“Was I foolish to go?” she asked.
He wanted to say yes, but she had to pursue what she thought was best for herself. Just as he had when he had persisted in wanting to know his true parentage, whether or not it hurt his family. They had both been on a quest of sorts and neither had found anything that made them happy.
“At least you learned a truth about yourself.”
She smiled. “Yes, I did. It is good to know what it takes to make one happy.”
He handed her the letter. “This cannot be said to make me happy on most any level, but it is a truth.”
“It is good the writing is large, or I would not be able to read it without additional light,” she remarked, opening the pages.
She read in silence for several minutes. Hetty came in with the tray, but they both ignored it. Magdalene shook her head several times. Judah resisted the urge to pace and simply watched her read.
When she was done, tears stood in her eyes. “What a touching scene. I am so glad you had a little time with him, even though you do not remember. I am sure it comforted him.”
“If he loved me, wouldn’t he have remained in the area?”
“Your father might have threatened him, and he probably couldn’t have found work. Maybe he didn’t realize the army would send him away.”
“Or he wanted to go. The person I feel most sorry for is my mother.”
“Yes, you might have had a full-blood sibling.”
“Probably not without scandal. As it was they kept the secret inside the family for their entire lives.”
“I wish your mother had never told you,” she said, handing the papers back.
He folded them back into his coat. “Since people obviously knew, it might have been kinder that she did reveal it to me. I could have run into this Mr. Dewey at any time, or one of those maids. It was better to find out in India, even if it put me into a rage at the time.”
“You do have unusually beautiful eyes,” she said. “So someone might have remarked on them. But I cannot imagine you in a rage. You seem so even tempered.”
He bowed his head at the compliment. But then, when he heard the rest of her statement, he looked up again. “I contain my emotions well. No one ever cared about them, so I kept it all inside.”
“I care,” Magdalene said.
“Yet you trampled on my feelings, when you refused my suit.”
“Not without a care,” she demurred. “I was so focused on my plans for myself. I am sorry I hurt you. A good man like you does not deserve to be ill-used.”
“Then you agree I am ill-used?”
She hesitated. “As am I. You did not renew your suit after certain recent events took place.”
He cleared his throat. “Am I to understand you would wish it to be renewed?”
She turned to him, pulling her interlaced fingers to her bosom, but she didn’t speak.
“I see,” he said, his heart breaking. “I wish it was otherwise, but I do respect your desires. Perhaps you are hoping to return to your position at Redcake’s? I can promise you would be welcome there, and there would be no trouble about your brief departure.”
“I want you,” she whispered. “I do not know how to say it without sounding an utter and complete wanton.”
With hope returning, he said the first thing that popped into his mind. “I like you as an utter and complete wanton.”
She blushed. “I know.”
“You want to go on as we did in Doncaster?” he asked carefully. “In your brother’s house?”
“No, in yours!”
“I cannot have a mistress in residence.”
She gestured to him. “You could if she was your wife. Perhaps a wife who decorated cakes at Redcake’s during the busy season?”
He grinned. “Then you will marry me?” Was she sneaking glances at his trousers?
“Can we be utterly scandalous in private, as scandalous as we are proper in public?”
“For a Scandalous Cross, I doubt anything could be more likely.”
“I shall do my best to be a proper tradesman’s wife. And ensure that your family approves of me.”
“And a Society wife,” Judah said. “Fully accepted by my brother. Do you know, I already sent a note accepting my first engagement as Lord Judah? To Lady Mews, for next week.”
“Is this the life you want? Truly?” Her eyes widened.
“My scandal is private, and my scandalous life will be private, and I see no harm showing off my beautiful wife in the latest fashion from time to time. As long as I have the energy to get up for work in the morning.”
She laughed. “There will not be a party that will prevent you from getting up in the morning.” In her light stays and cakie dress, it was all too easy to come up on her knees, and deposit herself on Judah’s lap.
“Ah, Lady Scandalous,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “What a way to spend a cold winter evening.”
“And morning. I resolve to make you late every delicious morning.”
He kissed her brow, then her upturned mouth, before placing his lips on a path farther south.
“We should lock the door,” she murmured, letting her head drop to his shoulder, and her fingers drift down his chest.
“There is always a little risk when you’re scandalous,” he said, putting his fingers to the first button at her throat.
She only smiled as he unbuttoned her dress, then captured her arms behind her in the fabric. Laughter came as he loosed her stays and pulled up her chemise, teasing her belly with his tongue. Then laughter turned to sighs as his teasing went lower. He slipped a hand in the opening of her drawers, then when she moved against his hand, he pulled the fabric down and cast it off.
Then, she was on her knees, helping him unbutton his own clothing and free his jutting erection. She took it in her warm fingers and guided him to that hot, moist depth between her legs.
“You are a scandal,” he whispered, as he thrust home.
“I am at peace with that.” Her arms entwined around his back.
“Mmmm, so am I.” He thrust again, enjoying the luxury of her satiny smooth legs rubbing sensuously up and down his calves. Underneath her, he could feel the springs and coarse fabric of the sofa and he rolled, pulling her on top of him so that he would take the brunt of the old furnishing.
He could not wait until he had her like this in the spacious yet snug house he would buy for her. What fun it would be to share the truth of his wealth with her. Yet, it hardly bore consideration, because this moment, on a threadbare sofa in her brother’s home, was perfect in and of itself.
Magdalene gasped as the changed position sent him deeper into her channel, then tossed her head back in delight as her body began to learn the special pleasures of controlling speed and depth.
He had found his way home, not just in London, as he’d expected, as a returning soldier hungry for Mother England, but in this newly scandalous lady’s warm arms. Not for him would be the tragic marriage of the late Marquess and Marchioness of Hatbrook, or the lonely end of Robert Harmony. His mother had done him a great favor by telling him the truth. She had set him free to find his own path.
His discovery? The journey, and it had been a long one, led to Magdalene. A journey home always would.
credit: Syneca Featherstone
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Heather Hiestand was born in Illinois but her family migrated west before she started school. Since then she has claimed Washington State as home, except for a few years in California. She wrote her first story at age seven and went on to major in creative writing at the University of Washington. Her first published fiction was a mystery short story, but since then it has been all about the many flavors of romance. Heather’s first published romance short story was set in the Victorian period and she continues to return, fascinated by the rapid changes of the nineteenth century. The author of many novels, novellas, and short stories, she has achieved bestseller status on Amazon’s Romance Anthologies list and on Amazon UK�
�s Romance Short Stories list. The first Redcakes novel, The Marquess of Cake, appeared on the Historical Romance Bestseller lists at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. With her husband and son, she makes her home in a small town and supposedly works out of her tiny office, though she mostly writes in her easy chair in the living room.
For more information, visit Heather’s Web site at www.heatherhiestand.com.Heather loves to hear from readers! Her email is [email protected].
eKENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
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Copyright © 2013 by Heather Hiestand
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
eKensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
eISBN-13: 978-1-60183-112-5
eISBN-10: 1-60183-112-9
First Electronic Edition: December 2013
ISBN: 978-1-6018-3112-5
One Taste of Scandal Page 29