by Allison Lane
“Very well. We’ll leave for London in the morning.”
“We?”
“You’re coming with me, Eden. I won’t do this alone.”
“That isn’t a good idea. Besides, Olivia—”
“—is fine. The staff will look after her, as will Jeremy. She can get along without you for a few days.”
“Perhaps, but it’s not right for me to travel with you.”
“You’ve done it before.”
“That was different.”
“Please, Eden.” He pulled her against him. “I need you at my side.” He tried to kiss her, but she turned away.
“Don’t say that.” Tears appeared in her eyes. “Alex, I cannot be your mistress.”
“Good. I would never consider taking a mistress to meet Stratford – particularly when this visit is meant to heal a rift.”
She struggled, trying to break his grip, but he held her tighter.
“I want everything, Eden. Wife. Family. Sharing a bed and awakening together.”
If anything, her tears flowed faster, making his chest ache until he feared it would explode. He should not have rushed his fences. She wasn’t ready.
“I know it’s too soon to ask for your hand,” he continued doggedly. “John hasn’t been gone a month. But will you at least consider it?”
“I can’t,” she sobbed.
“Why?”
“You’re only doing it because you pity me.”
“Nonsense! Don’t fabricate excuses, Eden. If you don’t return my regard, then say so. If you hate me for endangering Olivia, tell me.”
“No! You know that isn’t true.”
The shock in her eyes relaxed one fear. “Then what is it? Are you still mourning John?”
“He was a good man, but no.” She drew in a deep breath and met his eyes. “I can wed no one, Alex. Especially you.”
“Why?” It took all his will to control the pain.
“You want a family and your title will demand an heir, but I never once conceived in ten years of marriage. Not the tiniest hint.” Her head dropped as if in shame.
He wanted to kill John. “Christine was wed for twelve. Look at me, Eden.” He waited until she met his gaze. “John could not father children. Surely he told you.”
She mutely shook her head.
He barely stifled a new round of curses. “He knew it. He’d known it since childhood. It was why he never intended to wed. Only a deathbed promise to his mother changed his mind.”
“He knew?”
He nodded. It was widely known that men without testicles couldn’t breed. Those who were born that way developed normally otherwise – unlike castratos – but they never sired children. “When I told him Christine had eloped with Sir Harold, he admitted that he’d known they were lovers and had hoped she would conceive, for he’d always wanted a child.”
“He couldn’t…?”
“No.” His eyes bored into hers. “You dared me to take a chance, Eden. Now I’m daring you to wed me. If you cannot conceive, it will make no difference. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my days with you. I can’t bear returning to Cliffside without you. It was lonely enough before. Now…”
“You love me?”
Hadn’t he just said…
He leashed his temper and nodded. “More than I thought possible.”
She smiled, transforming the room into the Eden he had once dreamed of building. Anywhere she smiled would be Eden. “I love you, Alex. I’d hoped it was merely lust, but when I saw Percy choking you, I could no longer deny it.”
“Then you will have me?”
“Gladly.”
He swept her into his arms, diving into her mouth in a kiss he needed more than life. Happiness exploded, beyond his wildest dreams. He was home. Home as he’d never been before. His family had never understood him, never accepted him, never wasted a moment wondering whether condemning him was wrong.
But that would never happen with Eden. She knew him better than even his closest friends. They could share their innermost thoughts without fear of ridicule, explore any desire without fear of censure.
His fingers fumbled with her gown. It had to be here. Now. Already he burned to consummate their contract. For the first time in years, the future looked bright. With Eden at his side, he could do anything.
She tore off his coat, driven beyond madness by his hands and lips. The rest of his clothes followed. If she was to run mad, she would see that he did, too.
He rubbed against her as he ripped away her gown. Laces snapped. Her corset hit the wall. Hot hands touched everywhere at once.
They tumbled to the floor.
“Alex!” she panted, nibbling his shaft as his fingers slid frantically through her folds. Who would have thought a man could feel so good? Demands, promises, pleas swirled through her head, enough to fill a lifetime. Thank God they would have a lifetime.
Alex groaned, flipping her around to suck her breast deep into his mouth. He couldn’t wait, couldn’t go slow, couldn’t—
He sheathed himself to the hilt. “Come to me. Now!”
“Yes,” she moaned, matching his frenzied pace and pushing him faster. “I love you, Alex. Only you. Forever.”
They exploded in a burst of ecstasy.
“Must we wait until your mourning is over?” he panted some minutes later.
“I can’t stand another night without you.”
He grinned. “Then we’ll get a special license when we reach London.”
“As soon as we see your family. Give them a chance, Alex. You won’t regret it.”
He nodded, his heart light. Stratford could never hurt him again. Only Eden had that power now, but she would never use it.
Epilogue
Alex pulled his wife’s back against him, cupping his hands around her swollen belly as he gazed past the prow of the yacht. The Channel was calm today – which was why he’d dared venture out so close to her time.
A vigorous kick dislodged one hand.
Eden giggled. “I think he’s jealous, my lord.”
“Just anxious to leave his cave and explore the world,” he murmured into her ear. And a wonderful world it was. He tightened his arms.
The meeting with Stratford had shocked him, ripping apart the world he’d always known. Alex had accepted that his secrecy contributed to Stratford’s ever-harsher criticism, but he’d never really thought about it from Stratford’s view. Since the man had known nothing about the job that caused Alex’s frequent injuries, he’d concluded that his son’s youthful trouble-seeking continued. Fearing that Alex had fallen in with bad companions, he’d tried everything he could think of to force him to settle.
Sitting at Stratford’s bedside, Alex’s jaw had hit the floor as he recognized the love that had driven the man.
You always had a spark of something rare and precious. Stratford’s voice had trembled with the emotion he usually suppressed. But you feared nothing. It’s a dangerous combination that too often leads to serious trouble. If I’d known— His voice broke, forcing a silence Alex couldn’t break. When Jason told me you’d hunted spies all those years, I cornered Sidmouth and demanded details. Don’t worry, he added when Alex growled. They will go no further. I understand the danger well enough. But I needed to know, to understand— I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am – and how sorry that my ignorance added to your burdens.
Remembering that day still tightened his chest.
Stratford had rallied the family to support the prodigal, for his word was still law. Alex knew that Palfry’s lip service to the edict would end the moment Stratford died, but Palfry no longer mattered. Eden was probably right in thinking Palfry was jealous of Alex’s freedom. Stratford’s acceptance could only make that jealousy worse.
“Sailing is exhilarating,” said Eden, twisting to kiss his chin. “If someone had told me eight months ago how much would change…”
“I take it you like your yacht?”
“Very much, though
I still can’t believe—”
Neither could he. It had been a memorable eight months since Eden had arrived on his doorstep.
Percy had been sentenced to death but had escaped hanging by killing himself the night before it was scheduled. No one could explain where he’d got the pistol.
Alex had a good idea. Lord James Montagu, Percy’s grandfather, had been appalled to learn that Percy had killed two men. Hoping to mitigate the boy’s sentence, he’d made the grueling trip to London to talk to Alex, the man leading the prosecution.
Though Alex had confined the public charges to Percy’s recent crimes, he’d told Lord James everything, producing evidence dating back twenty years to support his contentions.
Lord James had nearly expired on the spot. He couldn’t believe how the boy had twisted servants’ gossip and a family feud. But though he’d accepted Percy’s guilt, he’d vowed that no one would make a public spectacle of the boy.
So Alex didn’t believe it had been suicide.
That conviction had strengthened six months later. Lord James had fulfilled his vow to outlive his despised brother. Despite suffering a seizure shortly after returning from London, he’d clung to life until two full days after Travers died. His will had shocked the entire family, for it divided his massive fortune equally between two of his nephews – the new Travers and John Marlow, with the provision that Eden inherit John’s share to repay in a small way the pain Percy had caused her. Her inheritance included three estates and a yacht. She’d spent the last month setting up benevolent societies.
He shouldn’t have been surprised, Alex conceded. Lord James had already arranged for Sir Michael to find the inheritance his father had collected on that fatal journey.
“Are you ready?” she asked, pulling his attention back to the gently rolling sea.
He glanced around. The coast was out of sight. No boats were nearby. “Ready.” He lifted the bag at his feet.
“We are doing the right thing, aren’t we?”
“Absolutely. We cannot risk another madman seeking power.”
She withdrew the chalice. “My love for you is all the happiness I will ever need, Alex.” With a last glance at the images engraved around its rim, she dropped it into the water.
“Health has long been ours, my love. We don’t need dreams to make it so.” The spoon followed the chalice to the bottom.
Eden removed the staff, now lashed to several bricks. “My father died for this, though he did not know of its existence. We have more wealth than we will ever need, but even were that not true, I could not risk others meeting Papa’s fate.” Rubies glinted as the staff tumbled downward.
“You are wise, Eden.” He held out the stone, letting the empty bag fall onto the deck. “Wise and caring. I cannot regret the existence of this stone, for it brought you into my life. I do not know how I lived so long without you. But neither will I regret its loss, for yours is the only wisdom I need.” He set it in her hand.
Eden held the stone for a long moment, then opened her fingers, smiling when it splashed into the sea. A fitting end for the last remnant of an island that had found a similar watery grave.
Alex kissed her, then guided her to the cabin as the yacht headed back to Cliffside. Seducing Eden had been the best idea he’d ever had, even if she had landed in his heart as well as his bed. A mistake he could only embrace.
“So tell me about the case you accepted,” she ordered as the clouds parted outside, bathing the Channel in sunlight. “Something about a missing heir?”
England’s newest private investigator grinned. “You’ll find this one fascinating, love. It’s almost as crazy as Sarsos. Once upon a time…”
Copyright © 2007 by Susan Ann Pace
Electronically published in 2007 by Belgrave House/Regency Reads
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This is a work of fiction. All names in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental.