With His Ring (Brides of Bath Book 2) (32 page)

"Could we have the candle on the next time?
I should like to see your body."

His Glee was no girl but a sated woman. A
woman of undeniable passion. A woman who was now his wife in every
way.

* * *

Where Blanks was concerned, Glee knew no
pride. He had only to admit his desire in order for her to eagerly
beg that he take her. And now that he had, she still knew no pride.
Only the debilitating pleasure of being possessed by him. Even if
she did not lay claim to his love, she had enough. Lying beneath
him, joined in this most intimate manner, brought more happiness
than she'd ever thought to capture in a lifetime.

In the soft candlelight she watched her
hands move slowly, firmly over his magnificently muscled torso,
then sweep down to cup his solid hips. Her face nuzzled into his
musk-scented chest, she listened to his reassuring heartbeat, then
lifted her mouth to his again. She tasted the port they had drunk,
and she quivered with a sated contentment.

They made love again. Unlike the first time,
this time there was no pain. Only nearly unbearable pleasure.

Afterward, he collapsed beside her, pressing
her to him, whispering endearments.

"Oh, Blanks, I told you we'd have great fun
if we married."

He gathered her into his solid embrace and
chuckled. "Then it's grateful I am you persuaded me to hear your
suit."

"Not nearly as happy as I am, my love, even
if you do persist in reminding me that
I
was the one who
offered for
you
.

* * *

He fell asleep, nearly dazed from the
unequaled pleasure her actions and words had given him.

But when he awoke at dawn and glimpsed her
sweet face in slumber beside him, her shoulders bare, he tried to
rid his mind of the deep contentment—even love—she provoked.

A gnawing fear gripped him. He bolted up in
bed and looked down at her. Her long lashes brushed against her
beloved face. She seemed so youthful and innocent still. Now he
realized she was more precious to him than his own life. It was
impossible to love more deeply than he loved her.

And he feared he may have impregnated
her.

If he should lose her now, he would die.

He slipped from the bed, bitterly angry with
himself for not remembering his greatest fear, for assuaging his
own need at the cost of what could be his beloved wife's life.

He quietly dressed, then left the
bedchamber, carefully easing the door shut behind him. He wanted to
be away from Glee for he could not think clearly in her mesmerizing
presence. He felt like riding his horse as fast as lightning in a
fruitless effort to purge Glee from his mind. If only he could undo
what he had already done. He could never again allow himself to so
blissfully indulge in what she so freely offered. For losing her
would be unbearable.

Chapter 28

At first Glee thought it was still night for
the heavy velvet draperies in Blanks's room blocked light from
entering the chamber. She stretched out, as contented as a waking
kitten, her naked body writhing beneath the covers of her husband's
bed. Her smile widened as she remembered every blissful minute
spent in Blanks's arms the night before. His complete possession of
her swamped Glee with an overpowering sense of well being.

Faintly aware of Blanks's musk scent, she
opened her eyes and turned to his side of the bed, only to be
deeply disappointed to find him gone. Clutching the sheets to her
breasts, she sat up and looked around the chamber for signs of him.
"Blanks?" she called, thinking he might be in his dressing
chamber.

There was no response.

Disappointment swept over her. She had
rather fancied the idea of languishing in his bed again this
morning, of once more feeling him so closely entwined with her it
was impossible to tell where he left off and where she began. For
they had been that close.

Then, too, if Blanks were here, he could
help her gracefully extricate herself from his chamber. She should
die of embarrassment were Blanks's valet to discover her is such a
state of undress. She fell back into the soft feather mattress, a
smile curving across her lips. It pleased her that the servants
knew her husband had finally exercised his conjugal rights. Now she
really understood what it was to be Mrs. Blankenship.

But how to get dressed?

First, she must find the shift Blanks had
removed in the heat of passion. She looked for it on top the bed.
It was not there, nor was it on the floor nearby. She lifted her
covers high into the air and finally found her shift beneath them
at the foot of the bed and swiftly slipped it on.

Then, she crossed the room and walked
through Blanks's dressing chamber to her own, surprised that the
sun was high in the sky. It must be close to noon. Why hadn't
Blanks awakened her?

Patty heard Glee and opened the dressing
room door. "Allow me to help you dress," she said. "I've selected
the rose muslin."

Glee sighed. "An excellent choice since my
brother-in-law is here. Blanks would not at all like me to dress
flamboyantly in front of his brother. Where, by the way, is my dear
husband?" She shrugged out of the night rail.

Patty slid the rose muslin gown over her
mistress's head. "His valet said the master left at dawn to go
riding."

Glee's brows lowered. "And he hasn't
returned yet?"

"I daresay he's off with that solicitor of
his again." Patty handed Glee's stockings to her.

Leaving me to entertain Jonathan
.
Glee sat down to put on her stockings and shoes. "And what of his
brother?"

"He's at the breakfast table as we
speak."

"Then I'd best hurry down and make him feel
at home."

Once dressed, Glee sped from the chamber and
raced down the stairs without even glancing into the looking
glass.

"Good morning, Jonathan," she cheerfully
called to him as she strolled into the bright morning room. "What
poor hosts you must find us!"

"Not at all. I'm rather slow to start in the
morning myself." His glance skimmed her, then over her shoulder.
"Where's your husband?"

She caught her breath as she poured herself
a cup of coffee. "The servants tell me he left dreadfully early
this morning. I never heard him leave myself." She especially liked
telling him that part. "I daresay he's gone to Mr. Willowby's.
You'll learn I did not exaggerate when I told you how seriously
Blanks takes his responsibilities as head of the family. He's a
completely changed man. If you like, we can drive by Mr. Willowby's
office when we take our drive in the phaeton."

He shook his head. "No, I wouldn't want
Gregory to think I don't trust him—although I don't."

She peered at him through narrowed eyes.
"While I admire your candor, I abhor your sentiments."

He blotted his lips against his serviette.
"Which I find admirable. It's never been a secret to me that you're
deeply in love with my brother."

She laughed. "I suppose not, since the first
time I met you I blathered about having loved Blanks all my life,
which is quite true, though I try to pretend otherwise to Blanks.
You must know how fleetingly his affections have been engaged in
the past. I believe his interest wanes upon conquest." She leveled
a stern glance at Jonathan. "I mean to keep him a satisfied lover
until the end of our days."

"A noble—though impossible—goal, my dear
sister."

"Obviously you cannot begin to understand
what great maturity has come over your brother," she said, rising
from the table. "Are you ready?"

He stood up and proffered his arm.

As they strolled from the house, she lifted
a smiling face to Jonathan. "You must know I want to dislike you
because you mean to undermine my beloved husband, but I find I
cannot. Because you're his brother, Blanks love you. And if my
husband loves you, I must."

The phaeton was waiting for them as they
left the house.

Jonathan stood back and squinted at it,
shielding his eyes with a flat hand as if the bright hue would
blind him with its brilliance. "'Twould be rather difficult to go
unnoticed in this." An amused smile on his face, he turned to
assist her in climbing on the box before he hopped up and took the
ribbons.

"You sound exactly like your brother," she
said with feigned displeasure. "In fact, you'll find that Blanks
becomes more like you—and your father—with each passing day."

"So you keep telling me," Jonathan said with
a frown. "I fail to see how a leopard can change its spots." He
drove toward the Royal Crescent.

"Has it never occurred to you, the spots
were merely acquired as an armor to shield him from the abuse your
mother so readily administered?"

Jonathan laughed. "I cannot believe my
brother has need to possess armor. A more confident person than my
brother I have never known. He's been blessed with extraordinary
good looks—and certainly received all the height in the family.
He's bright and athletic and loved by all who know him. I assure
you, my brother has no Achilles heel."

Now she laughed. "How little you know him if
you believe that. What you say
is
true when Blanks is away
from Sutton Hall, but throughout most of his life—at Sutton Hall—he
was needled by a step-mother who perpetually complained about him,
converting her husband to her way of thinking. Which left Blanks
feeling that nothing he could do would ever please either of them.
So why not be a thorn in their sides?"

Jonathan looked incredulous. "Gregory told
you this?"

"Of course not! I've figured it out on my
own, but I know I'm on target."

"I think you're daft!"

"How much, my dear brother, you sound like
Blanks."

"Good. Then we're in agreement on at least
one thing."

"I don't mean to be mean-spirited toward
your mother, as I'm sure you could not have a mother more devoted
than Aurora is to you. It's just that she has absolutely no
affection toward Blanks, and you cannot deny it."

Swallowing, Jonathan refused to meet her
gaze. "I cannot deny it."

"I dare you to analyze it from Blank's
perspective. All those years he heard nothing but how worthless he
was. Was it no wonder he began to believe it himself?"

"You make a most convincing point," he
conceded as he drove around a stopped delivery cart. His voice grew
soft. "I envy my brother the champion he's got in you."

"I am persuaded you, too, will find a woman
who will love you as I love Blanks."

"You may be confident, but I'm not. In fact,
I'm not at all ready for marriage."

She thought of how similar Blanks had
felt—until she forced him into marriage. "I daresay most young men
are of your thinking—until Cupid's arrow snags them as it did my
brother—and Blanks."

He drove past the fine townhouses on the
crescent, commenting on them, but Glee's thoughts were elsewhere.
Her heart raced as she tenderly remembered the feel of Blanks
within her, the agonized sound of his voice as he huskily whispered
his satisfaction into her ear.

Mixed with her overwhelming desire to renew
what was begun last night, was a deep, retching disappointment that
she had not seen Blanks's face when she awakened in the morning.
Why had he left her? Was he not as delighted as she? Her heart
began to drum low and menacing. Was Blanks not as full of bliss as
she? Surely he was. He had to be.

A somberness came over her as they continued
their ride, Jonathan commenting on the unity of Bath's classical
Georgian architecture. "Yes, you're so right," she would say. Or,
"I have often thought the very same thing myself." Or, "I do so
agree with you."

This continued until they reached the foot
of the city and she cast a glance down Broad Quay to see if Blanks
could be at Mr. Willowby's office. If he had gone riding, he'd be
on his magnificent bay, not in a carriage or phaeton. With great
relief, she saw Archie holding the reins to Blanks's bay in front
of Mr. Willowby's office.

The thought of being so near Blanks sent her
heart racing. "Oh, look, Jonathan! Blanks
is
at Mr.
Willowby's. Let's stop and say hello to them."

He reined in and rounded the corner, pulling
to a stop in front of the office building.

Her heart stampeded at the thought of facing
Blanks for the first time since he had taken such thorough
possession of her. She blushed as Jonathan helped her down. Then
she bent down to Archie's level. His cheeks were pink from the sun.
"Good afternoon, Archie. Can you manage caring for my husband's
horse as well as my phaeton?"

He puffed out his slender chest. "Ye can
count on me."

"Good," she said, patting his blond head.
"We shan't be long."

In Mr. Willowby's office, Glee introduced
herself and Jonathan to the clerk and asked him to inform her
husband of their presence.

The clerk passed into the interior office
where his employer was conversing with Blanks, then Blanks came
bounding from the office, a smile on his face. His glance flicked
to Jonathan first and he bowed, then, with unbelievable softness in
his dark eyes, he met Glee's gaze. "Hello, my dear."

She stepped forward and gave him her hand.
He kissed it tenderly. "I trust you are well today, dearest?"

How she loved it when he called her that! A
smile broadened on her face. "I've never been better," she said
softly.

Blanks dropped her hand and looked away from
her quickly. He cleared his throat. "So what do you think of the
scarlet phaeton?" he asked his brother.

"It has a very fine ride," Jonathan
said.

"And the appearance?"

"Your wife tells me my opinion of it exactly
matches your own."

Blanks laughed. "It must be as Glee says.
The older I get, the more I resemble Father."