“If it is what she wants.” She touched his cheeks. “I am not against all marriages. Just mine.”
He smirked, a boyish and casual expression she’d have never associated with the duke. “We’ll see.” His confidence was rolled into his next kiss. Along with his desire and wicked inclinations. It struck Everly at full force.
Her hands went everywhere. She couldn’t get enough of him. The feel of his hard body. His strength. His scent. His warmth. She wanted more. She wanted everything.
He started to struggle. It was only then that she realized it was she he was trying to contain.
“Everly.” His voice was strained. He held her hands to his chest and placed his forehead against hers. “My love, I need you to calm yourself.”
She pulled in one breath after another and slowly managed to get some semblance of what had happened. When she opened her eyes, he was grinning at her.
Surprisingly, she was not embarrassed at all. “Let me go. I promise to be good.”
He arched a brow. “Why don’t I believe you?”
She tried to fight her grin in order to go for a more innocent look but failed.
He chuckled and kissed her gently. Her mouth tried to follow his and he pulled away.
Then he took both her hands in one of his and pinned them against the door above her head.
She gasped as she struggled to get loose, but Asher was kissing her again and nothing felt better.
He was totally in control of it and her. He held her completely at his mercy and Everly knew that if she wanted more she would have to give in.
Immediately, she relaxed.
“Very good,” he whispered. His free hand dug into her hip.
She bit her lip to hold back a retort or a moan. Maybe both. She had no idea what Asher was doing to her, but she liked it.
Another crack formed in the shield that protected her heart.
The kiss became savory. Lazy yet equally as potent. It was as though he had all day with her.
And he did. Everly was sure he could die happily in his hold.
Another crack.
“If only it were as easy as this,” Asher began. “To gain your heart as you’ve willingly offered me your body.” His teeth grazed and nipped her lips.
Her mind slowed, but her heart raced.
“But then,” he went on. “If it were easy then you would not be you.” He smiled. “And I like you just as you are... very much.”
Her chest ached. Her right cheek was wet. A tear had fallen. “Stop,” she whispered, staring at his chest.
He didn’t. It seemed like Asher felt like talking. “Perhaps, you hold yourself away because you do not find me worthy.” His hand tightened around her wrist. A finger of his other hand wiped away her tear. “Perhaps, you are right to do so.” Pain was ingrained in the words.
She lifted her gaze and met his. “No.”
“No?” he asked in a hushed tone as he continued to wipe at the other tears that were falling.
She pulled in a shaky breath and whispered, “I’ve never met anyone worthier than you.”
He smiled. “Is that a yes? Will you marry me?”
Everly’s lips trembled. “I…”
“Everly!” The shout came from somewhere down the hall and it oddly sounded like Preshea.
Asher let her go with a groan that was half growl.
∫ ∫ ∫
3 7
Everly wiped her face and then moved to the door.
Preshea was running down the hall. The woman took a full breath before she spoke. “You’ve another visitor!”
Everly turned to Asher. “Who am I to expect this time? Humphrey Davy? Or perhaps René Laënnec?”
Asher lifted a brow. “Do you have a lady interested in engineering or medicine?”
She stilled. She’d only been joking, but would Asher truly bring such great men to her home if she asked? Her heart shuddered.
Preshea spoke. “I do not believe this visitor to be bringing good tidings.” It was then that Everly noticed her friend’s fear. It did not imply good things.
Everly and Asher followed Preshea down the hall and into the dining room where Lord Fallen was waiting.
Lord Fallen glared at her when she entered and opened his mouth, but then at seeing Asher, he stiffened and pressed his lips together.
Everly smiled and thought it another thing to add to the list of reasons it was good to have a man around, especially one like Asher. After dismissing Preshea and the servants, she waited for Asher to close the door before she spoke. “Lord Fallen, I was not expecting a visit. Have you come to apologize?”
“No.” The man began to prowl his side of the dining table. Then he raked his hands through his hair and said, “You ruined me.” He looked between her and Asher. “The both of you.”
Asher narrowed his gaze but said nothing… to Everly’s extreme surprise.
Everly folded her hands before her and sighed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I was just informed by my solicitor that Stoutner has cut me off.” His eyes were wild. “I will not inherit when he dies. He blames me for you figuring him out.”
Everly lifted a brow? “Were you supposed to blame me for the stolen diamonds?”
Fallen stopped and gripped the back of a chair. “No,” he hissed. “I meant to accuse your cousin, but I could not see clearly in the shadows.”
Everly looked at Asher. “Do you have something to say?”
Asher was now leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, his expression casual again. “No.”
“No?” Again, she was surprised. She’d grown used to him handling her situations for her.
He smiled at her. “He is not my guest, but yours. Besides, you are handling this all very well. I’m confident you can deal with him on your own.”
A grin spread across her face. She had to hold herself back from skipping across the room and wrapping him in her arms.
“Have we forgotten I am here?” Fallen asked bitterly. “I’ve been waiting years for Stoutner to die. I need that money! All of my debtors have suddenly come to call as though they know that now I am in no position to pay.”
“I’m sorry,” Everly said, turning back to him. “But we had nothing to do with Stoutner’s decision.”
Asher cleared his throat then and said, “Actually, I might have had more than a hand in it. I told him to cut you off. It was part of our agreement.” His look had grown dark.
Everly’s lips parted in astonishment.
Fallen’s eyes widened, and he stumbled back a step. “What? But why? Lady Wycliff was already free of the charges.”
“But no bad deed goes unpunished,” Asher said as he slowly came off the wall. Both his posture and his voice were menacing. “You accused my lady of theft and had her tossed into a cell as though she were little more than a dog. For that slight, I will make you suffer a hundred times over.”
Everly could not get her mind to cooperate with her body. She’d become muted in her shock. Had Asher just declared her as his lady?
Fallen said, “I didn’t know she was yours.”
“Now you do,” Asher said.
Everly pulled in a breath.
Asher went on, “I also called your creditors and informed them of your new situation. Should you be unable to pay, you’ll be thrown into prison, the same place you planned to put my lady.”
My lady. There it was again.
Fallen looked between him and Everly and then settled on her. There was an expression in his eyes she’d never seen before. Fear. Regret. “My lady, please. Forgive me. Convince Lord Ayers to undo what he has done.” He was almost hysterical.
Though a full table separated them Everly took a step back. She studied the anguish on Fallen’s face and then looked at Asher.
His eyes were ready for her, though she couldn’t read him. His body was rigid, and she wasn’t sure if he’d welcome her touch, so she remained where she stood.
She
swallowed. “Can you undo what has been done?”
“Yes,” Asher said. “If it is your wish.”
Her wish.
Fallen gasped, but then grew quiet again.
Everly looked at Fallen and then at Asher. She’d never been in this sort of position. It was more power than she knew what to do with. Her decision could change the course of a man’s entire life.
She took a step toward Asher. “What do you think? Should we give him back his inheritance?”
“That is not my decision to make,” Asher said.
She frowned. “I didn’t want this decision.”
“Then we leave it as it is,” Asher said without feeling. He truly didn’t care if Fallen suffered. “Send him home.”
“No, please,” Fallen wheezed.
Everly took another step toward Asher. “Was having the charges dropped not enough?”
Asher narrowed his eyes but not with the intent to threaten. “No, it wasn’t. If it were left to me, Fallen would suffer for the rest of his life, but that doesn’t matter. I swore to you that I would protect you. I swore I would everything in my power to see no harm came to you. I swore that I would do anything to make you happy. This is how I get it done.”
And this was an example of his power.
Everly shivered and wondered how such a situation could arouse her. “Are you made glad at the thought of him in prison?”
Asher’s brows lifted. “I don’t care about him.” His answer was frank. “My duty, my wants, my desires are solely to you.”
Everly felt the shiver again.
Asher wasn’t done. “Fallen in prison means Fallen nowhere near you, as promised.”
“I won’t bother your lady again,” Fallen said. “I swear it.”
Asher completely ignored him. “If he is given his inheritance, it will be because you say it is so.”
Everly felt the weight of those words, their power. She turned to Fallen. “It was not kind what you did to me.”
Fallen’s head fell.
Everly crossed her arms. “But I have not always been kind myself. I am often blinded by how I think the world should be and how I believe people to act, but it unfair. Therefore, though you don’t deserve it, your inheritance will be returned to you.”
Fallen lifted his head and grinned. Then he started around the table. “Bless you, my lady.”
Asher came to stand by her and held out his hand when he was but a foot away. “That’s close enough.”
Fallen fell to his knees and took Everly’s hand. “Bless you. Bless you.” There were tears sliding down his face.
“You must swear to do something good with a portion of that money,” Everly went on.
“I swear it,” Fallen vowed. Though unlike Asher, Everly wasn’t sure he’d keep his word.
Asher called a footman to see Fallen out of the dining room and from the house. Then, when they were alone again, he said, “I’ll visit Stoutner once I leave here.”
Everly reached out and wrapped her arms around him. “Asher, I don’t know what to say.”
Yet she thought him absolutely nothing like the man who’d fathered her. Her father would never have given any woman this amount of power of choice. He likely wouldn’t have cared what Fallen had done to her. He’d have blamed Everly every step of the way, because in his world men were always right.
Women had their uses, which was why he allowed Everly to host his parties, but in the end, they were all beneath him.
And though Asher physically looked down at Everly, she didn’t feel beneath this mighty man. She felt protected and treasured.
“Asher,” she whispered. “You’re magnificent.”
His lips didn’t smile, but his eyes did. “You just figured that out, my dear?”
She laughed and then buried her face in his shirt. Then she inhaled and tried to breathe him in.
But it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough until she completely owned this man.
“That was kind of you,” Asher murmured in her hair as he put his arms about her. “Let it not be said that Lady Wycliff has a heart of stone. Instead, she showed mercy to a weakened man when it was her right not to do so.” He cupped her cheeks and tilted her head back to meet her eyes. “Those are the marks of a woman worthy of great power. You are extraordinary.”
Her heart swelled to the point that she could no longer keep it contained.
Everly thought she’d feel broken by the time she made this decision. She also thought she’d feel fear.
But she didn’t, because it was right.
It was so right it was sweet. Like the taste of the finest wine, though she could feel it everywhere. It consumed her, carrying away her doubts and worries.
She felt like someone else and yet very much herself at the same time.
Asher allowed her to be herself, she realized.
No, it was more than that. Asher helped her excel at being herself. He liked her as she was.
And she loved who he was.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Yes?” he replied.
“I mean...” She giggled. “I’ll marry you.”
“Oh.” His brows furrowed. “I already knew that.”
She scrunched up her nose. “What?”
He grinned. “You almost said yes in the salon.”
That was true. Still. “But I didn’t say yes.”
He shrugged his heavy shoulders. “In my mind, we’ve been engaged for the last half hour.”
She gasped and then laughed.
Then his gaze grew serious. “But in my heart, you have been mine for a very long time.”
The words reminded her of an odd comment he’d made days ago, about waiting for her for years. She’d attributed it to Asher simply being poetic, but he was far from whimsical. When he said something, even when it was sweet and clever, it was still the truth.
She didn’t get a chance to ask for an explanation, because he kissed her then and nothing else mattered for a very long time after that.
Still, she was nervous and only helped she wasn’t making a terrible mistake.
∫ ∫ ∫
3 8
Asher noticed the arrival of Everly’s carriage a week later and moved to greet her at the door.
“Anxious, aren’t we?” Lore asked from his place on the couch. Creed slept on his chest restfully. “You should be glad my plan worked.”
His plan to gift Everly’s school with a telescope had been Lore’s idea. Lord Hartland’s delivery of it had been Asher’s along with the circumstances surrounding Lord Fallen.
Hero, who was holding a very alert Miss Liberty, chuckled. “Let Asher run to his love without our comment. After all, he did convince the woman to wed him in less than a day. That’s much faster than either of us.”
Lore visibly conceded but rolled his eyes.
Asher left them to their mockery and met Everly in the foyer.
She’d just removed her bonnet, exposing her red curls when she turned to him and froze. There was a look on her visage that he couldn’t quite understand, but he didn’t think it unpleasant so he moved forward.
Her eyes moved to his shoulder, where John rested in his arms. She looked at the boy and then at him again. “I was not prepared to know what you looked like holding a baby.”
He lifted a brow. “Does it bother you?”
Her hazel eyes widened. “Had you been holding John when you first proposed, I’d have said yes immediately.” There was that look in her eyes again, and this time, he read it right. Desire, but something even more powerful than even that.
Asher grinned and decided he’d keep her words in mind for when he wished to convince his future wife of other things. Then he asked a question he’d been wondering at all week. Holding John as he did, which was a thing he did often, reminded him. “Do you want children?”
She colored adorably and then smiled. “Yes, if it’s not too much trouble.” Her eyes were devious now.
He groaned. “It
will be no trouble at all.” He wanted to start that very moment but denied the urge.
John stuck his hand his mouth and started to whine.
Asher looked at him. “He’s hungry. I better go deliver him to his mother.”
“I rarely see this boy with his nurse,” Everly said as she stole the boy’s free hand. She smiled up at him with true adoration.
John had ceased sucking his other hand as she stared at Everly, clearly under the woman’s spell.
Asher was having his own reaction to watching Everly play with the boy and could hardly wait to have his own.
It was fascinating how all his plans had changed in such a short time. His life was changing, thanks to Everly.
“Beatrix is like my mother,” Asher said once he could focus. “She believes in spending as much time as possible with her offspring. Family is important to her.”
“And you?” Everly asked. “I know you feel duty bound to see to everyone but is quality time with family important to you?” The question seemed to hold great significance to her, which would make sense given her father had forbidden her mother from seeing her.
He held her gaze. “I’m learning to let them in.”
Her gaze softened as she looked at the baby again. “He was named after your brother, was he not?”
John.
He wasn’t ready to discuss John with her or anyone. The guilt still ate at him. And worse, he didn’t wish to trouble her with the vicious dreams that visited him every few nights.
Her eyes turned back to him once she realized he’d not responded and softened further. Then her hand stroked his arm and she smiled in understanding, saying nothing as she held his eyes.
“I’ll take him to his mother and then we can leave,” Asher said.
They were going to Diana’s garden party, her first as Lady Renner.
Everly had been busy helping Diana plan while Asher had been seeing to Valiant’s ledgers. His sister apparently had many things she wished to do with the many investments her husband had made. She planned to become active in them all, which meant Valiant would need far more than Asher to oversee her finances. She was currently one of the wealthiest widows in England.
Asher and Everly took John to Beatrix who was with Brinley. This led to the women having a short conversation before it was time for them to depart. Since Everly was helping Diana host the party, she would have to arrive early.
The Perfect Duke (Valiant Love) (A Regency Romance Book) Page 19