by Merry Farmer
Juliana nodded adding, “Yes, I suspect it was the consumption at the end.”
Oliver frowned, and Juliana could see that he was putting things together in his own mind. “End? You don’t mean to say…”
Juliana twisted her hands together. “Yes, she passed a month or so before we sailed.”
Oliver sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Indeed, tragic news. What a shame for a beautiful young lady to be cut down in the prime of her life. I am sorry for Baron and Lady Reeder. Tell me, dear, were you close to Vivian?”
Juliana wasn’t sure where all of the emotion that had lodged in her throat had come from. While she hadn’t been extremely close to Vivian, she had come to know and love her daughter.
Oliver, seeing her distress, moved to his knees in front of the chair. “Is that why you booked this voyage? Was her passing too distressing for you? I own I had no idea you had struck up such a close friendship. I could kick myself when I think of the time I wasted with you.”
Juliana shook her head. He was so kind in his concern for her and for Juliana. It was almost more than she could bear. “No, you don’t understand. When I was in Sussex, Vivian invited me for tea. I went, as is proper, but when I left her home, I felt as if my entire world had been upended.”
“What did she say?” Oliver asked.
Juliana swallowed. “Did you know that Vivian was rather close with your brother Ian?”
Oliver’s brow furrowed. “Ian rather keeps to himself. It’s always hard to know what goes on inside of his head. Why? Did he break her heart?”
“I don’t know about that,” she replied honestly.
“I am sorry, Juliana. I am afraid that I am not following you very well.”
“It is far more likely that I am not explaining things as they ought to be.”
“Dearest,” Oliver took her hands into his own. “Please, just tell me. Whatever it is we can work it out together.”
Juliana looked into his eyes and told him the truth. “Vivian introduced me to her daughter, Amelia. She is a beautiful little girl, nearly three years in age.”
“Daughter?” Oliver drew back and rose to his feet. “Did she marry at some point?”
Juliana shook her head, hating to share something that could put a wedge between them.
“Daughter?” Oliver repeated. “If you are trying to convince me that Ian is the father, I am afraid that Vivian played you false. My brother would never allow his daughter to be illegitimate or otherwise to be raised away from the family. Indeed, he wouldn’t allow his child to be born out of wedlock.”
“I don’t know the particulars,” Juliana said soothingly.
It seemed that Oliver was getting steamed up. “You don’t know the particulars? Juliana, first you tell me this ridiculous story about my brother having a child and then you say that you don’t know if it’s true. Tell me, why are you on this ship for America? Why did your brother find it so important to contact me to ensure your safety? There is something very havey cavey about the whole affair. Perhaps they are just trying to extort money from the Dukedom. Did you ever consider that?”
Juliana’s hands were shaking when she replied, “There is no one demanding money. Vivian has passed away.”
“What about the Baron, Reeder?”
“They are grieving the loss of a sister who was estranged. They had no idea why Vivian took herself so far away. Indeed, I am the only person who knows Amelia’s true parentage.”
He scoffed, “And why would she contact you of all people, a complete stranger! Juliana, it doesn’t add up. Who has the child anyway? That is most likely who is orchestrating the entire affair.”
Juliana stood and walked over to the corner of the room trying to gather her patience. She had known that bringing the truth forward would be difficult, but she hadn’t depended on Oliver being so combative.
“The people who are caring for Amelia don’t want anything from you,” she said stiffly.
“Ha,” he barked out a mirthless laugh. “So, you say, but mark my words, they have bee scheming this entire time. Now, I must insist, what are their names?”
She turned and looked at him. Lifting her chin, she answered, “I have guardianship of Amelia, and she is currently in the care of my brother, the Marquess of Lancaster. I can assure you, Your Grace, we wish nothing from you or your family.”
Before he could utter another word, Juliana walked out the door, slamming it behind her.
Chapter 13
Oliver stared as Juliana slammed the cabin door, leaving him behind with a myriad of questions and not nearly enough answers. What did she mean by dropping such a thing on him? How dare they accuse Ian of being such a cad? It wasn’t like him at all, Oliver thought as he tried to reign in his temper.
Yet, the more he thought about it, the more Oliver was certain that he was right, and she was wrong. Perhaps this Vivian creature had delusions of some sort. Oliver wasn’t overly familiar with consumption, maybe that was one of the side effects of the disease.
Ian couldn’t have… no, he wouldn’t get a woman with child and abandon her. Oliver liked to think that all of his brothers were cautious about such things. But a niggling piece of doubt crept into his mind. If Ian did lay with Vivian, even one time, there was a chance she could have become with child.
It wasn’t something he even wanted to consider, but Juliana had been so adamant. She obviously believed the truth of her words.
The door slammed back open. Oliver’s eyes popped as he watched Juliana stalk over to her chest and wrench out a letter.
“Here,” she demanded, eyes flashing. “Read this.”
Oliver took the letter from her hands. The seal hadn’t even been broken. “I can’t read someone else’s missive.”
She took the letter from him and promptly broke the wax. “Now you can—read.”
It was more than obvious that she was serious. Oliver took the letter from her hands and indeed, did begin to read.
His righteous indignation seemed to deflate as quickly as it had been raised. If Oliver had any reservations about the truthfulness of this letter, they were assuaged by the faded bit of lace that had been tucked inside. He hated to admit it but seeing that lace again shook him like nothing else.
He looked up at Juliana, hoping that she could see how very sorry he was for jumping to the wrong conclusion. He had been about to apologize, but instead he began to tell her a story.
“When Ian was a child, he was afraid of the dark. I never really understood it myself. But then, I always had Ryan by my side. We were inseparable. I hadn’t ever stopped to consider that Ian didn’t have someone of his own.
One night during a particularly bad nightmare, my mother came racing into the room. Her nightdress got caught on a stray nail and the lace ripped off of it. The next morning Ian found the lace and tucked it away. Ryan and I teased him about being such a baby. I wish that I could go back and be a better brother to him.”
“You were just children yourselves,” Juliana said quietly.
“I suppose,” Oliver continued, “but I could have tried harder. At any rate, over the next few nights he didn’t have any nightmares. My mother hugged him close and asked what Ian’s secret was. He raced up to the nursery and pulled the lace out from under his pillow. When he showed my mother, he told her that he need not ever be afraid anymore. Not as long as she was with him.”
Juliana’s fingertips came up to cover her mouth in surprise. “That is so sweet.”
“I haven’t seen that lace in over twenty years. If he gave it to her, Vivian must have meant the world to my brother. I know it sounds strange, but I can see him leaving it with her as a sort of protection.”
Oliver handed the letter to Juliana and she started to read.
Dearest Ian,
And you are my dearest, you always were. I wish that I could go back and do so many things over again. I wish that I had never sent you away, or that I had been brave enough to write to you when I knew Ameli
a was coming.
I waited, even though I told you not to come. I waited every day for the sound of your voice, your knock, your forgiveness. I know you will say that you should be begging my forgiveness, but you don’t know the depths of my sins.
I knew I was sick when I met you. I thought that our time together would be one last adventure before this illness overcame me. But you, Ian, you taught me how to love in a matter of three days. You taught me that fighting was better than letting life happen to you.
I did fight, I promise you that.
I told you that I would contact you if there was a child. This is another way I failed you. I didn’t want to saddle you with a wife that was doomed to die. But I was selfish enough to want to spend every moment that I possibly could with our child.
I won’t beg your forgiveness. I know I don’t deserve it. I took your child away from you and made choices that can never be reversed. You, by all rights should hate me. I understand, I honestly do. Please know that I don’t blame you for how you feel.
When you receive this letter, I will likely be gone. I have contacted someone to come for you. I know it’s a long shot, but I have a feeling that she will help me.
I have one final request to make. Please love Amelia, don’t hold my sins against her, she’s a wonderful child. Enclosed you will find the lace you gave me. I remember telling you that I was afraid of what the future held. I can tell you with assurance that I am no longer afraid.
My Love,
Vivian
Oliver waited until the letter fell from her arms. Tenderly he wrapped Juliana in his arms and allowed her to shed the tears that he too felt in his heart.
Chapter 14
Juliana wasn’t sure when Oliver had begun rubbing her back as he held her. She only knew that it felt so very nice to have his hands on her body. She recalled the day when he had touched and teased her breasts.
She couldn’t help herself, she squirmed against him.
“Are you alright?” he asked in a deep voice.
Juliana didn’t want to look up for fear that he would guess where her thoughts had led. But sure enough, Oliver used his finger to tip her chin upward so that he could see her face. His breath hitched in his throat and seconds later he was kissing her.
This was nothing like the sweet kisses that she had given him. These were long drugging kisses that were meant to intoxicate and bind the souls of two beings together. He picked her up by the waist, not breaking their kiss, and moved her to the bed. From there, he moved between her thighs and kissed again.
His hand started to push her voluminous skirts to the side. The moment Juliana felt the brush of his warm fingers against her thigh she cried out. The sensations were overpowering, and yet she wanted more and more from him.
He traced languid circles on the inside of her leg and then finally touched her most intimate place. Her jagged moan had to be alerting him that he was right where she wanted him to be.
“You’re so wet, Juliana. Just as I always imagined you would be.”
“You pictured this?” she gasped.
His eyes were dark as they bore into hers. “I have pictured myself committing all or sorts of delicious things to your body. You have enslaved me, and I will never let you go.”
Nudging her thighs further apart. Juliana gasped as he stroked in and out of her slick heat. Juliana could never have dreamed that it could be like this, feel like this. And after a moment when he brought that heat up to the front of her sex and began to rub in small circles over the tiny bundle of nerves, everything tightened.
Something was building inside of her. Juliana could hardly think, let alone breathe. She was minutes, seconds away from something magical if she could just reach it.
And then it happened.
Her body shattered, the tension overflowing, causing waves of pleasure to permeate her body. This was what the married ladies whispered about? She smiled sinfully, like the cat with its cream.
When Oliver looked at her face, she saw the need and desire etched across his own. In a flurry of moment, he was ripping open his breeches and shoving her skirts away until he was there, pressing into her.
Juliana cried out as his length stretched her, an inch and then two slid inside.
“Darling,” he rasped against her neck. “I am trying to be careful.”
But Juliana didn’t want careful, she wanted Oliver to feel the symphony of flavors that she herself had just experienced. Clenching around him, she involuntarily caused him to catch his breath.
“Much more of that and this will be over before it began,” he groaned.
Juliana clenched again and was rewarded with Oliver yanking down the front of her dress, tearing the fabric just so that he could get to her breasts, and then he was devouring them. He licked and sucked her on her nipples, gently bit the underside of her breast and then sucked as much as he could in his mouth.
The burning from his length inside of her began to ease. Juliana was shocked when he entered even further inside of her. “There is more?” she gasped.
Oliver let out a crazed sound. “We are about halfway there.”
Juliana couldn’t imagine where he would put all of his length, but she soon found out when with his next thrust, he was fully seated within her. She winced, the pain had been sharp and insistent.
“I am sorry,” he said, panting. “It will be better from here. I promise.”
Juliana wasn’t sure about that, but she eagerly accepted his lips when he began to kiss her again. When he began to move back and forth within, Juliana tensed for the pain. But it was no longer there. Only a remnant remained, but what had taken its place was an eruption of desire that made her feel wanton.
Spreading her legs further to take him deeper, Juliana knew the moment he reached the right angle for them both. His gliding sensation suddenly became urgent and deeper. She felt an intense urge to meet his thrusts. The building from earlier was back and she wanted that feeling of release again.
“Please,” she panted, “I need…”
It seemed that Oliver knew just what she needed. The moment she had asked him he brought his hand up to her breast and began to pinch and worry her nipple. All the while he brought his lips to her own and kissed her violently.
Juliana couldn’t hold back, this time when she released, it was around his length drawing him along with her until they were both experiencing the same depths of pleasure.
She felt his spend inside of her, it was an odd feeling and yet she wasn’t sad it had happened. This was the man she loved. He had to know that. The honestly in her demanded that another day not pass without Juliana letting him know.
But it wasn’t Juliana who was the first to speak. When Oliver cupped her face and kissed her tenderly, she wondered if he would pull out of her. Juliana wasn’t adept in how to handle such things.
Oliver stayed where he was, with a gruff voice he said, “I have held my peace since first arriving on the ship. I know I handled that badly and tried to force your hand. But Julianna, surely you have guessed by now. My feelings have not changed. I thought that I loved you when I came chasing to the docks after I learned you had boarded my boat. But these weeks together, my dear girl, they have cemented my resolve. I must have you by my side, in my home, forever in my heart.”
Juliana’s lip trembled as she listened to his declaration.
“Are you certain?” her voice was little more than a squeak.
“Am I certain?” he laughed, but the sound was filled with hope and mirth. “I have never more been certain about anything, Juliana. Please, marry me. The Captain can legally unite us, Let’s arrive in America as husband and wife. Not for proprieties sake, but because we love each other. You do love me too, don’t you?”
She nodded, “So very much.”
Oliver growled, his cock beginning to grow hard once again inside of her.
Juliana blushed. “Is it always like this?”
Oliver grinned, looking every bit as roguish as th
e pirates had. “It is when I am with you.”
It was some time before either one was presentable enough to exit their cabin. And when they finally did emerge, the Captain was immediately called for.
Chapter 15
Juliana clutched Oliver’s hand in her own as she bounced with excitement. It had taken nearly nine weeks to finally dock in America, but they had arrived and were cleared for departure. Having had to remain aboard ship until the pirate was in the arms of the police and taken away, Juliana was anxious to see for herself what this new world was all about.
Oliver had sent word to his family home that he and Juliana had arrived in America. It was strange for Juliana to remember that Oliver was not only from America, but he had an entire life here up until the moment he unexpectedly inherited the Dukedom. The Stanford’s were a part of New York City’s upper crust.
Once they had left the boat and navigated through the bustling port, Juliana was greeted with her first bit of American culture. Men and women filled the streets, mostly workers going to and from their factory jobs. The sounds of their accents filling her ears and causing her to turn back and forth trying to catch the speaker.
Oliver kept a firm arm around her waist as they approached a fine carriage that had been waiting for them.
“Well now,” the older gentleman drawled as he climbed down from the perch. “As I live and breathe, Mr. Standford, I ain’t never thought I’d see the likes of you again.”
Juliana was shocked at the casual way this older man was greeting her husband. After all, Oliver was a Duke.
“Smitty,” Oliver grinned and clutched the man’s outstretched hand, pumping it three times before letting go. “I dare say, after that voyage you are a sight for sore eyes!”
The older man smiled wide, showing his graying teeth. “Grand to see you, Mr. Stanford, just grand.”
“Smitty, I want to make you known to my wife,” Oliver continued.