All right, when do we leave?”

He coughed. “We?”

“
Yes, we.” She frowned. “You were thinking of making this a family trip, were you not?”

“
Not exactly,” he said, looking everywhere but into her eyes. “Not that I wouldn’t love for you and the girls to join me, I would. But I just thought this time I’d go alone.”

Hurt pierced Juliet’s heart. Why did he want to go to London without her? Glancing away so not to give away how much she was hurting, she nodded. “When do you leave?”

“
Tonight.”

She swung her gaze back to his. “Tonight?”

“
Yes. I want to get there at a decent time tomorrow night so I am well prepared for my meetings day after tomorrow.”

She frowned. “All right, I guess there’s nothing to say except that I’ll see you when you return.”

“
I look forward to it,” he said, leading her back to the house.

They finished their walk in silence and later that day she stood out front to wave him goodbye as he climbed up into his carriage to leave. Though he’d been acting a little strange today, he’d been better than last night. No matter. He’d had a traumatic day yesterday, and for as much as she’d liked to have believed everything would be back to normal today, she knew better. He needed time, and going to London alone would allow him that time.

She’d just need to be patient and ready for when he came back.

***

Patrick clamped his hands together in his lap to keep from throwing open the door to the carriage and running back to Juliet. Last night had been pure torture lying with her in his arms, knowing he couldn’t touch her, and probably never would be able to again.

Going to London was just what he needed. It would be easier getting accustomed to the idea of not being able to touch and kiss Juliet if she weren’t around to tempt him. And everyone, including himself, knew she was too much of a temptation for him. From her silken hair to her perfectly sized breasts to the rest of her firm body, she was a treat to behold. A treat he’d forced to make herself available to him in the past, but not anymore. From now on, he’d hold her and touch her softly so not to hurt her like he’d hurt Abigail.

Old feelings of remorse and self-loathing washed over him at the mere thought of her name. He shoved the thoughts aside. He might have done wrong with Abigail, but he’d do right by Juliet, he’d be damned if he didn’t.

Unfortunately, a week in London did nothing to curb his desire. Actually, it just stirred it to new heights. But it was time to go home. He missed his girls, and for as much as he wished it weren’t so, he missed Juliet and was ready to go back to her even if it meant lying beside her in a state of torture. At least he’d still be beside her, he reasoned as the carriage turned into the drive.

It was well into the evening by the time the carriage came to a stop, far too late for his girls to be awake. But Juliet would be. He swallowed. What would she say to him? It had been obvious something had been wrong when he’d left. For as much as he’d tried, he’d not been able to hide completely behind a mask. Likely, she thought he was distraught over the birth of Marcus’ son. Though she was right to some degree on that score, he’d rather admit to that being the sole cause of his distance than tell her the shaming truth of his past.

Nodding to the butler and waving off his attempt to take his coat, Patrick mounted the stairs. It was time to find Juliet. He couldn’t wait another moment to see her.

Without a thought to what he might find on the other side, Patrick swung open the door to the room they shared.

“
Juliet,” Patrick whispered. The image of his beautiful wife standing in the middle of the floor wearing nothing but a sheer red nightrail robbed him of his breath.

She took a few steps toward the bed, her beautiful globes bouncing with each step. “I’ve missed you.”

“
I’ve missed you, too,” in more ways than one. He pushed away the thought and clenched his fists. “How did you know I’d returned?”

“
I didn’t.”

“
You didn’t?” he breathed, his eyes focused on all the curves and contours of his wife’s delectable body.

“
No,” she confirmed. She picked up a little scrap of fabric lying atop the counterpane. “I was just hoping you’d come.”

His mouth watered, and his heart picked up its pace. “And if I hadn’t?”

“
Then, I’d have just had to wait for tomorrow night.”

His heart didn’t know whether to squeeze at her admission of waiting up all night for him again or crack at the knowledge she was presenting herself to him this way because she thought it was her duty to greet her returning husband thus. “What is your plan here, Juliet?”

She took the silken sash that had been resting on the bed and wrapped it around his neck. “Seduction.”

He groaned. She wasn’t going to have a very unwilling “ seductee” in a minute if she didn’t stop swaying her hips like that. “Why?”

“
Why what?”

He clenched his fists tighter, and commanded them to stay in his pockets. If he brought them out, who knew what would happen. Even a week away from her in London had done nothing to curb his desire for her. He still wanted her. No, he craved her, hungered for her. And her sauntering around in a few strips of transparent silk was not helping him. “Why do you want to seduce me, Juliet?”

Her face turned a fetching pink. “Because I want to.”

Choking down his desire and forcing his thoughts away from her budded nipples that were dangerously close to his chest now, he said, “Do you feel forced?”

She stilled. “Forced?”

He nodded, too overcome with emotion to voice his fear that she felt forced or pressured to behave this way.

“
No, Drake, I don’t feel forced.”

Patrick’s eyes searched hers, but he was unable to find the answers he was looking for. “All right, not forced, but pressured.”

“
Pressured?” she asked, wrinkling her brow. “Why would I feel pressured?”

“
Because I’m your husband.”

Juliet dropped her sash and put her fingers to work on the buttons of his coat and waistcoat. “No.” She pushed the two articles of clothing off his shoulders, and let them fall to the floor. Her fingers slipped the knot from his cravat and he closed his hand around her wrist to stop her before those wandering fingers of hers could remove anything else.

“
Juliet, if you’re only doing this because you think I expect you to, don’t.”

“
I’m not.” She lowered her lashes, and started to pull her hand from his hold.

Unsure how to interpret her response, he tightened his grasp and asked, “Then why are you?”

Her lower lip trembled and he used his free hand to tilt her chin up toward him. “Because I want to.”

“
You want to?”

She broke eye contact with him and swallowed. “Yes. I want to.”

“
Why?”

“
Because I enjoy it,” she said with a blush.

“
You what?” Surely he couldn’t have understood her right.

“
I said, I enjoy it,” she whispered.

He blinked. “Every time?”

“
Every time what?”

“
Every time we’ve shared intimacies, have you enjoyed it?”

She bit her trembling lip, and nodded once.

“
You’re sure?”

She nodded again.

“
So there’s never been a time you haven’t wanted to share your body with me or wished I wouldn’t touch you?”

“
Why are you making me shame myself this way, Drake?” she cried. “Do you want me to say it aloud? Fine, I will. I like having relations with you. I like it when you touch me, and kiss me, and for as shameful as it is, I find the most intense pleasure imaginable when we join.” Her face flushed crimson, and she pulled her hand from his now loose grasp then fled behind the dressing screen.