If He's Noble (Wherlocke Book 7) (Paranormal Historical Romance) (20 page)

“I do not intend to marry you so why ask you. Just told you my intentions. Now I will see if she has any urge to say yes.”

“But . . .”

“Simeon,” snapped Lilybet. “How old is Primrose?”

“Oh, so just because she is on the shelf, I should accept this fellow’s arrogance?”

“On the shelf?” Bened shook his head. “Gentry. You are all mad. Lady Primrose is young, healthy, and pretty but because she is at a certain age she suddenly becomes on the shelf like some china bowl one has forgotten to dust?”

Simeon glared at Bened’s back as the man swung up into his saddle. He quickly mounted his horse as the others did theirs. Without another word they all headed for the small stone church at the far edge of the town.

Just out of sight of the church, Bened signaled everyone to tether their horses and approach the building as quietly as possible. His heart was tight with concern for Primrose. She had fled her home to get away from this man and yet Augusta had found a way to get her to the altar. With Bevan’s assistance he quickly silenced two men guarding the doors to the church. Quietly he and the others began to slip inside. Seeing Primrose being held in front of the altar by a tall, thin, yet obviously strong man, Bened frowned, aching to make the man pay dearly for handling her so roughly.

Then he had a good look at the man Augusta wanted Primrose to marry and shuddered. The man was short, spindly, covered in age spots and, if he guessed the reason for the beauty spots stuck on his sunken cheeks, sores caused by the end time of the pox. Augusta had chosen a particularly nasty way to make sure her niece died. And because of the banishment from society the man had suffered, there would be no finding someone to help her after she became Sir Edgar’s wife. She would also find herself utterly ostracized.

Bened and the others were just creeping down the aisle when the man punched Primrose right on the side of the head. She was just falling to the floor when someone shot the man but Bened paid no heed to that. He went straight to her side. In his opinion, whoever had shot Sir Edgar, that someone had been doing the world a service, as well as saving Sir Edgar the pain of dying of a particularly nasty disease.

Lilybet beat Bened to Primrose’s prone body by a heartbeat. She checked over her friend, then fought to hide the startling knowledge that came to her. Lilybet met Primrose’s gaze and knew her friend was aware of her condition but was keeping it silent so she just nodded. A glance at the dead man sprawled far too close to Primrose made Lilybet a little ill. She breathed a sigh of relief when the men hastily removed it.

Primrose groaned. She began to sit up but hands held her down. For a moment she struggled thinking it was her aunt’s men or Sir Edgar, a man she did not wish touching her no matter how injured and unsteady she might be. Then she saw that it was her friends and Simeon leaning over her.

As she let Lilybet help her sit up, she put her head in her hands in the vain hope of easing the ache there. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a movement. Augusta was trying to do something without being seen.

“Will someone please get that woman before she escapes to plague us another day?” she asked, and struggled to move when her aunt lunged toward her with a long knife appearing in her hand.

Several people moved at once and Primrose winced as she heard another gunshot. She did not need to look again to see who had fallen to that shot. She could see her aunt’s arm stretched out beside her. Slumping back against Lilybet, she was both relieved and pleased that the threat her aunt had presented for so long was finally gone.

All she felt was tired. There was no grief, which did not surprise her. There was just emptiness. The woman had destroyed her family all for greed. She watched as her aunt’s body was taken away, surprised to hear her uncle yelling and demanding answers as he chased the cart with the bodies of his friend and his wife inside. Primrose wondered if she would eventually feel some sympathy for the man but doubted it. She would leave the problem of what to do about their uncle to Bened.

“Come along, Primrose,” said Bened as he swung her up into his arms. “The pastor has already gone to fetch the magistrates.”

“Is where we are going now free of all of Auntie’s men?”

“Actually, I thought we would stay here for just a bit and have the good pastor marry us,” Bened said, watching her closely.

Primrose stared up at him but saw no attempt to make a jest. “You wish to marry me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Perhaps we could have that talk after the ceremony.”

“No, I think not. How about you set me down in one of the pews and we can talk quietly. All these people can go stand about outside for a few minutes.”

She almost smiled as she watched Lilybet herd the others outside, even the preacher. Despite her aching head, she was eager to hear what Bened had to say. She was also eager to marry him but she would not do so if all he spoke of was honor.

“I was going to leave,” he began. “I saw all you have, all you’ve known and knew I could not match it so I was going to be honorable and just ride away,” he said. “I could not do it. Obviously I don’t have that much honor. I decided I would come here and ask you at least. Instead of assuming I knew what you want and need, I would offer you all I have and leave it to you.”

The man looked like he was in pain, she thought, and tried not to let sympathy force her to put a halt to what he was saying. “What is this
all
you are offering me, Bened?”

“I am not really your equal by birth but near enough now with what I have earned for myself.” He looked at her in confusion when she placed her fingers against his lips.

“Bened, I know that if you offer to marry me that you offer your honors and home and fortune. That needs not be said. What else? Your faithfulness?” It pleased her to see how offended he was by even being asked that.

“Of course. If I did not intend to be faithful, then I would not even ask you to marry me.” He pulled her into his arms and whispered. “I want you. I want you in my home, helping me make something fine of it. I want you in my bed. I want you to give me children. I even want you with your foolish dog. You are mine. Knew it the first time I saw you.” He slid her hand to his belly. “Knew it in here then.” He then slowly slid her hand up to his heart. “Know it here now.”

“Then, yes, I will marry you for I have known you were mine, in both places, for a very long time.” She laughed when he heaved such a sigh of relief she was surprised he did not keel over.

It happened so quickly that Primrose began to think he was afraid she would change her mind. One minute they were talking about getting married, the next minute they were married. The fact that he had rings for her, ones shoved into his hand by her laughing brother, thrilled her. When he promised to get some of her own, she shook her head. These had been her mother’s. By giving them to Bened to give to her, Simeon had shown his acceptance and approval and she cherished it.

Mrs. Jakes served them a hasty feast and the marriage was toasted with both serious and rowdy toasts. Then, Primrose hurried up to her room to pack some clothes as Bened had been serious about needing to get to his home. She realized she was eager to get there as well for it was now her home, too.

“Prim?” Simeon said as he stepped into the bedchamber when the maids left with her chests of clothing.

“Is something wrong, Simeon?” she asked, afraid he was about to prove her assumption about the rings wrong and express his disapproval over the marriage.

“No, I just wished to make sure this is truly what you want. Do not believe I have ever seen a wedding performed so hastily or packing done so quickly. The man came back here when we had thought him gone, helped get you away from that scum, and then appeared to see the pastor and think, well, I might as well get married while I am here. I just was not sure that was what you wanted. What you truly wanted. I do not want you doing this because you have been traveling with him and been his lover.”

“And now we are both blushing,” Primrose said, and laughed. “I am marrying him for the same reasons he is marrying me. I want him in my bed, I want to share his home, and I want him to father my children. I have known in my soul and my heart that he is mine. That is what he said to me and it is what I agree with. Actually, he said his belly and his heart. I think I can wait for the sweet words as that says more than enough.”

“I think, in his way, he gave you a lot of sweet words. As a man, I think I am hearing what he is saying a lot more clearly than you are. You love him, do you not? And that is what you want him to say.”

“Of course I want him to say it but what he has said is enough for now. It is certainly enough to get those words I want before too long, I think. Yes, I may have to coax them, but I do not mind.” She frowned. “I am, however, running out on you on the very day you actually step into the role of Baron of Willow Hill.”

“Do not fret. I will admit it might be good to have you round for a while as I get used to it, but I have been in training for it since the day I was born. As for the household business, I believe Mrs. Jakes and Jenson will suit. And we both know Mr. Sutton is as trustworthy as the day is long. So I believe I will manage.” He grinned when she swatted him on the arm and then he hugged her. “I will miss you, though.”

She kissed him on the cheek. “And I you. And—oh!”

Primrose suddenly recalled their mother’s journal, grabbed the basket with Boudicca sitting proudly in it, and bolted out of the room. A puzzled Simeon hurried after her. Once in the room she snatched the cushion off the settee and breathed a sigh of relief as she picked up the journal and handed it to Simeon.

“Ah, I had wondered if that is where you disappeared to. You may keep it for a while if you choose, Prim,” he said.

“Mayhaps another time. I would not wish to tote it for all those miles to Wales and into a house that still needs some work. Too many risks.” She turned to go out the door and then paused to look back at him. “Do you think there is something wrong inside me that makes me not shed one tiny tear for our aunt? I even looked at her lying there dead and could only think, ‘Finally it is done.’”

“That is much the same as I thought. Go join your new husband, Prim. He is probably getting concerned that you have changed your mind.”

Directing the servants concerning her bags, Primrose stepped out of the manor to watch Bened hitch their horses to a carriage even as servants tied their bags on top. Poor Mercury, she thought, and laughed softly. The animal appeared to be comfortable in his new role. Smudge did not look as certain but that could be because she was riding in tandem with a large gelding.

Primrose stole another look at her wedding rings, loving the way the sun glinted off the metal and small gemstones. She was married to Bened. It was a wondrous feeling. The fact that she had come very close to being married to that evil troll her aunt had sold her to made her good fortune even more precious.

She had told her brother she was satisfied with all Bened had said and she was, but on the journey to Bened’s lands she had decided she might not be as patient as she had thought she would be.

Primrose badly wanted to hear him say those three little words because she ached to say them to him. She feared they would burst out of her at any time, especially when they were making love, and then he would fail to say them back to her. It was a childish concern, she told herself.

“There it is,” said Bened. “Wolfsbane Hall.”

“Wolfsbane?”

He grinned. “According to Aunt Dob, the ancestor who owned this first was a little odd.”

She stared at the huge manor house built of dark stone. Iron gates were set into a high stone wall that encircled the building. There was even an attractive gatehouse of the same stonework. The place was only a few steps away from being a castle. To her relief height was one of those steps, for the manor was only three stories high. The latest resident had been, it was said, responsible for all comforts and changes that dragged the sturdy buildings out of the dark past.

“That earl gave you a very fine gift, Bened. I think your cousin Modred is correct. The tale of how the place was taken away from your family must have been well recorded and told often. The earl saw a way to remove that small stain from the family shield and took it.”

They reined in front of the heavily carved front doors and Bened helped her down from her seat. The young couple who tended the house greeted them with big smiles, the man telling Bened all that had been done and what still needed finishing. His wife, Gwynneth, rushed Primrose up the stairs to a large bedchamber so that she could wash off the travel dust.

Primrose walked around the bedchamber she would now share with Bened and smiled. There was a massive fireplace all readied for the lighting of a fire that was not needed on such a warm, sunny day. Over it hung a large portrait of the Vaughn who had built the manor. Seeing as he was staring at the bed, Primrose thought she might ask that it be removed. Two long windows with beautiful drapes overlooked the side yard. It was not until she got closer that she realized they were not windows but doors that opened out onto a balcony.

Pausing in her inspection, she hastily washed up before the water cooled too much and then dressed in a fresh gown in the large dressing room, which held a tub and a small privacy closet. Another door led into a beautiful sitting room and on the other side of it was another bedroom. The last resident had clearly spent a lot of money to make the master bedroom as comfortable as possible.

With a final check on her appearance she hurried back down the stairs only to meet with Bened starting up them.

“Huh. Thought I would be in time to trap you in the bedchamber,” he teased as he took her into his arms and kissed her.

“It is a beautiful suite of rooms, Bened. There is just one thing . . .”

“The portrait. Meaning to move it to the library. Man staring at the bed all the time could make me shy.” He winked at her when she laughed and then he took her by the hand. “I need to show you your wedding gift. We can tour the rest of the manor later. I did all I dared to without your opinion but it cannot be full completed until I have it. So, do not be shy in stating it.”

As he pulled her down a long hallway, Primrose grew more and more astonished. The woodwork was beautiful and there were a lot of rooms. They would need more workers if they meant to get it down before they found themselves awaiting the birth of their third child. Then he stopped and tugged at her hand to draw her attention from an elaborate tapestry. Primrose stared at the doors he pointed to. Beyond them appeared to be a room that was mostly glass, even the roof, the large thick sheets of glass framed by metal.

“A place for you to grow your plants,” he said.

She was speechless and felt her eyes sting with an onrush of tears as she hugged him. “For me?”

“I would love to say I built it for you but I only fixed a broken room, putting in all the glass that could safely be put in it.” He took her inside and strode all the way through it to a set of glass doors at the far end. “These lead out into a garden area. The ground has already been made ready for whatever you might wish to plant.” He held her close when she threw herself into his arms. “You have a true skill and love of plants, Rose. I knew you would need something to satisfy the hunger to work with them. I wanted you to have what you needed to be happy here.”

She hugged him even tighter. “I have it. You. That is all I really needed but thank you. A hundred times thank you. It is a wondrous gift.”

He led her around the large room, pointing out what he had brought in for her to do her work. There were tables to work on, shelves for books or potions, and even a set of strong, shiny new gardening tools.

“Simeon is having your plants sent here. Your gardener at Willow Hill is making certain they are packed carefully and the men bringing them well trained in caring for them during the journey. Your books and ledgers, even all your pots. It will be a few days though for the ones bringing them will have very precise instructions so as much as possible will have a good chance of surviving the journey intact.”

“I wish I could find the words to tell you how much this means to me.” She rose up on her tiptoes to brush a kiss over his lips. “Thank you so much, my dearest husband. I love you.”

The kiss he gave her left them both breathless. A quick look around told them their desire would need to wait to be satisfied later. Primrose decided the first thing she would do was to make a private spot, using her biggest plants to shield it from view. It would be nice to make love with Bened in a room where you could see the night sky above you, perhaps be bathed in moonlight, and be surrounded with plants and all without bugs, bats, or anything else that wandered around in the night. It would be better than nice, she decided. It would be magic.

“Rose?” Bened smiled when she blinked clear of whatever thought she was lost in and looked at him. “Where did you go?”

“I did float away for a moment. I was thinking of how to make us a little cove right inside here. Plants to hide us from view, the moonlight all over and around us, perhaps even a view of the stars, the scent of plants and the earth, and, of course, something soft to lie upon. It would be magic.”

“It would,” he agreed, already eager for the night she described, “but, for now, let me show you the rest of the place.” He took her back to the front door as if they had just entered and began the tour room by room, in order. “The parlor for guests. I had my mother do only what was absolutely necessary. She is the one with the best idea of what would be expected by society yet not be too intimidating to those we know who are not of that ilk.”

“It looks very welcoming. Why only the necessary?”

“Because I knew it should be left to the woman I brought to live here.”

“I am pleased but also rather intimidated. Is that the way you have done it in every room?”

“Nay, the master’s chamber needed very little and what I had done was for comfort. I did choose how to finish the library and my office. A few other rooms were simply too confusing for me. I am hoping you know what to do with them. Then there are some that make no sense at all, as if the one who worked on them had half a plan and forgot the other half before he was actually done.”

Primrose laughed and, tugging her hand free, looped her arm through his and pressed her cheek against his arm. “We will sort it all out. Even if half the rooms here were unusable we would still have more than enough room to live in great comfort.”

“True enough,” he said, and grinned. “It is a great deal of home for some man who just kept some idiot from getting a hole shot into his empty head. Leaves me thinking that the way the earl’s family got their hands on it was very illegal, and somewhat embarrasses them.”

“And so he assuages the shame of that by returning the property to the Vaughns for services rendered above and beyond and all that, by returning it to you.”

“I begin to think so.”

Primrose had a head crowded with plans by the time he had shown her the whole manor. She was not surprised by the rooms he had worked on quickly to make them more livable. The parlor, the master suite, the kitchen, and the dining room. They could live quite contentedly with just those comforts for a long while.

She smiled when they entered the bedchamber. A lovely little table was set out in front of the fireplace and it held covered plates of something that smelled delicious plus wine and cider.

“Thank you for doing this, Bened,” she said as she moved to sit. “This is wonderful.”

“I but ordered the meal served here in the bedchamber,” he said as he sat across from her. “Thanks for all else must go to the servants. Of which, I must say, we have many.”

Savoring a bite of the rosemary-seasoned chicken, Primrose then carefully cut some pieces and put them on a plate for Boudicca. She urged the puppy back to its bed by the fireplace, set the plate in front of it, and returned to her seat. It was not until she was eating her vegetables that she became aware of how intently Bened was staring at her. He had a faint smile on his face that eased his usual serious expression, softening the harsher lines until he was so handsome he made her breath catch in her throat.

“That is going to be a very spoiled dog,” Bened said.

She grinned. “I know but I hope to make her a very well-trained dog, too.”

“I think she is very well behaved now. She has been calmly toted about for days and miles on end, in a basket, tied to a saddle. She also stays close to you, no running off when she is out of that basket. But then she would never do that.”

“Why do you say she would never do that?”

“That dog will be your shadow, Rose, for the rest of her sadly short life. She will be, and stay, wherever you are.” Seeing her frown and the hint of confusion in her expressive eyes, he patted her hand. “Boudicca is your dog until old age takes her away. Yours was the hand that pulled her out of the water.”

Primrose looked at the little dog and smiled. “I did intend to keep her even then so ’tis a good thing.”

They idly discussed ideas for what they needed to get done in the manor while Bened had the maids return to clean away the last of the meal. The moment the maids left, Primrose became nervous, no matter how foolish she told herself it was. They had been lovers before they were married so she certainly knew what was about to happen. Neither had they been celibate in the days since they married and then traveled to the manor. When he took her hand in his and tugged her to her feet, she decided she was wrong. It was different. It was their first night together, as husband and wife, in the home they would share from this day onward.

“It was a lovely meal,” she said, and stretched up to brush her mouth over his.

“I wished to make our first night here, in this room, in this house, as special as I could.”

“And you succeeded.”

“Do you know what I thought when I first saw you?” he asked, touching a kiss to her forehead as he began to undo her gown.

“That I was a lackwit for searching so hard for a horse that was standing mere feet away?” She trembled as he ran his fingers up and down her back, the tempting warmth of his touch penetrating her linen chemise and sinking into her blood.

“Nay, I thought you were adorable.”

Stepping free of the gown now tangled around her feet, she frowned at him. “Adorable? A woman standing before a man in her shift truly does not wish to be thought of as adorable, Bened.”

He laughed. “If you had been standing before me like this on that day, adorable would not have been the first word to come to mind. Nay, it would have been
mine.
”

She smiled as he picked her up and carried her to the bed, seating her on the edge. When he knelt at her feet to tug off her shoes, she stroked her hands over his hair and untied the leather strip that held the thick length of hair off his face. Primrose combed her fingers through it, amazed at how soft it felt.

The feel of his hands moving up her leg distracted her from her enjoyment of his hair. He untied the ribbons holding her stocking in place and slowly removed it in a way that was as much a caress as if he was using his hands against her skin. By the time he removed the second stocking she was trembling, astonished by how such an ordinary action could so deeply stir her desires. When he began to kiss his way up her leg, she offered no shy resistance, eager for what she suspected he was about to do. The first touch of his lips in the intimate kiss she had been anticipating almost pushed her over the edge.

As her body weakened from the strength of the passion roaring through her, she fell back onto the bed. Bened took full advantage of her surrender and Primrose lost all ability to even think of how brazen she was being. Then she knew she was close to the edge and called out his name but he ignored her, taking her to the heights with just his clever mouth. She was still sprawled on the bed trying to catch her breath when he stood up and began to shed his clothing.

One thing Primrose had never expected was that she would so enjoy looking at a naked man. But Bened was a pleasure to see in all his glory. Tall and strong, taut swarthy skin stretched over firm muscle. The small triangle of black curls on his chest and the line of hair leading down to his impressive erection. She idly thought that she needed to find a better name for that as it sounded a bit odd. His legs were long and strong as were his arms and she loved to feel all that strength against her, loved to wrap herself around it. It was not even the fact that she had the comforting knowledge of a strong man at her side as much as it was the look and feel of him. When he got on the bed and tugged off her shift she was quick to get as close to him as possible, soaking in his warmth.