“It would be quieter, no doubt,” he continued. “And infinitely more peaceful.”
He watched a spark of anger light in her expressive eyes.
“But it would be boring and lonely and most of all, loveless. Because I know my heart, Natalia, and it could never belong to anyone but you. I’ll never love anyone but you. And I’d live on the moon if it meant I could be by your side.”
The anger left the blue depths of her gaze, washed away in a flood of fresh tears.
“Now please,” he laughed, though the sound was strained. “Much as I know you enjoy torturing me, have mercy and put me out of my misery. What do you say?”
His heart hammered as he awaited her answer, and the sudden radiant smile that appeared through her tears set the organ soaring.
“I love you, Ben,” she cried. “I love you so much.”
“Thank God,” he muttered before sweeping her into his arms and taking her mouth in a searing kiss, ignoring the protests and coughing fits.
Finally, he let her up for some air.
“So, does that mean you’ll marry me?” he asked.
Her eyes lit with mischief and God, how he loved that about her.
“You weren’t really supposed to be my groom, you know,” she reminded him. “It was quite by accident.”
“Is that a yes?” he asked, desperation tinging his voice now.
“Of course it’s a yes.”
They all turned at the deep, booming, accented voice coming from the door, and Natalia’s father stood eyeing them wrapped in each other’s arms.
“She will marry you.”
Natalia smiled at her father, rushing forward to kiss his cheek.
“Thank you, Papa,” she whispered.
Her father patted her hand before releasing it.
“Come along then,” he’d said brusquely. “Let’s get this over with. You both have a lot of packing to do,” he finished with a steely glare at Ben.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“The Christmas Eve ball didn’t turn out to be our engagement ball after all,” Ben whispered in Natalia’s ear as he swept her round the dance floor.
They waltzed as though they were the only two people in the room.
“I suppose our wedding ball is just as good,” she answered, her heart galloping in response to the look in Ben’s eyes.
The vicar had made short work of marrying them only an hour ago and after quiet family felicitations, Aunt Elizabeth had taken great delight in announcing their wedding to her guests.
“I’ll never top this next year, you know,” she’d said sadly but soon rallied and was even now accepting praise on what a marvellous party this had turned out to be.
Natalia glanced around and saw that they were the subject of avid attention.
“Should we go outside?” she asked her husband. Husband! She’d never tire of saying that.
Her mind was still reeling from the events of the past hour. Ben’s wonderful words, his proposal, the fact that he loved her just as much as she loved him.
And now she was his wife.
It was a dream come true. A Christmas miracle.
“I’d love to,” Ben answered. “Only, you’ll get cold again and take my jacket. And since you take great delight in being a thief and keeping my clothing, I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to keep giving them to you.”
Natalia laughingly protested against his outrageous words.
But the laughter died in her throat as Ben’s eyes suddenly darkened.
“Of course, now that you’re my wife, I can’t think of much use for clothes, yours or mine.” He grinned that wolfish grin that sent fire scorching through her veins.
Natalia swallowed loudly, trying to get her overreactive body under control.
“I-I’m not exactly prepared for a wedding night,” she whispered. “And I can’t stay here. I don’t have any night things.”
Ben chuckled loudly, drawing even more attention to them.
“What did I say about clothing? That applied to night clothes, as well as day.”
“But – but there are things we need,” Natalia insisted, her cheeks heating.
Ben reached up and ran his knuckles across one scalded cheek, his hand still clasped around Natalia’s smaller one.
“I don’t need anything but you, my love,” he said sincerely. “I don’t want anything but you.”
He pulled her scandalously close, either not noticing or not caring about the watching crowd.
“And if we leave now, we’ll have hours before the party ends.”
He leaned down and placed a kiss against the racing pulse at her neck in full view of his aunt’s guests.
As it turned out, it took far longer than Ben was happy about for them to escape the ballroom.
Every step they took was intercepted by well-wishers and debutantes determined to hear the details of their secret love.
“So secret, even we didn’t know about it,” Ben whispered in her ear.
“I knew,” she answered softly. “I knew from the first moment you kissed me.”
Ben looked down at her, his eyes boring into her own.
“That’s it,” he said suddenly. “No more felicitations. If anyone stops you, ignore them.”
For the second time that evening, Natalia found herself being practically dragged from the ballroom.
Ben’s expression seemed fierce enough to deter even the most determined congratulations and finally, they were blissfully alone.
Ben led her to the rooms he kept in the west wing of the house.
“Far away from any relatives and guests,” he growled as he locked the door with a decisive click.
Reaching out, he pulled Natalia into his arms.
“I knew when I kissed you, too,” he said, his hands making a slow, torturous exploration of her body. “In fact, I think I probably knew before then. Though I admit it took me a while to realise. Pretending to be in love with you distracted me from the headaches you gave me,” he winked. “I was free to notice how witty, and intelligent, brave and beautiful you are. The more beautiful you got, the less annoying I found you.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” Natalia managed, though she was already quite breathless.
Ben bent his head to trail kisses along her jaw, to her ear where he stopped to whisper.
“No, you still annoyed me,” he admitted, and she slapped him playfully on the arm.
“But you’re growing on me, sweetheart.”
“You’re a cad,” she responded, though her voice was strained, even to her own ears.
Ben’s hands moved to her back, and he began to slowly undo the pearl buttons of the gown.
“I should have refused you. Demanded that you be nothing more than my fake fiancé.” She tried to sound severe, but she was fighting a losing battle, and they both new it.
“There’s nothing fake about how much I adore you. There’s nothing fake about this,” Ben assured her before capturing her lips in a hungry kiss. “I think that’s quite enough talking for now,” he continued when he let her up for air. “What do you say, wife?” He grinned.
Natalia grinned right back.
“I say, so far you’re doing very well for an accidental groom,” she said.
EPILOGUE
The ballroom was festooned in swathes of white material and hundreds of white candles decorated with springs of holly and ivy.
“Your aunt has outdone herself, truly,” Natalia said as she took in her surroundings.
They had only just arrived back from Russia mere days ago, having promised Aunt Elizabeth they would be home for the holidays.
Upon their arrival, they’d announced that they were staying in England so Ben could oversee his estates and business ventures once again. Aunt Elizabeth had been delighted, her excitement exceeded only by Bea’s, and had set about at once transferring Ben’s funds to him.
He’d objected but she’d insisted, and Natalia knew that Ben was excited to invest the money,
to start on all his new and inventive ideas.
And she was excited to help him every step of the way.
Natalia’s father’s rigidity had thawed over the past twelve months. And once he’d received assurances that they would come back to visit as often as they could, he’d finally allowed himself to be truly happy for his daughter.
“She has,” Ben agreed with his wife, pulling her against his side and placing a kiss upon her head.
He’d never cared for propriety, flouting the unwritten rule that men and women, even husbands and wives, shouldn’t touch overly much in public.
“If the Russians can handle it, the English will have to learn to,” he’d said when Natalia had reminded him of the rigid Society of his home country.
“I seem to recall the dear lady bemoaning the fact that our wedding last year had quite ruined her future events,” Natalia quipped.
Ben dropped a hand to Natalia’s gently rounded stomach.
“She won’t be long in changing her mind on that score,” he said tenderly, and Natalia felt the familiar rush of love course through her.
Even after a year, the strength of her feelings for her husband could take her by surprise.
“Let’s at least wait until she’s finished receiving her guests,” she laughed.
“Are you talking about the baby?” Beatrice appeared on the other side of Ben, her face the picture of excitement.
“The secret baby,” Natalia reminded her with mock severity.
“You two have had more than enough secrets,” Bea argued. “And I don’t want to be involved in any more of them.”
Someone called a greeting to her and with a quick smile of apology, Bea flitted off again.
“You really were a disgrace when it came to having secrets,” Ben said earning himself a scowl.
“Me?” Natalia objected. “How so?”
“Well, there was the fake betrothal scheme. That was all you. And the fact that you were secretly in love with me, secretly pining for me, wishing that – oof.”
Natalia blinked up at her husband, her eyes wide and innocent.
“Oh, I am sorry, my love. Did I accidentally stand on your toe?”
“You’re still nothing but a hoyden, Lady Staunton.” Ben grinned. “Not even a year of wedded bliss to a handsome earl has sorted you out.”
“And you’re still an arrogant, smug cad, Lord Staunton.” She grinned back.
“Only because I have so much to be smug about,” he said, kissing his wife on the lips for all the world to see.
Natalia knew there’d be talk about them. Knew the matrons would despair of them, and Ben wouldn’t care a jot.
And neither did she.
He might have become her husband by accident, but when she kissed him back, it was most definitely on purpose.
The End
Other Titles by Nadine Millard
The Ranford Series
An Unlikely Duchess
Seeking Scandal
Mysterious Miss Channing
The Revenge Series
Highway Revenge
The Spy’s Revenge
The Captain’s Revenge
The Hidden Prince
Beauty & The Duke
Box Sets
A Christmas Seduction
Christmas At Brentwood Abbey
Forbidden: A Regency Collection
Yuletide Happily Ever Afters I
Lady It’s Cold Outside
The Saints & Sinners Series
The Monster of Montvale Hall
The Angel of Avondale Abbey
The Devil of Dashford Manor
The Saint of St. Giles
Her Accidental Groom
Copyright © 2018 Nadine Millard
All rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nadine Millard is a writer hailing from Dublin, Ireland. Having studied and worked in law for a number of years, Nadine started writing when she became a stay at home mother to her three children.
Now she can be found writing romances, looking after her children, her dog, her cat, and neglecting household chores to the best of her ability.
She can be found on all social media and loves to hear from readers!
Her Accidental Groom Page 8