Redemption for the Rakish Earl

by Jilian Rouge

  Quickly, she rectified, “No! No, that isn’t it at all! I don’t care a whit for a fancy wedding. My only concern is for our families who I daresay hoped that they would stand as witnesses to our wedding.”

  Relaxing a little, Alex sighed and said, “Leave it to you to think of everyone else. This time, for once, I think we can be a little selfish and consider just the two of us. All I want is to tie you to me forever, and I am willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen sooner than later.”

  “But my father would be so disappointed! Not to speak of your mother! I am sure she would also want to see her only son married, right and tight, with her own eyes.”

  “Then, let me assure you that I have both your father’s and my mother’s blessing for our elopement.” At her horror-struck expression, he smirked a little and explained, “If I hadn’t spoken to both of them separately, I knew they would have been opposed to the idea. So, I may have dropped a little hint as to why there was a need to hasten the wedding.”

  Alex watched as Rue slowly transition from perplexed to dismayed when full realization finally struck her. Her mouth rounded in a large O to match her largely rounded eyes in response to his words effusively sinking in. Her skin turned bright red with mortification as she yelled, “You told my father about us?! I never intended for him to know that I’ve had intimate knowledge of sexual relations before my own wedding night! And your mother! What must she think of me after this? You are a fiend for telling them anything at all!”

  “Calm down, Rue,” he said placatingly. “I was vague about it all, if you must know. I would never embarrass you the way you are thinking, and in fact, all I have told them was just that: that there was every need for a quicker wedding than is traditional. And they both agreed to the idea.”

  “Only because you made them believe I am expecting their first grandchild! I am not with child, I’ll have you know!” Her courses had begun only several days ago.

  “Not for lack of trying, if you recall the number of times I’ve had you,” he said wryly. “But now that they know, we cannot further disappoint them by remaining unmarried. They will not be happy until we rectify our misstep.”

  Alex spoke the truth, knowing her father would badger her about securing the legitimacy of a yet-to-be-conceived grandchild. His own mother would be horrified at the ensuing gossip caused by such a scandal. Although premature babies born seven, sometimes six, months after the wedding was not an uncommon phenomenon, Rue felt it was her duty to shield those she loved from the ton’s malicious tongues.

  Sighing heavily in reluctant acceptance, she looked up at Alex and stated, “While I am glad that you are genuinely keen to marry me, I have to say that the speed at which you suggest it occurs is awfully dizzying.” Shrugging her shoulders with a cheeky grin, she added, “How long are you willing to wait for me to pack?”

  With a devilish tilt of his mouth at the corners, he answered with a question of his own. “If you truly know me as well as you think you do, how long do you think it should take?”

  Stepping away from him, she winked and said, “An hour it is then.”

  His eyes narrowed at her, his expression appalled. Saucily, she amended, “I’ll be down within the half-hour.”

  27

  Gretna Green, Scotland, Late That Same Evening

  Since Rue refused the services of an anvil priest to marry them, it had taken extra time for Alex to find a church with a willing priest to do the job. They had arrived in the little parish well into the night, and it appeared that all of the parishioners were tucked into their homes, most likely in their beds as well. But Alex was a stubborn man; he marched up to the first church they came upon and pounded insistently at the door. It had taken some time before a sleepy priest had answered, albeit disgruntled for having been woken from a sound slumber. Rather than simply requesting that the priest marry them, Alex, in an imperious tone, demanded that he marry them.

  Alex’s nose narrowly missed being slammed by the door and would have received a nasty knock if it weren’t for the strategic placing of his foot in the door jamb. It was the promise of a sizable donation that had the church door swing wide for them to enter, and the ceremony itself was performed in a trice with the priest’s own hired housekeeper roused from her sleep to act as witness.

  Newly styled as his countess, Rue rather thought that their rushed nuptials lacked all of the romance she had envisioned for her wedding. When she complained of that very lack while on their way to find an inn, Alex simply kissed her witless in answer, and Rue immediately forgot any protests she may have uttered the moment his lips touched hers.

  Finally, they reached an inn, possibly the only one with rooms available, having tried at least four or five only to find them all full. Alex paid the innkeeper a large sum for their room as Rue blushingly signed the register as Lady Rumina Carruthers, Countess of Merrick, writing in flowing script below Alex’s own signature. Rue could not look the innkeeper or his wife directly in the eye after overhearing Alex explain to the man that they required a room far removed from the rest of their guests. Alex fired a wolfish grin in her direction after making his request, and it was all Rue could do to keep herself composed before the innkeeper and his wife.

  The innkeeper’s wife led the way to their second-floor room after congratulating them on their nuptials and stopped before the last door at the end of the long hallway. Ushering the couple inside, she lit the single lamp inside for their convenience and bid them good night with a knowing smile before joining her own husband downstairs.

  “Here we are,” Alex said, gesturing toward the vast room before them, but Rue only had eyes for him. What did the trappings matter when all that really mattered stood before her in his purely masculine glory? Rue wondered silently, How long must I wait before we consummate this marriage?

  Alex latched the door before turning to Rue, and he simply looked at her. The air between them, fraught with their unquenched desire for the other, seemed to sizzle as Rue’s feet brought her nearer to him. Alex met her halfway, closing the distance between them. This close, she caught a whiff of his sandalwood scent intermingled with his clean male scent; to her, he was the best smell in the world. Why did he always smell so divine?

  Reaching for Rue with the urgency that spurred him on, Alex grazed his lips against hers, gently at first. He pulled away just inches to soak her in with his penetrating gaze and said, “Hello, wife. As much as I’d like to give you the wedding night of your dreams, I’m afraid I cannot go slow.” He looked pained at his honest admission.

  Pecking him sweetly on his lower lip, Rue assured him, “You can go slow later, Alex. I need you.”

  He leaned in and kissed her forcefully this time, spurred on by the urgency of his own need. Without words, Rue assured him that her own need mirrored his through her answering kiss. His tongue skimmed against her lower lip, seeking entrance at the seam of her mouth. With a moan of delight, she parted her lips for him, allowing him in as she met him stroke for stroke with her own tongue.

  Soon, their hunger for each other overtook them, and the kiss turned hot and furious. Alex gripped her shoulders to clench her tighter against him, their bodies brought flush against each other as the kiss grew in heat and intensity. Nothing about their embrace was gentle; the uncoordinated grinding and mashing of lips, teeth, and tongues made for furious and frantic kissing.

  Emboldened by her own need, Rue seized the tip of Alex’s tongue and sucked hard and slow, earning a deep groan from him. For all of the times he had driven her close to madness with his kisses and caresses, she wanted to pay him back in full by making him mindless with lust. With a touch of aggression that she suddenly shored up, she tugged at his lower lip by sucking it into her mouth, then lightly bit down on the plump flesh as she raked her fingernails down his chest. She captured his mouth with hers once more, effectively muffling his shout as she clawed at his chest.

  Alex clenched Rue tighter by the shoulders; he understood that she wanted t
o take the lead and made no move to gainsay her. While she was busy tearing at his clothes in an effort to get to him, he responded to her aggressive touch with groans that increased in volume. She was a spitfire in his arms, and he found that he enjoyed being conquered by this beautiful creature he called his wife.

  But he wanted to play with her, too. He worked at her buttons and laces, determined to see her fully bare before him. Rue was making good headway with his own clothing, discarding every piece to the floor. Both had to toe off their own boots, throwing them aside before coming at each other once more.

  But not before he had caught a glimpse of her by lamplight. He found her body lush, lovely, and magnificent and her breasts full and heavy in their plumpness. She was beautiful, and she was his. Finally. “Rue, you are so beautiful,” he whispered, in awe.

  The only response from Rue was the flaring of her eyes as she stared upon his nude body. For a brief moment, she admired the flat planes of his stomach and the play of muscles just below the surface of his skin. Her own bronzed god stood before her and she couldn’t wait any longer.

  Stepping toward him, she caressed his chest with both hands, exploring, then scraping at his flat, hard nipples. He hissed in response but was cut off abruptly when she leaned down and bit one. “Lie down,” she commanded him.

  In the carriage ride to Gretna Green, Rue had imagined their wedding night many times over. She had pictured a languorous, leisurely exploration of each other’s bodies, neither one in a rush. But she bypassed her fantasy for something more urgent. She needed this; she needed it rough, hard, and right away. And she was going to show him exactly what it was she needed.

  Obediently, Alex pulled back the coverlet on the bed and lay down upon the cool sheets. Joining him on the bed, Rue straddled him and lay on him. Alex’s cock brushed against her nether lips, and he moaned when she rolled her hips against him. Raising her hips, she grasped his cock and guided him to fully impale her. Lowering herself to fully surround him, she sighed at the feel of him stretching her inner walls.

  She gave a small sigh, feeling full and achy at the feel of him deep inside her. Eager to continue, she scraped her nails against his nipples again while bucking against him at the same time. He groaned when she moaned, and it didn’t take long before the two of them found their rhythm. Bouncing on top of him, Rue kept up a steady pace of raising her hips and slamming her body back down to sheathe his full length. Alex’s response to her movements was to buck his hips upwards in short, quick thrusts, making the both of them groan at the ecstasy of it all.

  They thrust wildly against each other, both panting with the effort. Sweat soon slicked both of their bodies, enhancing the feel of the slippery motions their bodies made together. Alex was large inside her, soothing the ache and hitting a hundred tiny nerve endings inside her all at once. She was crazed with need and desire, and she rushed headlong into chasing her own orgasm.

  Feeling that telltale low ache that burned inside of her with each of Alex’s thrusts, Rue concentrated on stoking that fire to burn hotter and higher. She braced her hands atop Alex’s chest and bucked wildly above him, her every movement uninhibited and unrestricted.

  Alex was aroused beyond belief, enjoying the sight of this fiercely wanton woman above him. She was gluttonous in her sexual needs and he was fascinated by the many erotic facets of his wife he was only now exploring. Rue knew what she wanted, and it was both stimulating and enthralling to see her chase her own pleasure.

  To help her find her orgasm, Alex raised himself to coax at her nipple with his lips. She moaned a little, but she gave a much louder cry when he licked the other stiff nub while teasing at her little pearl of pleasure with his thumb. Each slam of her body onto his, each lick, each caress brought her that much closer to the inevitable edge of glory.

  Furious thrusting soon brought her there, and she felt it bloom throughout her body. She cried out as her body rhythmically clenched of its own volition around Alex’s hard length. She gasped in time to the pulsations radiating from her core, heaving shallow breaths as wave upon wave of pleasure crested upon her.

  As she continued spasming, Alex’s hands held her in place for him to thrust furiously underneath her.

  “So. Damned. Good,” he grunted as he continued to pound into her until he stiffened against her, thrusting deep. He cursed loud and long as his hips jerked heavily into her, emptying himself into her still-trembling body.

  Rue realized Alex reached the crisis of his own climax as she felt him shudder against her. In turn, she shivered as she felt his seed flood her in copious amounts.

  Together, they collapsed against the bed, gasping. When their breaths slowed to even breathing, Alex rolled onto his side, propped up by one elbow to look down at his flushed bride. Rue looked up at him questioningly, unsure if her heart would survive that devastating smile of his.

  “How am I so fortunate to have such a spirited, naughty woman as my wife?” he teased then pecked her softly on the nose with a tender kiss. “I must say I enjoyed you taking control immensely.”

  Before Rue could comment, Alex placed a finger to her lips and amended, “I mean during bedplay.”

  Snuggling close into Alex, Rue hid her smile against him as she said, “I knew what you meant.” But as she spoke, her lips teasingly brushed against his nipple. His body’s instant reaction to that touch had her stating, “Alex, you’re hard again.”

  “There’s just no end to my wanting you, Rue. I will always want you and love you,” he said, his voice soft.

  “I love you, too, Alex,” she said, the smile in her voice evident. She kissed him just as he reached over to cup a full breast and playfully tease at the nipple.

  Before she could react, Alex rolled atop her body, pinning her beneath him. Looking serious suddenly, he said, “Being married to you has given us many years ahead of us to make up for the years we’ve lost. Just love me, Rue—always. And I promise that I will do my damnedest to give you everything you rightly deserve.”

  Smiling up at him, she welcomed him into her body as he thrust himself fully within her in one stroke. Much later, once they were spent and replete, she told him, “All I ever wanted was your love. Now that I have it, I promise to shield you from ever feeling alone again.”

  In reply, he said solemnly, “Like I have told you, it was you or no one, Rue. I will spend my life forever showing you my gratitude for saving me from my loneliness.”

  She kissed him a sweet kiss, one that spoke of tenderness and love.

  He kissed her back, this time hungrily, and they proceeded to eagerly express their love in the most basic, intimate way possible, late into the night.