A Promise of Pure Gardenias

by Jackie Williams

  She held out a small bottle.

  “Take her this. She left it in your room. I know that she will miss having it. She wears it all the time.”

  Brendon felt his heart swell inside his chest as his trembling fingers reached out for the tiny bottle. He lifted it to his nose and breathed in the promise of pure gardenias. Sophia! Every cell of his body came alive. Lord! How he wanted her. He wanted her for the rest of his life!

  He glanced between his sister and his friend.

  “Oh God! I have been such a fool,” he admitted before suddenly shouting as he strode from the room. “Someone saddle a horse!”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  A Study in Biology

  Mrs. Archer wrung her hands as she spoke to the man standing at the door.

  “I’m sorry for sending for you, Lord Caruthers, but I simply didn’t know what else to do. What with both her mother and Lord and Lady Spencer away, there was no one else I could ask. She simply doesn’t have the social circle she should, especially not for this kind of thing.”

  “Whatever has happened, Mrs. Archer?” Lucas stepped over the threshold as the housekeeper held the door open.

  “Bilton brought her here yesterday afternoon and she’s not spoken a word since. She didn’t even go to bed, just sat by the window down here, staring out into the garden, weeping all night long.” She gave a worried frown.

  Lucas marched into the hall and took off his hat.

  “I’ll kill that bloody husband of hers! He must have done something to hurt her feelings. Bad enough that she can’t use her legs, but that idiot has to go and foul things up too.”

  Mrs. Archer skipped to keep up as she followed him to the drawing room.

  “Can’t use her legs? I don’t know what you mean. She was using them last night. Hobbled in here like her shoes were playing her up, mind, but she was definitely on her own two feet. But I think you must have made a mistake. She didn’t mention anything about a husband.” The woman was clearly shocked.

  “Well, I suppose having the use of her legs again is a good thing, but you clearly haven’t heard the news. She married that bloody Brendon Spencer a fortnight ago!” Lucas shook his head.

  Mrs. Archer beamed as she clapped her hands in delight.

  “At last! I thought they were going to muck it all up and never get together. So where is the lucky man then?” She looked around Lucas’ shoulder as if Brendon might appear out of thin air.

  Lucas growled moodily.

  “Probably striding about Fallows blaming everyone but himself for letting his prize go. The idiot. If she is here, then she has left him and he is such a stubborn fool, he doesn’t know what a treasure he has let go.” Lucas spat out his words. “He can be such a pompous arse sometimes.” He smiled down at Mrs. Archer. “But I must calm myself and go and assist Sophia if I can. I wonder if you would be so kind as to bring us some tea and,” he sniffed the air appreciatively, “possibly some of your freshly baked cake.”

  Mrs. Archer dimpled up at him.

  “You are a wicked one, that’s for sure, Master Lucas. The lucky lady who catches your eye is going to have her work cut out for her.”

  Lucas chuckled and turned back to the drawing room. He straightened his cravat before he knocked.

  Sophia sat in her chair, her cheeks stiff with dried salty tears. Foolish of her, she thought to herself. They had made no difference to how miserable she felt and now she probably looked like a damp dishrag too.

  The knock at the door startled her, but she was even more surprised to see Lucas Caruthers step inside the room. He walked straight to her and knelt at her feet as he took her hands.

  “Sophia? What has happened? Why are you here and where is that pathetic husband of yours?”

  Sophia thought she had cried all she could, but her eyes refilled with tears.

  “Brendon has been lying to me. I overheard Algernon and Felicity talking about it. He has some problem that he cannot overcome. It is so awful that every time we begin to get close, he simply runs. When we went to visit Algernon and Sophia he became so drunk that he passed out in the drawing room to avoid sleeping in the same bedchamber as me. I think he hates me.”

  Lucas gave a sigh and squeezed her hands.

  “Hardly. The man is simply burning for you, or he was the last time I saw him.”

  Sophia shook her head.

  “Burning with hatred. He cannot bear to be near me.” She sniffed miserably.

  Lucas rubbed the back of her hands with his thumbs while he thought of the right words to say. He gazed at her as he spoke.

  “Look, I don’t begin to understand what his problem is, but I think the least you can do is talk to him. Perhaps it is something that can be overlooked or got around.”

  Sophia shook her head.

  “I don’t know why he bothered to marry me. We could have hushed up the fact that he stayed in my room. I could have gone to live with Algernon and Felicity.”

  Lucas chuckled.

  “Lordy! You must be desperate. What with three wailing babies and a house full of orphaned children, I couldn’t bear to remain there more than an hour when I visited after your wedding.” He sighed as he brushed a tear from under her eye. “You should have married me, you know. We could have long leisurely breakfasts after...” He didn’t finish.

  The door burst open and Brendon charged into the room.

  “LONG LEISURELY BREAKFASTS AFTER WHAT? YOU CAD! Are you attempting to steal away my wife? I should call you out!” He raged as Lucas dropped Sophia’s hands, leapt up from the floor, and faced his former friend.

  “Go on then, you arse! I choose three rounds of boxing. Ivan can adjudicate over punches landed. That’s if I don’t knock you out in the first thirty seconds, of course.” Lucas almost sneered.

  Brendon staggered back.

  “Er, I assumed that we were talking pistols at dawn.”

  Lucas let out a laugh.

  “You issued the challenge, but regardless, I would beat you at that too. I practice far more than you do and I am crack shot.” He looked steadily at Brendon. “Do you really want to make Sophia a widow when I was simply commiserating with your wife on her poor choice of husband? Look at her, Bren. Does it really look as though I ever stood a chance?”

  Brendon’s anger deflated as he saw Sophia standing with her knuckles pressed to her mouth. Her eyes were red with tears, her face a picture of misery. But there was something else there. A flicker of an emotion. One that suddenly surged through himself. Could it be hope?

  He turned back to Lucas as he rubbed his temples.

  “I am sorry. I would blame my fragile temper on too much brandy and lack of a good sleep, but it really is just me being a complete fool.”

  Lucas nodded once.

  “Apology accepted. Now, I am off to enjoy a slice of Mrs. Archer’s cake, after which, if Sophia doesn’t need my assistance to chuck you out on your ear, I will go and take a late breakfast at the club.” He bowed over Sophia’s hand and quickly left the room.

  Only the sounds of their rapid breaths broke the silence in the room. Brendon took a couple of steps forwards and stood before his wife. He had rehearsed so many words on his way back to London, but he couldn’t seem to form a single one of them. Instead he simply brought the tiny bottle of perfume from his pocket and held it out to her. A smile flickered at the corner of her mouth and she released the stopper before dabbing a little of the liquid on the inside of her wrists. Brendon could barely contain the growl of need that rose in him. He took hold of her shoulders, dipped his head and simply pressed his lips to hers.

  He took advantage of her gasp of surprise and groaned as his tongue touched hers, his lips slanting across her mouth as he took possession of her. His hand spanned the small of her back, dragging her into him, desperate that she shouldn’t leave him ever again. It was moments before he realised that the bottle had disappeared into a pocket and the fingers of one hand tangled in his hair while the other clutched at shou
lders. She clung to him as frantically as he held onto her.

  He gentled the kiss, tasting, stroking, loving the way her lips melded to his, the feel of her body pressed along the length of him. Hell! The length of him! His mind shrieked as he realized that his cock had shot to attention and now pressed hard against her stomach. He tried to think of something, anything to take his mind from his predicament, but it was impossible. She filled his senses, his every thought.

  His lips drifted away from hers as he sought the soft skin beneath her ear, nuzzling at the faint scent of gardenias that still clung to her flesh.

  “Sophia!” He breathed her name and she trembled in his arms. “I thought I had lost you. When Algernon told me you had gone, I thought I would die. Please don’t leave me again. I am begging you. I’ll do anything. Anything.”

  Sophia leaned back slightly and pressed her palms to his cheeks.

  “But I thought you didn’t want me. You kept yourself so distant.” She leaned up to kiss him again.

  He shook his head.

  “Never think that. I wanted you so badly I thought I would burst. I could barely keep myself from taking you. You drive me wild with need.” Their lips touched again and minutes passed before they came up to breathe.

  Sophia pulled away a little.

  “So talk to me. Tell me why you seem so reluctant to be close to me.”

  Brendon’s hands fell to his sides and he stared hard over her head. It was time to let his past go, but the words didn’t come easily.

  “I was twelve when I saw your father rape a woman.” He glanced down at her gasp of horror. “I know. It was awful, and I did nothing. I still feel the shame of my inaction.” He took hold of her hand and held onto the warmth, praying that she wouldn’t think him less of a man. “But that is not all. I, I...” He swallowed and shook his head, unable to go on.

  Sophia lifted his hand and pressed her lips to the back of it before speaking.

  “He was a horrible man, Brendon. We know that. Look at how he left things with James’ mother! But is this what I overheard Algernon and Felicity talking about? They said that you needed to confess something to me. Is this it? You feel bad that you did nothing for the woman?”

  He shook his head.

  “No. Well, yes, obviously I felt awful, but I was twelve and your father was not a small man. What could I have done?” He fell silent.

  Sophia waited until she could bear his silence no more.

  “If you want to confess about Angelique, I am not sure I want to know.”

  Brendon let out an almost maniacal laugh.

  “Confess...I suppose you could put it like that, but especially in regards to the lovely, but frivolous Angelique there is simply nothing to confess. Sophia, I know that this sounds completely ridiculous, especially in view of my past actions, but this thing I witnessed with your father affected me. Badly.” He took a deep breath. “Lord, this is difficult.” He muttered as he looked up at the ceiling.

  Sophia waited patiently, but it seemed as though minutes passed.

  “Brendon, if it is something physical...Though I really don’t see how that is possible considering...” She glanced down at the front of his still tented trousers.

  “No, no, no,” he interrupted quickly. “It is nothing like that. If only it were that simple.” He cleared his throat as he pulled her against him. His cock became even harder, straining against the material as if daring her to question his virility. “No. Definitely nothing like that. But it is embarrassing.” He plunged on. “I feel so stupid telling you this, but I, oh Lord! Iamavirgin!” The words rushed out and he heaved out a breath. “God! Thank God! There, I’ve said it at last.” He slumped in her arms. “Now laugh if you will!”

  Sophia stepped back and stared up at him.

  “I would if I understood what you said. It sounded like ‘I am a virgin’ but that cannot be right. You had a mistress, the aforementioned lovely, but frivolous Angelique.”

  Brendon took hold of Sophia’s shoulders.

  “But that is exactly what I said. I never bedded Angelique. We read stories to one another, sometimes played cards. I have even perused the latest fashion plates and pattern books with her, but I never slept with her. I have never taken a woman to my bed in all my life.”

  Sophia’s eyebrows rose in astonishment.

  “You haven’t? Ever?”

  He shook his head.

  “No. Never.” He gave an embarrassed laugh. “I told you it was ridiculous, but I swear that it is true. All that blustering and bragging in my youth, even going to the extremes of taking Angelique as a ‘mistress’ last year. It was all lies, bluster, a cover for the benefit of my friends, and my own pride, but the truth of it is that ever since I witnessed the incident between your father and our maid, I never wanted to go to bed with anyone except the woman who would honour me as my wife.”

  Tears flooded her eyes as the sincerity of his words.

  “But that’s me,” she squeaked.

  He nodded again.

  “Yes, I know. I never wanted anyone but you, but now that I have you, and you have regained full use of your limbs, I have no idea what to do.” A crimson flush covered his cheeks.

  Sophia took in a deep breath as she dropped one of his hands and with the other began dragging him from the room. She swept past Mrs. Archer, who stopped dead at the sight of them, a laden tea tray in her hands.

  “We’ll not be needing that, Mrs. Archer. You can take the rest of the day off. Please use some money from the housekeeping and visit your sister. Stay overnight.” Sophia’s called over her shoulder, her eyes sparkling as she led Brendon to the stairs.

  Mrs. Archer grinned as she bobbed a small curtsey.

  “Well, of course, my Lady. There is a ham, cheese, and fresh bread in the pantry. And cake! I’ll let you fend for yourselves and be off instantly.” She immediately turned back in the direction from which she came.

  Brendon ran up the stairs beside his wife.

  “I assume you have some good reason for dragging me through the house and bringing me up here. A plan of action that doesn’t involve decorating or anything.”

  Sophia nodded at him as they came to the head of the stairs. She pulled him along the corridor.

  “Well, you can look at the latest fashion plates and pattern books if you like. I will be studying biology.”

  Brendon suddenly scooped her up and lifted her from her feet, a wickedly mischievous gleam in his eye.

  “I think the pattern books can wait, but the biology, so long as it is of the human kind, I think we should learn together.” He strode purposefully along the hallway.

  She giggled and kissed his jaw. The newly grown stubble tickled her lips.

  “We have a lot to learn. It needs to be an ‘in depth’ lesson.” She twirled a finger in his hair as she brought her lips to the column of his throat.

  “Exceedingly in depth,” he agreed as he shouldered his way through her bedroom door. The bed beckoned and he answered its call, laying her down and smothering her face with butterfly kisses as he joined her.

  “Brendon, I want you so much,” she whispered while her fingers worked the folds of his cravat.

  He kissed the end of her nose and stilled her hands with his own.

  “And I want you, but we have to take this slowly or I am going to embarrass myself even more than I have done already.”

  She shook her head.

  “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. I think it wonderful. Though if you would like to go slowly, perhaps you might like to continue the massage you began to give me last week. I have my own stocks of Mrs. Lawson’s oils and softening creams.” She blinked up at him and then glanced towards her dressing table.

  Brendon felt perspiration break out all over his body.

  “I am not sure that doing something like that is going to help, and they definitely are not going to make me soft any time soon.” But his hands found her waist and he turned her over. He flicked her buttons u
ndone with trembling fingers before turning her again and sliding her dress from her shoulders.

  She wriggled out of her skirts. Brendon groaned at the sight of her alluring blue underwear. His breathing became ragged as his fingers drifted to the ties holding her chemise.

  “Wait,” she spoke quietly and lifted her hands to his shirt. She tugged it from his breeches and slid her hands inside, gasping gently as her fingertips explored the heated muscles of his back, the curve of his spine, the breadth of his broad shoulders.

  He closed his eyes and let her investigate at her leisure, his jaw clamped until she began pressing in a rhythm, massaging the tension from his body. His breath left him in a great rush as he relaxed. His gaze wandered from her face to her breasts and his eyes widened at the sight of her dusky nipples, quite visible through the sheer fabric. He dipped his head and fastened his mouth over one delectable peak. It instantly hardened under his assault and he suckled it deeper, dampening the material. He lifted his head and blew across the moist silk, enjoying the sight of her tightening flesh.

  A cry left her lips and he glanced up to discover that her eyes had closed, her bottom lip caught between her teeth and an expression of ecstasy on her face. His fingers returned to the lace of her chemise and tugged on the ties gently. The material fell open revealing her pearl smooth skin.

  Sophia released the cravat from his throat and dropped it on the floor. She lifted his shirt, dragging it from his shoulders and over his head. His skin gleamed in the sunshine streaming through the bedroom windows.

  She glanced at the sunbeams dancing around the drapes.

  “Should we close them?”

  Brendon didn’t take his eyes from her as he shook his head.

  “Never. I want to see every inch of you, to enjoy every tiny detail.”

  “And I want to see you too, feel you. Brendon, I want every part of you.” She turned her head and pressed her lips to his bicep, nipping the succulent skin that covered his corded muscles.