The pain was so acute, she felt she would die from it. Swallowing past the tears that clogged her throat, she asked, “Why wouldn’t he tell me, Langley? Why would he have me find out this way?”
Langley shook his head. “It has all happened so very fast for him. I know he has planned to tell you, but he probably could not find the right moment. He adores you, Arlie. I’ve never seen him so happy.”
“So he leaves for Paris to be with his fiancée, while his mistress stays behind in London having no idea what is happening.” She ran trembling hands down her face, her gaze moving to the liquor cabinet just beyond Langley’s shoulder. What she wouldn’t give to get blissfully drunk, yet she had the baby to think about. The baby…a constant reminder of Dominic.
“What will you do?”
She saw the pity in his eyes and hated it. This is what happened to all kept women eventually. It was just coming sooner for her than expected.
“What can I do? I told him I would never leave, and I have no desire to, yet I have no desire to share him either.”
Langley lifted both brows, but said nothing. She would receive no sympathy from anyone. This simply happened to her kind. Her kind…she had become her mother.
She let out an exasperated breath. “Why does love have to hurt so much, Langley? I love Dominic desperately, yet I cannot have him. Someone else will get to share his bed, his life, his name. She will get the acknowledgement, and I will get whatever is left over. And I will take it like scraps from a noonday meal, and be happy for it.”
He lifted her chin with his fingers. “Dearest Arlie, Dom loves you. You know that as much as I do. And though he may take a wife, it will be in name only. Certainly he will do his duty, but you are his wife in his heart. If he could, it would be you he takes to the altar and not Katerina.”
Katerina. Unwanted images came to mind. Different faces, body features, all of them beautiful. Arlie stood abruptly, the room spinning for a moment as a wave of dizziness washed over her.
Langley was there to steady her. “Are you all right? Perhaps you should stay over.”
Arlie shook her head, feeling the urge to run. “I must go. I thank you for being honest with me.”
His brow furrowed with concern. “You deserve honesty, at the very least.”
Arlie left Langley’s in even worse spirits than she had arrived.
The following morning, she woke from a fitful sleep resolved to move on. After all, despite what Langley said, Dominic didn’t love her. How could he?
As the week continued, rather than go into mourning, Arlie decided the best course of action would be to do the opposite of what everyone expected her to. She rode every day despite the cold temperatures. She visited friends, mostly Langley and his lovely wife, Rose, whom became a good confidante to her. Feeling daring, she’d even ridden to Rochford Manor. She stood outside the iron gates, remembering when she had arrived not so long ago, a young girl with fanciful dreams. Never in her worst nightmare could she have imagined this ending.
Staring at the manor, she recalled the days she and Dominic had slept, lived and loved under the same roof. Now someone else would be there, snug in his bed, while she was in London, hoping he’d come to her.
She knew she could leave and save herself the misery of having to confront him. Always she could return to Wales and raise her child. There would be any number of men who would take her to wife and raise the baby as their own. But the thought left her sick at heart, knowing she would be miserable, and it would be unfair to the man when she was so in love with another.
She chose to stay in London for now, even though Dominic had hurt her more in a shorter space of time than anyone in her entire life.
* * * * *
Having received Langley’s urgent letter about Arlie’s visit, Dominic’s heart raced as he bound up the steps of her townhouse.
Langley had gone into full account of their meeting, saying Arlie had been terribly distraught by the news he was to marry. In fact, she nearly had fainted, something Arlie did not do.
Mary jumped seeing him standing in the hall, brushing the snow from his lapel.
“Where is she?” Dominic asked, letting her take his jacket and hat.
“Well, my lord, she went to the theater, I believe.”
He lifted a brow. “The theater? She went alone?”
Mary looked hesitant to say anything further, but with a dejected sigh, she replied, “No, my lord. She went with Mr. Butler.”
The name he hated most of all. That single name conjured up unwanted images of Arlie and the young man standing hand in hand, her sweet laughter, adoring smiles, and passionate kiss as the two clung together in the garden at Whitley. The blood roared in his ears. Had she slept with Daniel after having heard of his engagement to Katerina? “When did they leave?” he asked, his voice clipped despite his effort to remain calm.
“Some time ago. In fact, I would think she’d be home any time.”
“Then I will wait,” he said with a forced smile. “Could you get me a brandy? I’ll be in the study. Oh, and Mary, please let me know immediately when your mistress has arrived.”
“Indeed, I will, my lord,” she said with a quick smile, making him wonder how much the woman really knew.
The minutes ticked away, seeming more like hours, and with it visions of Arlie and the good-looking American kept coming to mind. What was she doing with the man? Hadn’t he made it clear to her in the beginning that she belonged to him and no other?
He took another drink from the bottle, having foregone the glass some time ago. The liquor warmed his stomach and fired his already burning temper. By the time Dominic heard the front door open, he was furious.
But he was unprepared for the sight of her. With drops of snow clinging to her beautiful pale hair, her cheeks pink, and her green eyes twinkling, he almost forgot about his anger.
“Dominic?” she gasped, her smile faltering for a moment. “I thought you were in Paris.”
He let out the breath he’d been holding. “Obviously. Is that why you went out with Mr. Butler?”
He saw it then. Her brows lifted, as did her chin. She was ready to fight. “I went out with Mr. Butler…as a friend.”
“And I’ve no doubt Mr. Butler acted as a friend?”
“Despite your sarcasm, Daniel was a true gentleman…as always.”
Dominic walked toward her, stopping mere inches from her. She stared up at him, her eyes holding a challenge.
“I don’t want you seeing him.”
“Well, there are some things that can’t be helped.”
“Such as?”
“You getting married…and me seeing other men.”
He saw the fury in her eyes and knew she wasn’t bluffing. Never in his life had he been so enraged. Clenching his fists at his sides, he said in a steady voice, “I should have told you about Katerina, I know that, yet at the time I couldn’t. I knew how devastating it would be. I wanted to save you the pain.”
“So hearing you’re going to be married rumored about town wasn’t supposed to hurt me? God, Dominic, you can’t know the hell I went through when I heard. How would you have me feel? I hate it! I hate the fact that another woman will share your name, your home, your bed, your children. I hate everything about her and I don’t even know her. You have no idea how much it hurts!”
She blinked back tears and his anger instantly evaporated. “That’s where you’re wrong, Arlie. I do know. I felt that way when you were engaged to Daniel. I felt it when I heard you were with him tonight. Arlie, don’t you know how much I love you?”
Her brows furrowed into a frown as she looked up at him, her mouth slightly open. “What did you say?”
He smiled as he claimed her lips, kissing her softly at first, then urgently with all the passion, fear and love that had been pent-up for far too long. “I love you, Arlie,” he said, never so sure of anything in his life.
Instantly she rewarded him with a smile. “Dominic, I love you, too.”<
br />
Lifting her in his arms, he took the stairs two at a time, and coming to her room kicked open the door, uncaring that it splintered the wood.
When he had her on the bed, he stripped her of her clothes and stood staring at her. Blood filled his cock, knowing soon he would be within her tight warmth.
Ripping off his clothes, he settled between her legs, too desperate to be inside her to seek slow pleasure. He kissed her, his hands straying to her breasts, the tight nipples thrusting against his palms. It suddenly occurred to him that her breasts were larger, more than the handful they usually were. A nagging began in the back of his mind, and he let his hand wander lower over her ribs, to the soft swell of her stomach that was firm, but obviously round with child. His heart missed a beat as he rolled off her for a moment, staring down at her face, then letting his gaze move down her body and up again. “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”
Her eyes widened in alarm, but she didn’t deny it.
Oddly, the news was not at all unpleasant to him, a man who never gave much thought to children—except on how to prevent them. “How long have you known?” he asked, resting his head on his elbow.
“Four weeks now,” she whispered, her voice fearful.
He bent and kissed her breast, his tongue swirling around the hard nipple before trailing down her stomach where his tongue circled her belly button. “And why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because…because I was worried.”
He went lower still. Smelling the musky scent of her, he spread her legs open and kissed her there, licking her soft folds and teasing her pearl until she writhed beneath him. A moment later he felt the beginning of her climax and left her just shy of fulfillment. He worked his way back up, wanting her to need him as desperately as he needed her. “Why were you so worried?” he asked before taking a nipple into his mouth.
She arched against him. “I thought you wouldn’t want me any more. I worried that you would find another.”
“You don’t know me very well then.”
“But…”
He placed a finger to her lips, then replaced it with his mouth. Unable to restrain himself any longer, he thrust within her. He groaned, holding himself steady as he savored the feel of being inside her honeyed warmth.
Their mating was fast and furious, like lovers kept away from each other for far too long. On the brink of climax he looked at her. Her eyes were dark with passion, her mouth open as he thrust in her time and again. “Come for me, Arlie.”
He lifted her hips and ground into her hard, and she cried out his name on a sob as her sheath clenched him tight. With another thrust, he came with a ferocity that left him trembling.
And afterward, she lay beside him, her eyes closed, her head on his shoulder, looking the very picture of contentment. He pulled her closer and smiled as she threw her leg over his.
“I was certain you had left me,” he said, putting a stray lock of pale blonde hair behind her ear.
She opened her eyes, her brows furrowed into a frown. “Why would you think that?”
“Langley wrote me and said you came to him the other night and were quite distraught. I imagined all sorts of terrible things.”
“I am terribly distraught.”
“So distraught you went out with Daniel?”
“Dominic, you are to marry another. Certainly me going to the theater with another man cannot compare with marriage? It’s not like I am marrying Daniel.”
His finger moved over her eyelids, down her pert little nose, to her full lips. “No, my love—and you will never marry him.”
She sat up, leaning on her elbow. “Are you telling me I may never marry, yet you can?”
He smiled, seeing he’d hit a nerve. “You can marry…”
Her mouth dropped open. “But you just said—”
He kissed her, cutting her off. “You can marry me…but only me.”
She pulled away, her mouth open as she searched his face, obviously looking for signs that he was joking.
He’d known when he’d left for Paris that he had no intention of marrying Katerina. When he’d received Langley’s message that Arlie had come seeking the truth of his rumored engagement, he’d just given his betrothed the bad news. Katerina had cried her eyes out, while his grandmother remained uncharacteristically silent.
Never had he felt lighter than when he’d walked away, not caring if he had his title, his lands, or his inheritance. He only cared that he had Arlie.
“Well?”
“Well, what?” she asked, beaming with happiness.
“Will you marry me?”
She laughed with delight. “Yes, I will marry you.”
“We will be poor.”
She kissed him passionately, surprising him more. “Dominic, I don’t care, just as long as I have you.”
For a man who had been coveted for his title and money, the words meant more to him than she would ever know.
Epilogue
Dressed in her mother’s simple cream-colored wedding gown, Arlie marched down the aisle in front of a group of twenty friends and family, including Dominic’s grandmother, who smiled radiantly. The dowager Countess had been ecstatic from the time she learned the news that Dominic and Arlie were to marry. Though she never confessed to it, Arlie had the distinct impression that it had been the dowager’s intention to bring them together, all along.
Knowing a Rochford heir was on the way only added to the dowager’s glee. Arlie and Dominic’s grandmother spent hours talking about the future, and even the past. Arlie hoped that one day the dowager would be able to bury her disappointment for her son once and for all. The dowager also apologized to Dominic for having treated him so horribly over the years. She had told him she had let her resentment of her son affect her judgment.
Dominic had readily forgiven his grandmother, and even asked her for forgiveness for not being the type of grandson he should have been. They planned to spend much more time together, to repair the damage that had been done throughout the long years of estrangement.
Word of the marriage leaked. Though many gossiped about them behind fans and parlor doors, Arlie knew by the barrage of invitations they had received that society wasn’t about to let them become outcasts just yet.
Arlie’s heart beat an unsteady rhythm as she stared at Dominic, who looked devastatingly handsome dressed in black, save for the white shirt that matched his smile.
Her black prince. Her husband.
Langley handed her over to Dominic, placing a chaste kiss on her cheek. “Keep him in line,” he said with a devil-may-care smile.
“You can count on it,” she replied, before taking Dominic’s hand.
“You look lovely,” Dominic whispered.
“As do you,” she replied, feeling the heat of his stare clear to her toes. This sinfully handsome man was now her husband. She would share his name, his home, his child, his life. This was the happiest moment of her life.
As she spoke her vows, Arlie wished her father were here to see her happiness. Though he wasn’t alive to share this day, she had a feeling he watched from heaven, pleased that his ultimate plan had worked so well. After all, why else would he have entrusted her to a complete stranger, other than the hope of having him see to her future? And Dominic had seen to her future—firsthand.
They held the reception at a private hotel, rather than the manor which already swarmed with well-wishers. Dancing with Langley, Arlie caught sight of her husband talking with a gorgeous brunette. Seeing her watching him, he smiled deviously.
“Now you see what you’ve gotten yourself into?” Langley asked, his smile playful as he winked at his friend while pulling Arlie close against him. “Does he think he is the only one who can play such games?”
“It appears so, since he’s coming this way,” she said, a second before Dominic tapped none-to-gently on Langley’s shoulder.
“Excuse me, sir, but you’re looking a little too comfortable with my wife.”
Lan
gley looked at him with mock surprise. “It seems we’ve been found out.” Kissing Arlie’s cheek, he left them.
“When do you want to leave?” Dominic asked, his blue eyes sparkling devilishly.
She lifted a brow. “How about now?”
“Now I know why I love you so much,” he said, sweeping her up into his arms, leaving their shocked guests looking after them.
That evening as Arlie lay in her husband’s arms, having been loved well, she realized how perfect her life had become.
“I love you, Lady Rochford,” Dominic said, kissing her already swollen lips.
She smiled against his mouth. “I love you, too, my husband.”
“I can hardly wait until our son is born.”
“Who says it is to be a son?” she asked, sitting up on her elbow.
He played with a lock of her hair, twisting it around his finger. “If it is a girl, I have this vision of a lovely young woman with blonde hair and green eyes, who wears breeches and rides astride, and who has every man in town—” He stopped abruptly and frowned. “On second thought, I don’t want to think about it.”
“And what of a son? I’m sure you don’t mind if he is a rakehell of the worse sort, just like his father.” She smiled, but it faded as she saw the playfulness leave his features.
He grew quiet, making her want to take back her words, but when he looked into her eyes again, he smiled softly. “Yes, he will be like his father. He will find a woman he loves more than life itself and make her a wonderful, faithful husband.”
Also at Ellora's Cave
ALWAYS FAITHFUL
By Alli Nicole
FORBIDDEN
By Anastasia Black
HIS MISTRESS
By Treva Harte
Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.
www.ellorascave.com
Dangerous Desires Page 21