by Stacy Reid
“Yes. I suspect he will be leaving England soon. I will ensure that there are no legal consequences against Arianna for shooting him.”
He butted against her, and she lifted her forehead from his. Nicolas cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing over her mouth. His soft caress, so light it was scarcely a breath of sensation, pierced her heart sweetly.
“Forgive me for hurting you with my careless words,” he said, pressing a kiss to her mouth. His mouth gently moved over her cheek and to her hair.
“I understand your heart, and I know why you walked away.”
“I want you to know that I had planned to sneak into your chambers last night, fall to my knees, and beg you to forgive my foolishness.”
Maryann smiled, a lump forming in her throat. “All is forgiven.”
Then he kissed her, and she sank into his embrace, knowing how irrevocably cherished she was.
Epilogue
Two weeks later…
Maryann grinned as Lydia lifted her rapier in salute and assumed the en garde position.
“Remember now,” Maryann said, “slow and easy.”
Lydia nodded, a glint of pleasure in her golden gaze, which reminded Maryann so much of Nicolas’s eyes.
Maryann had been teaching Nicolas’s twin sisters to fence for only three days. She had asked Nicolas’s permission to secure a fencing tutor for them, which he had agreed to after speaking with his mother. The dowager marchioness had relented, but with the condition that they started in the next summer.
The girls had been disappointed but had rallied at Maryann’s suggestion to teach them what she knew until their tutor arrived.
“Nicolas!” Louisa, who had been reposing on a lawn chair, awaiting her turn, shouted.
Maryann’s heart lurched. She lowered her rapier and turned to see her love strolling across the lawn.
“We should stop our brother from seeing Maryann during this hour allocated to us,” Lydia grumbled, putting down her sword and lowering herself to the large blanket. “They are going to make silly eyes at each other.”
“Don’t forget the kisses,” Louisa said, laughing.
Maryann flushed but was grinning. To think they were so scandalized by those chaste kisses Nicolas seemed unable to stop himself from brushing across her mouth. He touched her at every opportunity, kissed her at least ten times each day.
Or more.
And every night…
Her skin heated at the mere thought of the wicked ways he turned her boneless with pleasure when they retired to bed. This morning had been the first he’d scandalized her senses by taking her in the library against the door. She had been so sure the household would hear her wild cries, but when they’d peeked outside in the hallway, there had been no servants.
The memory of how her beloved husband had made love to her again on the chaise had her smiling wider.
“Whatever are you thinking, Maryann?” Lydia asked.
“Practice the moves I taught you together. I will be back shortly.”
“Do tell Nicolas to stay away,” Louisa said. “And remember that we are going riding together soon.”
Maryann strolled toward him, loving how carefree and unrestrained he appeared. Since that night, when their scandal had rocked the ton, she hadn’t seen any more shadows in his eyes. Only burning love and such contentment.
They had married only last week by special license in the family chapel at his principal estate. Their ceremony had been well attended by their friends and families, and many of the newspapers had bemoaned that the most scandalous couple of the season had not held a grand wedding at Hanover Square.
She reached him, and he tugged her into his embrace, kissing her lightly.
“The girls do not like you distracting me from their lessons,” she chided.
Nicolas chuckled. “I’ve made arrangements for us to start our honeymoon next week. It will only be for three weeks, since we have to return in time for Christmas.”
“Where are we going?”
His gaze gleamed. “That is a surprise. But you will enjoy every moment, I promise. There might even be some riding astride. I’ve already instructed your dresser to procure riding trousers and shirts in your size.”
Maryann laughed and tossed her hands around his neck, kissing him a bit too enthusiastically, if the girls’ overly loud and dramatic shouts were anything to go by. With a breathless laugh, she stepped back.
“This came for you,” he said.
She plucked the letter from him and quickly pried it open, scanning the contents. “It is from Crispin!”
“Is all well?”
Maryann lowered the paper. “He married Arianna in a secret ceremony. Mama and Papa are not pleased with the match. I shall write to him right away and let him know he has our support.”
A soft smile curved Nicolas’s mouth. “She loves him truly. They will be an excellent match.”
Maryann admired Arianna’s strength and the love she owned for Crispin. “I am glad; I could tell he was in love with her and despairing she might not return his affections.”
She folded the letter and slipped it into her pocket. “Will you join me for the rest of the lesson with the girls?”
He nodded, and they walked toward his sisters.
…
“No!” Lydia cried, scandalized. “My brother climbed into your chamber, and you and he had a duel?”
Louisa sent Maryann an admiring glance. “Did you trounce him?”
His marchioness laughed, the warm, sweet sound logging into his heart.
“It was more of a draw.”
He arched his brow and sent her a meaningful stare. She blushed prettily, turning back to his sisters, regaling them with the tale of how they met. Nicolas hadn’t dreamed that such happiness could await him in life. He hadn’t dared to think his heart could have been this full, and not with guilt or need for retribution. Those emotions had vanished the night David threatened Maryann’s life. Even though Nicolas loved her and wanted her for his wife, it was in that moment he had known that life without her would be impossible.
He hadn’t known he could love like this…laugh like this…or that anyone would look at him the way Maryann did.
The laughter of the most important ladies in his life swirled around him, the images of them dancing and parrying with swords in dresses forever entrenched in his heart. He’d vowed to his love that she would have the best life with him. That he would never cage her and that he would love her forever. For their honeymoon, he planned to take her to Devon, a stay at Torquay, and then a trip to the Isle of Wight from Southampton. By later that night, she would manage to get the full details of the trip out of him, no doubt. Nicolas was anticipating her delightful methods to obtain the information, and so he missed whatever caused Maryann to chuckle so happily, bending over to catch her breath. Lydia was also laughing, and Louisa was grinning sheepishly.
Maryann caught his gaze and mouthed, I love you.
It almost shocked Nicolas to feel the raw ache in his throat. Knowing it would scandalize his sisters, he went over to his wife, swept her into his arms, and walked toward the gazebo in the distance.
“Nicolas!” the girls cried.
Maryann gasped. “You plan to debauch me.”
“More like to sit with you in my arms just for a few minutes.”
Her gaze softened. “I know… There are times I, too, cannot believe it is real, and I just want to hold you. Feel that you are real.”
He paused, and she slipped her hands around his neck, peering into his eyes.
“I love you,” he said gruffly.
She smiled and fitted her mouth perfectly to his.
The End
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Acknowledgments
I thank God
every day for loving me with such depth and breadth. To my husband, Du’Sean, you are so damn wonderful. Your feedback and support are invaluable. I could not do this without you.
Thank you to my wonderful friend and critique partner Giselle Marks. Without you, I would be lost! Thank you to Stacy Abrams for being an amazing, wonderful, and super-stupendous editor.
To my wonderful readers, thank you for picking up my book and giving me a chance! Thank you. Special THANK YOU to everyone who leaves a review—bloggers, fans, friends. I have always said reviews to authors are like a pot of gold to leprechauns. Thank you all for adding to my rainbow one review at a time.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Stacy Reid writes sensual Historical and Paranormal Romances and is the published author of over twenty books. Her debut novella The Duke’s Shotgun Wedding was a 2015 HOLT Award of Merit recipient in the Romance Novella category, and her bestselling Wedded by Scandal series is recommended as Top picks at Night Owl Reviews, Fresh Fiction Reviews, and The Romance Reviews.
Stacy lives a lot in the worlds she creates and actively speaks to her characters (aloud). She has a warrior way “Never give up on dreams!” When she’s not writing, Stacy spends a copious amount of time binge-watching series like The Walking Dead, Altered Carbon, Rise of the Phoenixes, Ten Miles of Peach Blossom, and playing video games with her love. She also has a weakness for ice cream and will have it as her main course.
Stacy is always happy to hear from readers and would love for you to connect with her via Website | Facebook | Twitter
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Happy reading!
Stacy
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