Veiled in Blue (15 page)

He balked at breaking the joy they had discovered together. As usual, he took his emotional response and examined it for rational truth. She’d had enough shocks already. He wanted her to process what had happened before he laid another set of circumstances on her. She had killed a man—for him. She already knew she was not the biological child of her parents, which was good. At least he did not have to catapult her into the madness. But she did not know who her father was, and she did not know who he, Julius, was.

Telling her might drive her away, and he would do anything to avoid that. Even the thought of it made him cast wildly around for a way to persuade her not to do it.

He took a few minutes to make his plans, test them, and make a decision. Having done so, he rolled over on his side, reluctantly easing his bed partner on to the sheets. He would not make love to her again until they were married. He would set that in train today, and he would ensure her safety with it. Marrying him would protect her, would bring her under the aegis of the Emperors.

He might not love her, but he liked her, desired her, and respected her. Love? Not as he understood it, and he was glad that particular madness had not affected him again.

She stirred, moaned, and opened her eyes. Before they were fully open, he kissed her, unable to resist her potent appeal.

Throwing an arm around his neck in a way Julius was coming to enjoy enormously, she kissed him back, her enthusiasm palpable. Forgetting all his good intentions, Julius swung over her, straddling her, reveling in her warm and welcoming body. And she was wet, he discovered when he slipped a hand into her heat.

She flinched. The small movement was barely apparent, but he felt it all the same. When he drew away, leaning over her to gaze into her face, she made a small sound of protest and tried to drag him back, but her reaction had succeeded in bringing him back to reality. He smiled. Even now, tousled from his loving and sleepy, Eve possessed the kind of rare beauty few people ever saw. Julius counted himself as fortunate. More so because of her personality. He’d found a peach, and he wasn’t about to let any other man take a bite. Glancing at her breasts, full and ripe, he was tempted to do exactly that.

“Don’t stop,” she said softly. When she blushed, the delicate shade of rose travelled to her breasts…and beyond for all he knew.

He would discover that later, he vowed. “It was your first time last night. I want you to rest and recover.”

She spluttered with laughter. “You make it sound like a penance. It was far from that. Julius, before you say anything else, don’t forget there are two of us in this bed. I wanted it as much as you did.”

The corner of his mouth kicked up. “I doubt it,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s possible to want you more. But I intend to find out.”

He saw the moment when recollections of the night before came to her—before they’d met in this room. A shadow entered her eyes, but she forced a smile.

He touched her lips. “Don’t,” he said. “What happened here was joyous. Nothing should spoil that. But what we did could have consequences.”

She nodded.

He took another kiss before he spoke again, keeping the caress brief because he dared do nothing else. “Don’t look so worried. What we have done has brought our plans forward, that is all. We will be married, and if I can arrange it, in less time than it takes to call the banns.” July was well advanced. He had barely two weeks before he was due at his father’s house. And if they had made a child last night, he wanted no shade cast on it.

“But what about him, the man I…?” She swallowed.

“King?” Julius wouldn’t have that name lying between them. The man deserved what he received, and Julius refused to regret it. “What you did was in self-defense. We’ll receive a visit from the local magistrate, I daresay. Alex will inform him, and then he may hear your story.”

“Here?” Her eyes rounded.

“I want you safe. You’re too vulnerable in that little house. You must stay here.”

She smiled wryly and stroked the back of his neck in a way he was beginning to enjoy hugely. “You’re very free with Lord Ripley’s hospitality.”

“He will not object. I promise you.”
Quid pro quo
. Julius had sheltered Connie when Alex had needed him to. Now it was Alex’s turn to return the favor.

She bit her lip. He kissed it better, so they lost a few more minutes. He loved the way she moaned into his mouth. If he was fortunate, she would agree to share his bed every night once they were married.

One thing at a time.

He drew away slowly, watching her as he did so. “Your mother should have called you Adora.”

She shrugged, a pretty movement of her pearly shoulders against the sheets. “Maybe she did.”

He would burn every one of her night rails, so he could see her rosy and naked every morning. “Sweetheart, you are adorable.” Still careful to keep a little distance between them, he swung out of bed. “I will leave for London today.”

Her shocked gasp echoed around the room. “Why?”

Cupping her cheek, he caressed it in a gesture more reminiscent of soothing than arousal, although it threatened to turn that way if he did not take care. “To get us a special license. Unfortunately at least one of us has to apply for the license in person, otherwise I would stay here with you.” And he could take care of one or two other matters while he was in town. “I will be there and back in a week.”

“Julius we are in Somerset. The journey to London is a full four days.”

If I travel fast and light I can cut that to three.” Maybe two if he travelled through the night, or used some of the fine horseflesh he’d seen in Alex’s stables. “It takes but a day to get a license.” About twenty minutes in Doctors’ Commons filling out forms and making declarations, and a day to wait for them to complete the paperwork. Less if he found an official who was open to a little golden persuasion. Julius was impatient to complete the matter and to have her in his bed again. “While I’m away, you must take heed of what Alex says.”

Swallowing, she nodded. “I lived for years in comfortable obscurity. Now everything is changing, like sand shifting under my feet.”

He understood that feeling. At some points in his life, like when he’d left the schoolroom to become the center of public attention, just because of who he was, he’d felt that way. Or when he discovered the sordid truth behind the story of the children of Maria Rubio and vowed to make it his particular business. The knowledge had made him look on the world in a very different way, turned his comfortable, secure existence on its head.

“Don’t let it shift. You have friends who will help you. You will never be alone, least of all here.”

He could tell her one thing. If he told her all his secrets at once, he would overwhelm her. “Darling, I have to confess something to you.”

Her hold on him stilled, and her smile was forced, a mere expression rather than a reflection of her soul. “Go on.”

“I came here with a purpose, more than my visit to Lord Ripley.” Watching her carefully, he selected his words. “I have been engaged in a matter of extreme delicacy. You know that his lordship is one of the family known as the Emperors of London?”

“I’m not that ignorant. The neighborhood was agog when he first arrived. They said that.”

Alarm spiked through him. “Did you do much reading on the subject?” Had she recognized his name?

She grimaced. “No. My mother did, though. She read all about them in every publication she could get her hands on. My mother is a dreamer. I took little notice.”

Then why had her mother not made the connection between the Emperors and the Vernons? The answer came swift on the heels of his question. He was known everywhere by his title, not his surname. Besides, the gossip sheets often referred coyly to “Lord W—” instead of a full name, either in a feeble attempt to avoid prosecution or more likely to encourage speculation. And there were more Vernons than titles.

In any case, if he told her, she would tell her mother, and she would tell everyone. Relief surged through him when he hit upon a plausible excuse. Eve would be far safer if nobody knew she was affianced to Lord Winterton, at least until he returned. Then he would tell her.

Doggedly, he continued with his story. “The Emperors have undertaken a special mission.” He dropped a kiss on her lips. “You know that the Stuarts were exiled?”

Her eyes dilated and she went still in his arms. “Of course.”

“What you may not know is that the son of James II, the man commonly known as the Old Pretender, married twice. He had a clandestine marriage that resulted in a number of children their mother was careful to hide. My research indicates that you are one of those children.”

She blinked, then shook her head. “Then why have people not come for me? Why am I not living in a palace?” It was clear she did not believe him. Her derisory smile said as much. She was humoring him.

He smoothed the hair off her forehead, holding still, watching her. Better that she had not believed, but now it was time for her to believe. “People did come for you. Mr. King, to be precise.”

“What?” She gripped his arms hard enough to bruise. Not that Julius cared.

“I believe he was an agent of one of the parties searching for the children. You are a legitimate child of the Old Pretender.”

When she tried to move away, he held her steady. Distress filled her eyes, and she frowned. “Then this is just to protect me?”

“No!” How could she think such a thing? “My mission was to discover you and protect you. Not this! This is us, Eve, nothing else.”

He held her still when she struggled. “Please believe me. There is no advantage in my marrying you. I could ensure your safety without that, but I want you very much.”

She stopped fighting. “Are you sure?”

He held her and soothed her, murmuring words into her ear, touching gentle kisses to her skin. His body demonstrated the truth of what he was saying, but the task took some time. “I can’t pretend this passion. Eve, the moment I saw you, my good intentions flew out of the window. I wanted you so badly I stayed to court you.”

Eventually she paused and bit her lip. At least she had not wept. That she knew meant he would bring one less shock to her.

“I need to talk to my mother.”

“Yes, you do. And I need to set out for town.”

But he lost his good intentions when he kissed her.

He needed her. Desperation flooded him. Would she allow him back? He had to convince her that he meant everything he said when he told her how much he cared for her.

When he probed between her legs, his cock hard and ready, she opened them, and he slid within.

He did not stop, but thrust inside her. She was wet enough to take him, or he would have stopped, far gone though he was.

Embedded deeply within her, he paused and gazed down into her eyes, open and wide. “Does this feel as if I’m here from duty? Eve, I have given up caring who you are. I just want you. I will keep you as safe as I can, but that’s not my concern now. I want to make a life with you.”

With a groan she curled her legs around his thighs, pulling him into her.

He set up a regular rhythm and watched her all the while, even when she closed her eyes. Her mouth opened on a gasp, and triumph seared him when he recognized her arousal. She could not resist him any more than he could her. “This is what matters,” he said, his back arching as he probed her body. “No other consideration. I want you, Eve Merton.”

“Julius,” she moaned, reaching for him. “Julius.”

Holding his own peak within him he brought her to a shattering orgasm, working her carefully, her surrender roaring through him and driving him to his own culmination.

He lay over her, shuddering. She turned him to malleable putty. He would do anything for her. Except let her go.

He raised his head. She was staring at him, wonder in her eyes.

“Do you doubt me now?”

She shook her head, swallowing. “No.”

“I must go.” He snatched a kiss and then another before he gently withdrew from her seductive heat. “I want to start the next part of our lives as soon as possible. Sweetheart, soon it won’t matter what name you call yourself, because you will be Eve Vernon.”

With determination born of his need to care for her, he swung off her and out of the bed. If he paused for much longer he would make love to her, despite his decision to let her rest.

Telling her the rest of his secrets was out of the question now. He ignored the relief he felt when he realized that. Next to what he’d just told her, his status was trivial, something he would help to become accustomed to.

After gathering up his clothes, he began to dress, grimacing at their crumpled state.

When she laughed, he turned to raise a brow in query.

Eve was leaning on one elbow, the sheets barely covering her unclothed form. Her dark hair tumbled over her shoulder and arm, and her bared skin made his mouth water. For two pins he would go back to her and damn the plans. But that would also be to ruin her reputation and he didn’t want to do that. Already he heard the faint shuffling from downstairs, audible evidence of the household stirring.

He only went back to her when he was respectably clad. Cupping her chin, he leaned over and kissed her, making it luscious. She returned it in full measure, as always. His Eve never did anything by halves.

“Take the greatest care of yourself, my sweet,” he said. “I would have my bride in one piece and as beautiful as ever when I meet her at the altar.”

Which would probably not be an altar at all. He would marry her in the village church if she insisted, but Julius had a deep reluctance of making his private life public spectacle. He preferred to take charge of his appearances and his reputation.

Hooking her arm around his neck, she made the most of his kiss, almost drawing him back into bed. Only a stern mental reminder persuaded him away.

At least she knew one of his secrets. The other would not be too difficult.

He stopped at his own room, where an impatient Lamaire waited. Discouraging superfluous conversation, Julius let the man shave him and then changed into something more suitable. Still plain, but at least uncrumpled. His man eased a pair of perfectly polished riding boots reverently on to Julius’s feet. Clearly the valet had had too much time on his hands recently, as every garment in Julius’s possession was primped to the edge of perfection.