Lady Laugherty's Loves (6 page)

“Oh, thank God,” he groaned aloud,
relaxing beside her, finally. “I was worried you’d wake and wonder
why you were naked in bed with me and not remember a damn
thing.”

She nibbled on the end of her finger
and grinned at him. “I could do that. And then we could recreate
last night all over again.”

He chuckled. “There’s a brave lass.”
It was a half-handed compliment, but a compliment
none-the-less.

She turned on her side to face him.
“What happens now?” she asked. “How long will you be
staying?”

***

Ellis couldn’t breathe there for a
moment. How long would he be staying? She thought this was an
experience. A way to pass the time at her house party. Which was in
direct opposition to what he wanted. He wanted a
lifetime.

“How long do you want me to stay?” he
asked quickly, holding his breath as he waited for her
answer.

“The house-party will be over on
Friday,” she reminded him. He winced inwardly.

“I guess I’ll leave on Friday, then,”
he said as he sat up and swung his legs out of bed.

“Ellis,” she called out, then waited
for him to turn around. “I need to tell you something.”

“Yes, Olivia,” he replied.

Her eyebrows drew together at his
tone.

“I’m not certain I can do the…” She
hesitated, as though looking for a word. “I mean, last night was
wonderful and I’m glad we got a chance to talk yesterday so I could
tell you how I feel, but marriage is between a husband and a wife.”
She tilted her head at him, looking confused at her own words.
“Isn’t it?”

He nodded absently. Each word she said
was like a knife to his heart. “It’s between a husband and a wife.”
He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

Her shoulders slumped. “So,” she
continued, still looking uncomfortable. “Because of that, I think
last night is about as far as I can go. I can’t finish
it.”

“Finish it?” Let her squirm. She
deserved it.

“Do… it… with you.”

“I understand, Olivia,” he said
crisply as he stood up and moved to the door that joined the two
chambers and stepped through, closing it solidly behind
him.

***

Avery hummed a little tune as he took
the stairs two at a time. He’d suffered through breakfast with
eighteen people he cared very little for while Ellis and Olivia
snuggled, and did God knows what else, in their bed upstairs. When
he’d left them, Ellis had her tucked close to him, his arms wrapped
around her. And Olivia looked like she belonged there. Nothing
could have made him happier.

He blasted through the bedroom door
and stopped short. Ellis was gone. And Olivia sat there in the
center of the bed, with tears rolling down her face. “What is it?”
he asked as he climbed onto the bed and pulled her into his arms.
“Where is Ellis?”

She pointed to the adjoining door and
sniffled. “In there.”

“Oh.” Why in the world would Ellis
have left her alone in this state? Unless they’d had a row. “What
happened?”

“I woke up,” she cried out.

“Olivia, calm down,” he urged. He
hated to see her cry.

“I’m just a big old watering pot,” she
cried. “We just had to talk about last night.”

“You talked about what happened last
night?” He hadn’t expected that to happen. Not with him out of the
room. “What did you discuss?”

“He’s leaving on Friday. Friday when
everyone else leaves, he’ll be packing his things and
leaving.”

He was? Avery had no idea. Why would
he do something so idiotic? Right when Olivia was beginning to
trust him? “I thought he would be staying on for a bit.” In fact,
Avery was going out of town the next week, and had hoped Ellis
could entertain Olivia while he was gone. It would give them some
time to kindle their relationship as well.

“He’s not.” She sniffed.

“I’ll talk to him, love,” he said,
stroking her hair. “Maybe you misunderstood.” He sighed heavily.
“I’d expected to come into the room and find him making love to
you, honestly. Not to find you here crying your eyes
out.”

She sniffed again. “I wouldn’t do that
to you, Avery.”

Now he was confused. “Do
what?”

“Have relations with Ellis. I would
never do that to you. You can trust me to be faithful.”

He caught her face in his hands and
tipped it up so he could look into the hazel depths.  “You can
be faithful and still sleep with Ellis, love,” he said slowly,
watching her face as he spoke.

She sat back a little to look at him
firmly. “No. We’re married. I would never do that.  Last night
was different because you were there, and I didn’t let him… you
know.”

“No, I don’t know. Please explain it.”
He realized how clipped his tone was and pressed himself to lighten
it.

“We didn’t complete the act.” She
blushed furiously.

“And you and Ellis, you discussed
this?” he asked. The details were all sliding into place, like
tumblers in a lock.

She nodded as she wiped her nose on a
corner of the counterpane. He should have offered her a
handkerchief. But he was simply too stunned.

“Olivia, do you think I would be
jealous if Ellis made love to you? Or if you made love to him?” He
watched her closely.

“You would be furious, wouldn’t you?”
She looked perplexed.

“Love, I would be delighted,” he said
with a chuckle.

“How could that be?” she questioned.
“I would have to forsake our vows.”

He laughed low, because he couldn’t
prevent it. She didn’t understand at all. “And you’d make new vows
with me and Ellis, together.”

“There’s no ceremony for that,” she
reasoned.

“Tell that to the houseguests we have
in residence right now.”

“Beg your pardon?”

“Liv, the people who are here this
weekend are all people who share the same lifestyle as we do. Or
that I’d hoped we would.”

“Lifestyle?”

“They’re in committed relationships,
the three of them. They have been, for most of them, for years and
years. And they make it work.”

“I am so confused, Avery,” she said as
she gave up and flopped against the pillows.

“They are people we know, from before
I met you. Ellis knows them all.”

“Intimately?” she asked, her pert
little nose scrunching up.

“No, you silly widgeon. They’re
intimate within their own circle. And they’re committed to one
another. Take the Duke and Duchess of Belgarden for example. 
They’re traveling with Lady Charlotte. And they all have relations
together.” Avery didn’t even want to visualize that, but if it
helped prove his point... “And Lord and Lady Southerby. They have
Mr.  Derwise with them. They have children
together.”

“She doesn’t know who the father is.
She told me yesterday.”

“They both are,” he informed her then
sat back to wait for her face to scrunch up.

“And that’s all right with them?” She
patted his leg as though the idea excited her. Her voice grew
husky. “You’d like for Ellis to possibly get me with
child?”

He shrugged. “It wouldn’t bother me.
The children would be mine in name. But all of ours in
heart.”

“I see…” she said slowly.  “So,
all along, you and Ellis set out to,” she stopped to lift her hand
so she could begin ticking items off on her fingers, “One –
overwhelm me with your seduction techniques. Two – invite other
couples who share similar lifestyles so I can see how it works for
them, and Three – you tricked me!” She cried out the last and
smacked his arm.

“You needn’t do me bodily harm,
Olivia,” he laughed. Then he forced himself to sober. “If I didn’t
think you could love Ellis, and I felt like a part of you already
did, I never would have invited him here, or any of the rest of
them, for that matter.”

“Why don’t you become proprietary as
most husbands would when it comes to sharing me?”

He mulled it over. “I don’t
know.”

“If it wasn’t Ellis, would it be
someone else?” she asked directly.

“God, no,” he assured her. “Ellis is
the only one I’d ever trust with your health and happiness. I
expect you to love him. And for him to love you.” He glanced at the
closed door.  “Did he say where he was going, by the
way?”

“No. Not a word.” But now she felt
ridiculous for the things she’d said to him. She’d thought she was
being faithful, but, in truth, she was hurting Ellis.

“I’ll go and find him. You get
dressed. There are some wounds that need to be tended.”

Six

Olivia nervously nibbled on her
fingernail as she glanced toward the door of the ballroom. Her gaze
had been riveted there most of the night, as she waited for Ellis
to appear. Avery caught her gaze from across the room and shrugged
his shoulders.  She’d been certain he’d attend their small,
slightly informal ball since it was the last official night of the
house party.

Olivia surveyed the room with new
eyes.  She could now see the level of care each of the
threesomes paid to one another. Lord and Lady Southerby danced
together, love shining in their eyes. Then the set ended, and Mr.
Derwise approached to take her hand. Lord Southerby kissed her hand
and passed her off to the gentleman, who drew her into his arms.
She went there as though she belonged to him, because she
did.

A voice at her elbow drew her
attention. “Lady Laugherty,” Viscount Sherwood said as he inclined
his head.  “A dance?” He held out his hand.

Olivia fanned herself and placed her
hand in his. But then over his shoulder, she heard Ellis’ voice.
“The lady has already been claimed, Sherwood,” he said quickly as
he snatched her hand away and gave her a gentle tug. He arched one
brow at her in question. Olivia smiled at him and let him lead her
into a waltz.

“I have missed you,” Olivia said
quietly, relishing the warmth of his hand around hers. “Where have
you been?” She had barely seen him for two days.

“Here and there,” he said blandly,
avoiding her gaze.  But his grip on her hand had tightened
almost imperceptibly when she’d said she missed him.

“Guess what I spent the last few days
doing?” she asked, trying to adopt a teasing tone but failing
miserably, she was afraid.

“I have no idea,” he said, his voice
lacking its usually emotion. “But I assume you feel hell bent about
telling me?”

Oh, that didn’t sound very nice. But
she assumed she deserved it. “I spent the last few days talking
with the good people who attended my house party, finding out a
little more about how they live their lives.”

“Degenerates, the lot of them,” he
drawled, still avoiding her gaze.

She swatted at his arm. “Oh, they are
not. I just had no idea how they lived. Of course, it makes more
sense to me now. They share everything. Sometimes Lady Pershing
makes love to Lord Pershing. And sometimes she makes love to Mr.
Jesseman. And sometimes the three of them make love together. They
have six children, you know.”

“Deplorable living situation, there,”
he said, his mood still sour. “I feel certain you’ll be happy when
they’ve all gone home.”

“On the contrary,” she
started. “I rather enjoy having them here. They make it work. And
it makes me happy to see that it
can
work.”

“Jolly good for you,” he
remarked.

“They never get jealous, which is
amazing to me,” she breathed out on a sigh and then watched his
reaction.

“It comes as naturally to them as
breathing. The sharing.” He said it begrudgingly. But at least it
was an unprovoked comment.

“I’m beginning to
understand that. But if you were mine, I would never,
ever
share you.” She said
it clearly and plainly. He tripped over his toe, but quickly
righted the two of them.

“I would never be unfaithful,” he
whispered. Then he finally looked at her. Really looked at
her.

“Would you want children with me?
Little girls with big brown eyes like yours? I might get really
fat.” For some reason she felt the most absurd need to
cry.

“If you did, I would kiss every last
wrinkle and worship every pudgy part of your body.” His breath was
quickening.

Olivia took a deep breath. The music
would end any moment, and then she would lose her chance. 
“When you get old, I’ll point out that your spectacles are perched
on your head when you misplace them.”

“And I’ll bounce our grandchildren on
my knee. We’ll have to have lots of children, so there will be
enough grandchildren for me and Avery not to fight over who gets to
hold them.” A smile finally broke across his face.

The music ended and he drew her to a
stop. She reached up to brush that wayward lock of hair from his
forehead. “I love you, you know.”

He squeezed his eyes tightly shut as
though he’d never look at her again. So, she leaned closer to him
and said quietly, “Will you make love to me now?”