by Monica Burns
“What’s this for?”
“It’s addressed to you.” His voice was flat and emotionless. Victoria was certain that wasn’t a good sign. She glanced down at the front of the envelope then jerked her gaze back to him.
“I can’t open this. It’s addressed to the Countess of Guildford.” She handed the letter back to him but he refused to take it. An unreadable expression on his face, Nicholas folded his arms across his chest.
“I agreed to listen to your story, Victoria, with the understanding I would not divulge what you shared with me. I did not agree to believe.” Uncomfortable beneath his cold, hard gaze, Victoria struggled not to flinch.
“As far as I’m concerned, nothing’s changed. You are still my wife. Now open the letter.”
This time Victoria did flinch at the harsh command. She flipped the letter over, broke the wax seal, and pulled the letter out of its envelope.
My dearest darling, Vicki.
I cannot express my relief and joy that you are safe, my heart of hearts. I have thought the worst since that terrible night. I have missed you unbearably, my darling, and I cannot wait to hold you in my arms again. Come to me as quickly as you can, my beloved.
Yours forever,
Terrence, Viscount Darby
“Oh my God. She’s cheating on you.” At her revelation she saw humiliation flash in Nicholas’ green eyes before his features became hard as granite and just as unreadable.
“So you are, madam wife.”
“No. I’m not. Because, I’m not your wife. I’ll be damned if you’re going to punish me because your wife is sleeping around.”
“You’re actually going to deny having an affair with Darby?” Bitterness made each and every one of his words brittle.
“You’re damn straight I’m denying it,” she snapped as she flung the letter into his lap. “The more I learn about your wife the less I like her. I seem to recall telling you that your wife must be a real bitch for you to hate her so much. Well this letter explains a lot, doesn’t it?”
The muscles in his face remained inflexible as she glared at him. No wonder he was so ticked off. His wife wasn’t just cheating on him. The woman was doing it for the whole world to see. Nicholas remained silent, his penetrating gaze never straying from her face. She was certain he was trying to figure out a reason not to believe her, and Victoria shook her head in a pessimistic manner.
“You don’t hold the market on truth and honor, Nicholas,” she said with a sigh. “I’m not a liar, and I think your wife is a fool.”
The moment she uttered the words, her mouth went dry with embarrassment. Oh God, what the hell was she thinking? She might think the countess was crazy for playing outside the sandbox, but she damn well needed to keep her mouth shut. Just the thought of his kiss and those few blissful moments in the dark, here in her bed, told her she was in over her head.
Her gaze flitted to the firm line of his mouth, and a knot formed in her throat making it hard to breathe. She needed to stop thinking about how much she’d enjoyed being in his arms. Nicholas frowned as if aware she was nervous, and he tilted his head slightly as he studied her. She could almost see the wheels spinning in his head, and she prepared herself for him to dismiss her with icy disdain. Suddenly his hands were on either side of her as he leaned forward until the heat of his body pressed erotically into hers.
“Why is it you sound so damned convincing,” he murmured as his gaze bored into hers. “I know I shouldn’t believe you, and yet those soft, pink lips of yours bewitch me with your truths.”
Dark and seductive, his voice sent a frisson dancing across her skin. Instinctively, she pushed her body deeper into the pillows to put distance between them. Her reaction made him study her like a hawk. Victoria’s heart pounded in her chest as she stared up into his green eyes. A strange, undefinable emotion swirled in the moss-colored depths.
Despite the way he unnerved her, it was impossible to avoid noting how wonderful he smelled. It was a spicy, potently male scent. Deep inside her, a voice cried out for her to press her fingers against his beautiful mouth. The thought made Victoria suck in a quick, sharp breath of air. Nicholas’ eyes darkened with an emotion she didn’t even want to consider defining.
Slowly, he lowered his head until his mouth lightly touched hers. Fire streaked across her skin, its warmth sinking into her pores until it heated her blood like molten lava. She sighed then parted her mouth to lace his lips with the tip of her tongue. A dark sound rumbled in his chest as his tongue swept its way into her mouth and imitated an act her body suddenly craved as if she were starving.
Pleasure swept its way through her. The fiery sensation of it settled into every inch of her body. He said she’d bewitched him, but she was the one under his spell. His lips teased and seduced hers until her body screamed for more.
She wanted him to touch her. Needed him. She arched her hips upward in a silent plea for his touch, and a dark growl vibrated on her lips as he tugged the covers off her. His tongue swirled around hers, teasing and taunting her with each tantalizing stoke. The hot taste of him made her nipples grow hard until they ached with a pleasurable, tantalizing sensitivity. Eager to assuage the need for his touch, she caught his hand and pressed it to her breasts. A growl rumbled out of him as he rubbed his thumb over the rigid peak. The sensation of soft linen between her skin and his hand made her moan softly as his mouth worked its way across her cheek to her neck where he gently nipped at her skin.
Need spun through her, and as he lifted his head to stare down at her, she saw desire darkening his green eyes. A knot of anticipation tightened in her lower body as his hand left her breast and slid downward to her stomach where the heel of his hand pressed into the sensitive spot at the apex of her thighs. The simple pressure made her suck in a sharp breath, and a small smile curved his lips.
“I want to watch you as I make you shatter from my touch, Victoria.” His words whispered across her senses as his hand pulled the hem of her nightgown upward to expose her completely.
She tried to gulp back a gasp of surprise, but failed. Satisfaction swept across his face as he met her gaze for a brief moment. Slowly, he lowered his head and kissed the inside of her leg, and she released a small cry of delight. With a gentle, but consistent pressure, he nipped at her thigh then used his tongue to circle the small area then nip at her again. Every time he lifted his mouth, she thought he’d tend to a different spot, but he didn’t. He seemed to enjoy teasing her with his mouth.
The throbbing ache between her thighs had become almost excruciating, and a sob escaped her as she pleaded with him. The moment she begged, his hand shifted from her thigh and his thumb rubbed against the tender nub of flesh between her slick folds. She jerked from the delicious sensation, and with a moan she shifted her hips to push upward. As he applied a persistent pressure to the plump flesh he slid a finger inside her.
Instantly her body convulsed as one sensation after another made her buck against his intimate caress. Slowly and deliberately, he pressed a second finger into her and then a third. As his fingers pressed deep inside her then retreated, his thumb continued its pleasurable assault on the sensitive nub of flesh inside her folds. She moaned as the raging sensations clutched every inch of her body.
“Look at me, Victoria,” he ordered as his fingers continued to stroke her. A feverish heat spread its way through her as she stared into Nicholas’ smoldering gaze. Engulfed in a fiery heat, a small shudder rippled through her, and she moaned as her eyelids fluttered shut.
“Look at me.” The command forced her to look up at him. “Now, come.”
She gasped as his fingers applied a sudden, hard pressure on a sensitive spot inside her. Instantly, her body responded as the most exquisite sensation shook her body. Her back arching upward, her fingers clutched at the sheets, and her hips writhed against his hand as she sobbed at the shattering release her orgasm gave her. Slowly, the tremors rocking her body eased, and she opened her eyes to stare up at him.
/> The desire she saw in his gaze sent a tremor racing through her. God, this man was potent enough to make her forget who she was and where she came from. A knot formed in her throat at the revealing thought. She quickly swallowed the lump in order to keep breathing. Regret crossed his face followed by a look of what she could only describe as disgust.
“Christ Jesus, what am I doing?” he muttered as he jerked away from her. The harsh rejection sent mortification speeding through her. Cheeks hot with embarrassment, she quickly adjusted her nightgown and scrambled to the other side of the mattress to stand on the chilly floor.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Getting out of bed,” she snapped. Victoria heard the humiliation behind her anger. She could only pray he didn’t. The last thing she wanted was pity after the way he’d just made her explode in a million pieces. In a quick, sharp movement, she leaned forward and snatched her robe off the covers at the foot of the bed.
“Damn it, Victoria,” he growled as he stood up and scowled at her from across the bed. “It’s too soon for you to be up.”
“But not too soon for sex,” she said in a resentful tone. She shrugged into her robe, pulling the sash tightly around her waist.
“That was a mistake. I wasn’t think—”
“Stop while you’re ahead, Lord Guildford.” Her voice brittle, she eyed him with disdain. “I don’t appreciate being manipulated.” No matter how fantastic the sex was.
“I wasn’t manipulating you,” he said in a stiff, angry voice. Frustration darkened his face with a frown. “You made me lose my head.”
“Oh, so now it’s my fault.” She glared at him wishing she could humiliate him the same way he was her.
“God damn it, that’s not what I meant,” he said in a voice that echoed with a low rumble of thunder.
“Then exactly what did you mean?”
“You are a conundrum, Victoria. A riddle I don’t have an answer for.” He rubbed the back of his neck in an obvious state of irritable confusion. “This new personality of yours makes it difficult to despise you.”
“Well, that’s comforting,” she murmured sarcastically. His mouth thinned to a narrow line of proud anger.
“I am not trying to insult you, Victoria. I’m trying to explain my position where you’re concerned. The changes in you contradict everything I’ve come to expect from you. It is not easy for me to take you at your word.”
“And what about what just happened?” She bobbed her head toward the bed as heat burned her cheeks again.
She understood his confusion, but she was just as confused by the power of her attraction to him. What she really wanted to know was if he felt that same gravitational pull. Deep inside she was praying that’s what his caresses were all about. She didn’t think she could bear knowing it was something other than desire on his part.
“I regret taking advantage of you.” His expression was like a stone statue, hard and unmoving. She looked away from him for a moment then returned her gaze to his face.
“I don’t recall protesting,” she said softly. A tic twitched in Nicholas’ cheek as he met her gaze. Hunger darkened his green eyes, and her heart skipped a beat. He studied her for a long moment before he cleared his throat.
“I’ll send Dr. Bertram back in to ensure you’re well enough to be out of bed.”
Before he could move, a sharp rap on the bedroom door made both of them start. Nicholas commanded the person to enter. Dr. Bertram and Anna entered the room followed by Molly and a man she’d not seen before. The entire left side of the man’s face was covered with scars from what she was certain were the results of a fire. Her heart went out to him at the pain he must have suffered. Dr. Bertram looked at first Victoria and then Nicholas.
“Forgive the intrusion, my lord,” Dr. Bertram said in a crisp voice. “I just received word that Mrs. Gower in the village is about to give birth, and I must leave. I’ve taken the liberty of asking Roberts to assist you back to your room, my lord. You’re to rest that leg until tomorrow morning or suffer the consequences.”
“You said you were okay.” Victoria looked at Nicholas with worry.
“It’s simply an old wound,” he said with nonchalance. “Bertram here is as much of a worry wart as Roberts.”
“If you’re ready, sir.” The disfigured man approached Nicholas’ side. As the short man briefly glanced her way, Victoria smiled at him.
“Good luck getting him to listen to you,” she said dryly. “God knows he won’t listen to me.”
“Your frustration, my lady, is one I’m well acquainted with,” Roberts said with a slight smile.
Amusement sparkled in the man’s eyes, and she smiled as Nicholas directed a warning look in first her direction and then in Roberts’. Ignoring their comments, Nicholas gingerly limped toward the door connecting his room with hers. As she watched him leave, Victoria found herself wishing they were alone again with her in his arms. And as much as she understood the danger of such an act, she knew it was an inevitable outcome. Nicholas believed she was his wife, and she knew she wouldn’t have the will power to turn him away if he came to her.
Chapter 13
“You should be in bed, my lady,” Dr. Bertram said sternly as Nicholas left the room. Victoria met his disgruntled gaze and smiled.
“I’m feeling fine,” she said.
“Why do I have the feeling you’re going to be as troublesome a patient as your husband, Lady Guildford?” the doctor said with amused resignation. Victoria laughed.
“I doubt anyone could be as difficult a patient as Nicholas,” she said mischievously. “Will it make you feel better if I promise to get back into bed the minute I start to feel bad?”
“Very well.” The doctor nodded brusquely. “But you’re not to overtire yourself. Now, I must be off or Mrs. Gower might decide to have her baby without me.”
The doctor smiled as he picked up the black satchel sitting on her night stand before heading toward the door. Just as he was about to exit the room, he looked over his shoulder at Molly.
“Molly, make sure her ladyship eats something for dinner.
“Yes, sir,” the maid said with a quick nod. “I will, Dr. Bertram.
“That’s a good girl.” The doctor nodded his farewell to first Victoria then Anna. “My ladies. Good evening.”
“My lady, could I not persuade you to return to bed?” The maid looked at Victoria beseechingly as she reluctantly straightened the bed covers.
“I have to agree with Dr. Bertram.” Anna’s statement made Victoria turn her head toward the woman standing near the window.
“I’ll be fine,” she said with a shake of her head before turning back to the maid smoothing out the bedspread. She laughed. “There’s no need to straighten the bed if I need to get back in it, Molly. Leave it. You can bring me dinner in a little while since everyone’s insisting on treating me like I’m on my death bed.”
Dismissed, the young maid nodded and left the room, the door closing quietly behind her. Victoria turned back to Anna and experienced a sudden wave of dizziness. The other woman uttered a small noise of concerned annoyance, and hurried to Victoria’s side.
“You really should be in bed,” Anna chastised.
“I’ve been asleep for more than a day. I think it’s time I got out of bed.”
Anna sniffed her dissension as she escorted Victoria to the chaise lounge near the window. The moment she sat down, déjà vu made her go rigid. She’d been here before, in this moment. She was meant to be here. She closed her eyes for a brief moment as an overwhelming sense of peace swept through her.
It made her believe she could be incredibly happy at Brentwood Park. Suddenly, the future seemed very far away, and the thought that she would never go back wasn’t as scary as it had been up until this moment. The sensation ebbed away as her gaze met Anna’s. The other woman looked ill at ease despite the smile curving her mouth. Anna slowly sank down into the chair next to the chaise lounge, her mauve
-colored gown rustling with a whisper of silk.
“I must apologize for yesterday morning. I should not have been so blunt,” Anna murmured. “If I had waited for a more opportune time to speak to you about…I shouldn’t have frightened you like that. Please forgive me.”
Victoria bit down on her lip, uncertain as to whether Anna was truly remorseful or not. It was slowly sinking in that announcing she wasn’t Nicholas’ wife could have dangerous consequences. She could end up in a psych ward or worse, arrested for impersonating the countess. Even scarier was the thought she could be tried for murder if someone found the countess’ dead body. She shuddered. Anna reached out and clasped Victoria’s hand in hers.
“I realize we’ve barely met, Victoria, but you can trust me. I would never do anything to harm you or Nicholas.” There was a note of sincerity in Anna’s voice, and Victoria remembered Nicholas stating she could trust the woman. If she trusted Nicholas she had to believe he was right about Anna.
“You said you have a special ability…that you knew, I wasn’t Vickie.” She studied Anna as a pensive look crossed the woman’s face as if she were afraid to explain.
“I see things…know things.”
“Like a medium? A psychic?” Victoria eyed the other woman with understanding, and Anna relaxed as she met Victoria’s curious gaze.
“I don’t call myself those things, but if you mean that I can see bits and pieces of the future or sense things, then yes.
“And that’s how you knew I wasn’t the countess.”
“With you it was more of a warmth I felt. Vickie and I have never been friends, but the moment I touched your hand, I knew we’d been friends many times before.” Anna smoothed several wrinkles in the skirt of her silk gown. “And it’s the only logical answer for everything else I’ve seen in my visions. I only hope I’m wrong about a great deal of what I’ve seen.”