Wicked Delights of a Bridal Bed (13 page)

Chapter 12

M
allory stared, aware that her eyes must have grown large as a pair of planets. “D-did you say
marry
?”

Adam fixed her with a steady gaze, his words low and firm. “I did.”

“B-but Adam, surely you don’t want to marry me. Nor should you need to do so.”

His eyebrows arched upward with a sardonic sweep.

Her own brows arrowed down. “Is that what you and Ned talked about? And why my brothers aren’t trying to maim you any longer? Because you’ve agreed to wed me and do the honorable thing?”

“I rather doubt I would be here with you now were it otherwise.”

She huffed out a breath. “Oh, but this is terrible, ridiculous and completely unnecessary. Did you tell Edward that I am untouched? That I am still a maid and that nothing happened which requires the two of us to take such a drastic step?”

“Your brother and I didn’t discuss any intimate details, remember? Besides, there was no need.”

“No need!” she returned, nerves squeezing like a fist under her breastbone. “Of course there’s a need. Oh, and please do get up. How can I have a reasonable discussion with you while you’re kneeling in front of me?”

“The same way you’re having an
unreasonable
discussion,” he said in a calm tone. Moments later, however, he stood and resumed his seat. “Mallory, marriage is the only option.”

She sprang to her feet. “Not if we explain the situation to Ned and Jack and the rest of the family. They’ll see no harm has been done, and in a few days, everyone will have forgotten all about the matter.”

“And what about the throng of inquisitive guests who stood in the hallway listening to every word that was spoken? Do you think they’ll forget about Jack’s calling me out after having accused me of ravishing you?”

“But you didn’t ravish me.”

“No, I only kissed you and touched you, then fell asleep in your bed. Admit it, Mal,” he said. “You’re good and compromised. There’s no getting around that fact.”

She paced several steps. “But you said yourself once that we’re all friends here. Maybe if I explained it to them—”

He shot her a pitying look.

“Surely they would see reason and not say anything,” she argued.

“Can you imagine Daphne Damson not saying anything? That woman couldn’t keep a secret if she knew her tongue would be cut out the moment she finished talking.” Standing once more, he crossed and took her hands inside his own. “We must wed, it’s the only way. If I don’t marry you, I’ll be branded an unprincipled scoundrel. Far worse, you’ll be ruined beyond redemption. I doubt even your lineage and dowry would be enough to gain you a respectable offer from another man.”

But she didn’t want another man.

She didn’t want
any
man.

Not now at least.

Staring at Adam’s cravat, she swallowed against the sinking feeling lodged in her stomach. Adam was right, of course. There was no other way, not unless she was willing to accept the shame of being a disgraced female, an outcast in Society. If she refused him, it was no exaggeration that she would indeed be ruined forever.

“Is the idea of marrying me really so dreadful?” Adam asked. “I’ve been told of late that I’m not such a bad catch.”

Glancing up, she met his gaze and caught a glimmer of raw emotion lurking deep in his dark brown eyes. She paused. Surely she hadn’t hurt him? Then he blinked, and the expression was gone.

No,
she decided,
I am only imagining things. Adam’s skin is as tough as oxhide. He must realize this has naught to do with him personally.

Still, when she spoke again, it was with care and complete honesty. “Of course marrying you wouldn’t be dreadful. It’s not that, it’s just…”

“Just what?”

Her lashes swept down, her voice a near whisper. “I’m just not ready to marry anyone. Not now. Perhaps never.”

He slid a finger beneath her chin, lifting her face so she had no choice but to meet his gaze. “But you forget. I’m not just anyone. I’m Adam. Your friend, who knows you and will always be there to protect you and to make you smile.”

“But it isn’t right. For me or for you. You deserve better than a forced union. You ought to have the right to find a woman you love and be free to marry her. I don’t want to take that from you because of a single, impetuous act that happened one night.”

Trembling, she drew an unsteady breath. “If only I hadn’t asked you to stay, none of this would have happened. If only I hadn’t been afraid after my nightmare, we wouldn’t be standing here talking about having to wed.”

“If you want to talk about if-onlys,” he said, “then we ought to mention the biggest one of all. If only I hadn’t come to your bedchamber the other night. But I did, and it was my decision and mine alone. Just as it was my decision to remain when you asked me to. I did nothing that wasn’t of my own accord, and I am more than ready to accept the consequences of my actions.”

Letting go of her hands, he set his palms at her waist. “As for your wish not to bind me in marriage, it is a sweet gesture, but truly, I have no desire to be set free. To be honest, it’s time I married. Now that I am restoring Gresham Park and making it livable again, it needs a mistress. Even more, the house needs a family. It deserves a bit of laughter ringing through the hallways again and inside all those rooms that have stood silent for far too long. You think I’m trapped, but I’m not. This situation isn’t ideal, I agree, but I know you will make me an excellent bride.”

“You say that now, but what if you come to regret your decision? What if you meet someone else and wish you were able to be with her?”

“I won’t,” he said, his eyelids sweeping down, concealing his expression. “Believe me, I’ve had plenty of time to become acquainted with all the eligible ladies of the Ton, and I have no interest in any of them. Nor would I want some chit just out of the schoolroom who would make me feel as if I’m already halfway to my dotage.” Glancing up again, he met her gaze. “Trust me, Mallory, marrying you will be no sacrifice, not on my part at least.”

She said nothing, too conflicted to speak.

“I know you’re still healing, and this isn’t what you wish right now, but think of the benefits. We’ve known each other for ages, and I am confident that we shall suit.”

Yes,
she realized, they would suit. How could they not when they knew so much about each other? When they’d shared so many things together over the years? Living day to day with Adam would be pleasant, even easy.

“Then too is the freedom you would enjoy,” he continued. “As my countess, you would have your own house and be able to establish your own rules and ways of doing things. I would give you free rein to redecorate and refurbish the house however you like, the choices would be entirely up to you. And frankly, I think a change of scenery might be exactly what you need.”

“In what way?” she asked.

“You are comfortable here at Braebourne. Maybe too comfortable, with a lifetime of memories, including a few that I suspect still bring you pain.”

A lump settled in her throat as she thought of Michael and the misery of the past fifteen months.

“A new place, a new home, would give you an entirely clean slate,” Adam said. “There would be no past there, only a future, the one that you and I choose to make. Which leads me to another benefit.”

She tipped her head. “Oh? What might that be?”

“Children.”

A new knot formed, this time in her chest.

“If ever there was a woman who ought to have children, it’s you, Mal. I’ve seen you with the little ones, and you’re wonderful. They love you, and you love them back. Only yesterday, you held little Zachary in your arms, and a more perfect picture I’ve never seen. I cannot imagine you not having babies of your own.”

“I still may, in time,” she said.

But as she considered the idea, she wasn’t so sure. After losing Michael, she couldn’t imagine putting herself back in the marriage market, going through the bother of flirting and courting and trying to find a man she wanted to wed. Yet without a husband, there would be no children.

Once again, Adam was right. She did want babies. It would break her heart all over again never to have that chance.

But reentering the ranks of eligible ladies during some future Season was a moot point, was it not? With her reputation in shreds, Adam was her only hope for a husband and family. If she didn’t wed him, there was little chance she would marry at all. She would become a spinster, and there would be no babies.

Ever.

Her nieces and nephews would be her “children.” But would they be enough? Would they fill the empty space she knew would exist inside her heart?

“Which leads me to the last, and perhaps most persuasive benefit of all,” Adam said, as he played a hand over her hip.

“What?”

“This.” Reaching up, he cupped her cheek in his palm and pressed his mouth to hers.

Her heart leapt wildly beneath her breasts, blood instantly rushing to places it had no business going. She couldn’t help herself, her body responding, even as her mind struggled to catch up with the tumult Adam was provoking. Her eyelids grew heavy, then slid closed as pleasure swept through her with the inexorable force of a tide. Brain muzzy, her muscles grew lax, knees weak and unsteady as he drew her deeper beneath his spell.

Thank God, he’d locked an arm behind her back; otherwise, she would surely have crumpled to the floor in a heap. Yielding to his command, she parted her lips and let him inside, dazed by the lush, sultry decadence that threatened to burn her inch by delectable inch.

He stroked a hand over her hip again, then lower to pull her tighter against him. “I don’t think we need to worry about whether or not we’re physically compatible,” he murmured against her lips.

Her eyelids opened, a quiver chasing over her nerve endings.

“Count this as a mere taste, sweetheart, of all the pleasure I can give you. Marry me and let me show you more. Be mine, and I’ll take you on a journey the likes of which you’ve ever only imagined.”

She gasped as he crushed her lips beneath his again, desire spinning her in a crazy dance that left her utterly undone. She could barely think, her senses too overwhelmed for rational thought.

And yet, he wanted an answer.

“Say yes, Mallory,” he urged, punctuating his words with tiny plucking kisses. “Tell me you will be my bride.”

Fighting to collect her scattered wits, she stared into his dark, melting eyes.

Eyes she knew.

Eyes she trusted.

This was Adam. Her friend and confidant. The man she turned to more than any other in the world. He would take care of her. He would be good to her. With him, she would never need to fear. For in spite of his reputation, she knew without asking that he would be faithful, making sure he never broke the sacred vows that would bind them together.

But more, if they married, she might be able to laugh again the way he wanted, filling his home with glad sounds rather than silence. In his arms, she might be able to forget her pain, smothering it beneath the rapture of his touch and the promise of carnal pleasures she knew were no exaggeration or lie.

All she had to do was answer him.

All she had to say was yes.

“Are you sure this is what you wish?” she whispered, her heart beating in her chest as fast as hummingbird wings. “I don’t want you to be sorry.”

Something hot and violent flashed in his gaze, an undisguised longing that made her tremble. “I will never be sorry,” he said on a rasp. “I want this. I want you.”

Seconds slid past as she stood inside his arms. “Then yes, Adam, I will marry you.”

A fierce elation burst like fireworks inside Adam, happiness vying with passion as he bent to claim her mouth once more. He knew he was showing his true feelings, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, but he couldn’t help himself.

She’s mine,
he thought.
Never again will I let her go.

Forgetting himself completely, he ran his fingers over the buttons on the back of her dress, slipping the first one free of its loop.

Without warning, a knock came at the door, the knob turning before he had a chance to realize what was going on.

“Wedding bells had better be ringing,” Jack said as he stepped over the threshold. “Or I really will call you out this time, old chum.”

Mallory gave a squeak of surprise and tried to step away. Adam kept her where she was, turning her so she stood tucked close against his side, his arm looped over her shoulder. “You’re certainly making a habit of barging in on people these days,” Adam remarked.

Jack arched a sardonic brow as he strode farther into the room. “I knocked, which would have been sufficient if you two hadn’t been busy dallying together.”

“Jack!” Mallory complained, cheeks coloring.

Her brother ignored her, his attention focused on Adam. “And considering that you’ve been in here for the better part of an hour, I assumed you must surely have gotten around to settling matters with Mallory. You have, have you not?”

Adam nodded. “You may indeed wish us happy, since your sister has done me the great honor of consenting to be my wife.”

Jack glanced between the pair of them before his face split into a wide smile. Striding forward, he pulled Mallory out of Adam’s embrace and into his own, hugging her as he bussed her on the cheek. “Every happiness, Pell-Mell.”

“Thank you, Jack,” she said, returning his hug.

“You’re to tell me straightaway if he doesn’t treat you as you deserve.” Jack released her and took a step back. “I’ll be there in an instant to bully him back into shape and give him a thorough thrashing besides.” Turning, he faced Adam. “Count this as your only warning, Gresham.”

“Warning duly received, Byron.”

From the corner of his eye, Adam saw Mallory scowl with concern, obviously concerned that he and her brother were about to come to blows again.

But Adam knew she had no need for worry, Jack cuffing him on the arm a moment later before pulling him into a hearty, backslapping hug that Adam returned with equal enthusiasm.