Duty to Love (7 page)

“I will.” Amelia pushed decisiveness into
her voice.

“Who
giveth
this
woman to be married to this man?”

Amelia felt her hand being given into
Arthur’s, his fingers reassuringly warm to the touch. Looking up to him she
found his gaze steady. His next words, he spoke to her, not for anyone else but
purely for her, and in that moment they felt like promises. He promised to have
and to hold her, to love and to cherish her, and from her eyes to her heart she
believed him.

When he released her hand she took his
again gladly and made her promises with equal truth. His smile suggested he
could read the truth in her eyes.

“With this ring I
thee
wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow:
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
Arthur’s words were a caress she welcomed, his ring sliding smoothly onto her
finger.

A slight tug on her hand and Amelia fell
to her knees. It was done. They were married. Yes the Rev.
Timble
was still reciting words of prayer and psalm, and yes they still had to sign
the register, but oh my, it was done.

There was just the wedding breakfast to
get to before she might be alone with her husband.

As Arthur led her from the church she
spared a quick glance for James.

He met her eyes and smiled.

If only Amelia could have a moment alone
with James as well. She dared to hope they could all be friends. Her wedding
day would then be perfect, and that just left the wedding night.

As
it turned out there was not a moment of peace to be had or a moment alone with
anyone ‘til Amelia found herself urged to head upstairs by Arthur who whispered
in her ear, “They will never leave ‘til you are gone from sight. I think your
parents would live every moment of you a Countess at your side
were
I to permit it. I have no desire to permit it, least of
all tonight.”

Indeed
the wedding breakfast had been lengthy, and even after all the food had been
served, family and friends had lingered, an unforeseen consequence of the event
taking place at
Henton
Hall and not in London or at a
friend’s house.

The
entire time Amelia felt as if all eyes were on her, and perhaps they were.
Surely there could be no surprise that she was tired as the day drew to a
close.

With
her face a pink to match her dress due to Arthur’s words Amelia took her leave.
She bade all left goodnight, felling a twinge of unease that James had departed
earlier without her notice. No one had commented on his bruised face, at least
not in her presence. She would have to ask Arthur as soon as they were alone
together.

It
was quiet upstairs as only a large house can be, with all the small noises of
life swept into the vastness of space created by large corridors and multiple
rooms. Amelia wondered what she should do next. Wait for Arthur to arrive, but
should she wait in bed?

That
didn't seem right somehow. The bed was new to her, and lying, sacrificial, upon
it would be out of character. She felt too restless to settle into one of the
armchairs by the fireplace and stood by the dresser, studying the rest of the
room and trying to see it as hers.

The
décor, with its pale blue-and-gold striped wallpaper, was decidedly more ornate
than the plain walls of her bedroom at home, the furniture, more elegant, as
proudly advertised by the high shine of its polish. The window, though, was
reassuring. Anywhere there was a view to the outside
world,
Amelia could find a calmness within herself.
 
Here the view from the window was of grounds she had walked with Arthur
and through which she had been chased by James. Whenever she awoke and felt her
surroundings unfamiliar, she would be sure to look out of a window to reassure
herself
.
 

Perhaps
now she would not be waking alone. She did not know if Arthur intended to sleep
with her. Father shared a room with Mother when they were in the country, but
here she and Arthur had separate apartments. There was so much she had yet to
learn about married life.

Not
least of all how to ensure all her thoughts were for her husband.

 
Amelia had been shocked at times during the
celebrations when she realized she was comparing her new husband with his
brother. How fine they’d both looked, and yet their suits and the men beneath
were different. James had worn his uniform, the very definition of dashing. At
just over six feet James was slightly taller than Arthur, and looked to be more
muscular—not so sleek.
Maybe firmer of physique.
However, they both exuded strength, and surely they were to blame for these
thoughts of hers, both having kissed her.

Their
kisses had been so different, just like their temperaments: Arthur all outward
calm, with passion waiting to burst free from where it swirled madly underneath
the surface; James light and teasing, giving and sincere. Amelia had barely
tasted the food at the wedding breakfast for thinking of their respective
tastes, Arthur with the smooth, decadent hint of brandy that warmed and filled
her mouth, James tasting of something sweet, a dusting of sugar, dissolving so
quickly she'd need another taste to be sure.

Lost
in recollection, Amelia didn't hear the connecting door to Arthur's room open,
and only became aware of his presence when he cleared his throat and said, “Am
I come to soon?”

“No,
you are always welcome,” Amelia said with a tentative smile. She’d arranged
earlier with her maid to be left alone this evening, wanting some moments of
quiet and sure Arthur would be capable of helping her with her gown.

She
wondered if her instinctive response, or her hope that Arthur might want to
undress her, was too forward. She never tired of Arthur's company, and she
could not imagine this should change because they were now man and wife. In
fact she hoped they now could spend as much time together as possible and that
they might enjoy doing small things for each other like helping to remove
clothes.

****

Arthur
moved into the room. He felt nervous, unsure how to proceed. Ironic really,
considering he'd fantasized a thousand times how he would make love to Amelia
given half a chance. The problem was that his fantasies had always jumped
straight to the good stuff, seeing her breasts, dipping his hand to her mound
and finding her wet. He'd bypassed thinking about virgin nerves, and his
brother hadn't featured in his imaginings at all.

“I
am lucky to have you as my wife.” Arthur gave the truth that came straight to
mind.

“You
don't know that yet!” Amelia said, half seriously.

“I
do. Whatever happens tonight, whatever happens in the future, you are a
blessing to me.” Arthur wanted Amelia to know he didn't have any expectations
of her other than being herself.

“We
will have to learn to live together, to be together as man and wife. In order
to do that we will have to be honest with each other.” Arthur paused. “If there
is anything that I do that displeases you I hope you will feel able to tell me,
especially tonight.”

Amelia
offered no answer. Arthur could see a fierce blush warming her face, and she
was not meeting his eyes.

It
was delightful, if a little daunting, to find Amelia shy.

“Amelia,
do you know what happens between a man and a woman?” He walked over to Amelia,
stepping up behind her where she stood next to her dresser, faced halfway
between room and window.

“Of course.
Mother talked to me,” Amelia said, then turned her head to glance at
Arthur. “She just didn't go into any interesting details. It was hard to
understand exactly what she meant.”

Arthur
placed his hands upon Amelia's shoulders “Would you like to know any of the
interesting details, or do you trust me to show you?”

Arthur
pressed his body to Amelia's, unable to resist inhaling her scent as he leaned
close.
Fresh, fragrant, feminine.
He inhaled again, alluring
and addictive.

“I
know, or rather I hope, there will be more kissing. I also believe you will
touch me—and here is where my understanding gets hazy—and you will somehow join
us together, and in doing so give me your seed to start a baby, if God blesses
us.” Amelia sighed as her body relaxed a little against the solid reassurance
of Arthur's embrace.

“There
will definitely be more kissing.” Arthur illustrated his words with a trail of
butterfly-light kisses down her neck. “I'd like to kiss you all over.”

Arthur
felt Amelia tremble as a shiver traced its way up her spine. He pursued it with
a glide of his hands. “There will definitely be touching . . . all over. I'm
hoping you might like to touch me, too.” Arthur found Amelia's hand and laced
their fingers together, drawing both their hands to rest against the soft swell
of her stomach.

“As
for joining us together, do you feel me pressing into you?” Arthur tilted his
hips forward letting his erection give emphasis to his words. “What you feel is
my manhood. I will place my manhood inside your woman's parts. Driving it in
will feel exquisite to me, and, if I do it right, good for you, too.” Aroused,
Arthur expressed more of himself than usual.

“Should
we move to the bed?”

There
was both a hesitancy and desire to please lacing Amelia’s voice, and despite
her brave words Arthur felt the heated blush of Amelia's skin through the
layers of clothes separating them. It was all fiercely arousing.

“We
don't have to be in a bed, although I believe it will be best for this, our
first night together,” he said roughly, while idly using his free hand to loosen
her hair from the plait twining it together.

 
“Amelia, there is something else I must tell
you though.”

Soft, so silky soft.

“That it will hurt.
I felt sure you were neglecting to tell me something,” she whispered on
a breath.

“Well,
yes, it might the first time, even if I am gentle. I may not be able to prevent
you from feeling discomfort.” He gave a fistful of her hair a slight tug. “It
will only be momentary, I hope.

“That
wasn't what you were going to tell me
though?”Amelia
asked

“No,
I talked to James before coming to you. I left him in my room in fact.”

Amelia
looked to the door. “Oh, I can’t believe I’d forgotten. What happened between
you? Did he tell you…
”

“Tell
me how he followed you home and tried to steal you away from me?” Arthur sensed
Amelia holding back from saying more than he might already know.

“Yes,
and you weren’t angry, or you were, because you must have caused his injury.
Did he let you hit him? Did he hurt you anywhere? But you seemed friendly
towards one another, so is it all made up?”

Questions
poured from her lips. Arthur guessed it had been on her mind throughout the
day.

“Yes,
we are made up,” Arthur said wryly. “If you meant what you said about wanting
him to stay, we have a solution,”

When
Amelia didn’t immediately answer but sent him an encouraging glance Arthur
forged ahead. “James and I think we might all be able to live together, be
happy together ...”

“Really?”
Amelia interrupted in hopeful anticipation.

 
“....if we all share a marriage bed.”

She
froze in his arms. Her weight that had relaxed towards him was lifted clear
away by stiffening spine. He hadn’t meant it to be such a shock. He held
himself back from seeking reassurance by touching her physically.

“So
there are no secrets or barriers among the three of us,” he said quickly
instead. “Why shouldn't we all have what we want? James and I very much want to
be with you without restrictions. We can't both be married to you, but we could
both be your husbands, your lovers. You want us all to be happy together, so why
shouldn't we all truly be together? If we are together physically how can we
not be bound together?”

Arthur
knew he was rambling, desperate to make sense.

Amelia
didn't pull any further away from him and thankfully wasn't running screaming
from the room or trying to defend
herself
with a
poker, both of which were scenarios that in that moment wouldn't have surprised
him. She was still, and seemed to be deep in thought.

“Is
that what you and James truly want? You would want to share me?”

“With James, only with James.
He is my brother. I have cared for him
since the day he was born, when mama placed him in my hands and told me that my
most important duty—not as the future earl, but as her elder son—was to love
and protect James always. I would share everything I have with him.”

As
Arthur tried to explain his motivations to Amelia, he felt himself understand
what had driven him to this moment. “Society has dictated to me that this
house, this estate, is mine. Your father let me marry you because of a title. I
let James join the army because he needed a profession, and that was his
choice. I want to do something now for love of James, love of you, and even
love of myself, despite the fact that society would not understand.”