Chapter 44
Nathanial
Thankfully, after Stilton and his son left the Tremaine ball, the rest of the evening passed without incident. Not only that, but the tone of Society had changed. The gathered forces against Stilton and his ilk had been powerful, confident, and varied.
Suddenly, everyone wanted to speak to him and his wife.
Everyone was welcoming.
The ton knew which way the wind blew.
Without realizing it, without intending to, he’d restored his family’s social standing by standing up for his wife.
Considering the vagaries of the ton, it could have easily gone the other way.
Nathanial was not blind to the fact that the number of dukes and powerful figures within Society that had taken his side, while Stilton had had no one, had greatly contributed to that outcome.
Still.
He felt much easier now, knowing that there was no reason his sisters should not be successes when they debuted.
While he would never trust the majority of Society to stay firm if the wind blew against him and Kalina, tonight, he got to see who would stand beside them and the effect it would have. They would be able to weather every storm.
His sisters’ futures were assured, in every way they could be.
And he was in love with his wife.
He had not intended to make such a public declaration, but it had not harmed their standing. When gentlemen spoke with Kalina, they eyed him warily, as if he might punch their noses, too. A side effect he was not at all upset about.
His wife would never be one of the bored matrons of the ton, taking lovers while her husband dallied with his mistress. Not if Nathanial had anything to say about it.
Once their social duties were done, he was ready to leave.
“Shall we?” he murmured in Kalina’s ear.
“Yes, please.” She smiled at him, appearing relieved rather than resigned to leaving the ball early.
Nathanial could only imagine how stressful the events of the evening had been on her.
They made the rounds of their friends, Kalina’s family, and the others who had stepped up to support them before taking their leave of the Tremaines.
Lady Tremaine did not appear sorry to see them go.
Nathanial suppressed a smile. They had not quite reached the levels of scandal the Baron and Baroness of Fife had, but he was certain that tomorrow, Lady Tremaine’s ball would be the most talked-about piece of gossip.
This time, he did not mind being the center of a scandal.
Getting into the carriage with his wife, Nathanial sat down beside her rather than across from her.
With a soft sigh, she leaned her head against his shoulder as the carriage began to move, rocking them slightly.
He reached out and put his hand on her lap, sliding his fingers over and between hers to hold her hand.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?” Turning his face to the side, he brushed a soft kiss over the top of her head. Her fingers were curled around his, and he swept his thumb against her soft skin.
There was a pause.
“Everything.” She laughed, a soft little laugh that made him smile. “But especially for how you handled my grandfather. And my uncle. They were…”
“Awful.” He supplied the word when her voice trailed off.
Taking a deep breath, she nodded. He felt the movement against his shoulder.
“They were awful. Which feels terrible to say of family, but it is the truth.”
“My father was also awful, so I understand.”
She giggled, but it only lasted for a moment before she quieted.
“I am glad my father did not reconcile with them.”
“I as well.” He was very glad that her father had put her first again, even when faced with the outcome that he’d returned to England for.
It was not worth it for the man to grovel at the marquess’ feet, but some would have, anyway.
They would have kissed the ring, toed the line, and put up with their wife and children being treated terribly, all for the sake of ‘family’.
Nathanial sighed. “I suppose this means we’ll have to spend every holiday with him. ”
He said the words teasingly, and—as intended—they made his wife laugh again, lightening her mood.
The carriage rolled to a halt in front of their house.
Getting out, Nathanial turned to help his wife.
A sudden thought gripped him as she stepped onto the first stair down from the carriage, and rather than helping her all the way to the ground, he reached out and lifted her into his arms. Kalina gave a little shriek of surprise as she found herself being carried rather than stepping down.
Her arms clung around his neck, helping to secure her against him.
“What are you doing?”
“We did not have a proper homecoming as newlyweds,” he replied, giving the coachman a nod as he turned away and began to walk up to the front door of the house with her in his arms. “So, we are doing it now. I am carrying you over the threshold.”
“Oh.” Her voice was soft. Wondering.
Nathanial grinned. He felt… giddy. That was the word for it.
The expression on Stalling’s face when the butler opened the door for them was even more entertaining. The very proper man seemed confused and a touch worried.
“Is the duchess hurt?” he asked anxiously, watching Nathanial coming through the doorway.
“No, Stalling, she is unharmed. We are in for the night now.” Nathanial strode past him, making for the stairs.
“He looks utterly flummoxed,” Kalina whispered, laughing softly.
Nathanial did not particularly care about what Stalling thought right now.
He whisked Kalina down the hall to his bedroom.
Their bedroom. Because they no longer spent their nights apart.
Which also likely scandalized Stalling, not that he would ever be so gauche as to express an opinion on the matter.
Right now, all Nathanial wanted was to get his wife alone.
Kicking the bedroom door shut behind him was extremely satisfying.
Letting her legs drop, he held her close against him, so he could bend down and claim her lips in a searing kiss.
With her arms still wound about his neck, she met his passion with her own, their tongues stroking together as his hands began to travel over her body.
Clothing dropped to the floor, piece by piece, some with a bit more difficulty than others.
Nathanial moved his hands and mouth over her silken skin as more and more of her body was revealed to him until he could finally tip her back onto the bed and kneel on the floor beside it.
Grasping her by the hips, he pulled her body toward him so her legs were draped over his shoulders, giving his mouth and tongue full access to the sweetness of her pussy.
“Nathanial!” She shuddered, her fingers sliding into his hair as his tongue slid through the center of her folds, tasting the honeyed sweetness of her arousal.
Sliding his hands up her body and over her breasts, Nathanial pressed on with his task, licking and sucking as he massaged the soft mounds filling his palms. His fingers closed around the taut buds of her nipples, pinching them, while he feasted between her thighs.
With half her body draped over him, there was nothing she could do but writhe as he played with her to his heart’s content, teasing her, tormenting her with growing pleasure but denying her the climax her body ached for.
He was denying himself as well.
His cock ached, bobbing in front of him, eager to bury itself inside her.
“Please, Nathanial…” Her fingers flexed in his hair, tugging hard enough that it sent a shudder down his spine. Her words were gasped out between panting breaths, her back arching as she thrust her breasts up against his palms. “Please… I need you.”
One last, long lick up her center, where he lingered on the little bud of pleasure at the top, then Nathanial gave her what she needed.
Rising to his feet, her ankles pressed against his shoulders, he lined his cock up with her body.
The wet heat slid over his tip, and he groaned, her cry ringing in his ears, as he thrust in hard.
Burying himself inside her, he leaned forward, and her legs slid against his body until he could turn his head and kiss one of the slender ankles his hand was now wrapped around.
Kalina could not quite reach him in this position, other than to brush her fingertips over his chest, and her arms fell down to either side of her head, framing her beautiful face and the river of her long black hair. She was a goddess. His goddess.
“I love you,” he told her.
Her eyes widened in shock as he retreated, his cock sliding inside her, then thrusting home again.
“I love you.”
Kalina
Tears sparked in Kalina’s eyes as her husband buried himself inside her with the words she most longed to hear. The warmth building in her core, the heated passion, surged within her as his body rocked against hers, his hands sliding down her legs and back to her breasts.
“I love you,” she whispered back. His hands closed over her breasts as she shuddered as her back arched, his hips moving as he thrust into her again. Her returned confession seemed to have set off a spark within him, and he began to move faster, harder.
Kalina cried out as the pent-up passion he’d tormented her with bubbled over, her climax exploding through her as he filled her over and over again. The pleasure spiraled wildly out of control as he kept going, driving her higher and higher, the waves of ecstasy wrecking her senses.
She tipped over the edge while he kept going, sending her into a state of agonized rapture as the sensual assault hovered between pleasure and pain from the sheer intensity.
Reaching for his hands, she grabbed his wrists as tears sparked in her eyes, her legs wrapped around his waist, trying to hold him in place, trying to cease the relentless pounding.
Instead, he switched their holds, taking both of her wrists in one hand and pinning them above her head, so she was utterly helpless beneath him. His other hand slid between their bodies, finding the little nubbin of her clit, swollen and overstimulated, and began to rub and pinch the tiny bud.
Kalina screamed as the intense sensations shot through her, her pussy clamping down around him. She fought against his wrists, her thighs squeezing his body, trying to push him away as the sensations swamped her, becoming almost too much for her to bear.
More tears slid down the sides of her face, soaking into her hair as the onslaught overwhelmed her.
The pain-pleasure combination pulsed through her until Nathanial slammed home and groaned as he began to throb within her, emptying himself into her shuddering body. Kalina gulped, panting for breath, her muscles finally going lax as his hand moved away from her tortured nub.
Her husband half-collapsed over her, his forearms pressed against the bed on either side of her arms as he feathered kisses over her jaw.
“I love you,” she whispered in his ear. She wanted him to know that she did not only feel such things in the heat of passion.
Felt him shiver against her.
“I love you.” He pressed a kiss to her jaw before lifting his head to look down at her, his fingers smoothing the flyaway hair back from her face. “I know our marriage did not begin the way either of us wanted, and as much as it bothers me that your father was right about us… I do love you.”
Kalina laughed. There was a part of her that was annoyed that her father was correct as well.
Good intentions. Questionable methods.
But it had gotten the job done.
“I feel the same. And I do love you, with all my heart.”
Taking her lips in another kiss, Nathanial wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up with him as he straightened, so he could roll them both into the bed.
Kalina happily fell asleep in his bed, in his arms.
The next morning, they sat at the breakfast table with his sisters, who were all happily chattering. The contentment, the joy, that settled over her was bone deep.
“I say,” Fiona said, picking up her slice of toast to butter. “Did anyone else hear a scream last night? I woke up in the middle of the night, and I swear I heard someone screaming.”
Both Emma and Julianna shook their heads no.
“You must have only dreamed that you woke up and heard it,” Julianna said.
Nathanial and Kalina locked eyes over the table. She brought her teacup up to her lips to help hide her expression, while he winked at her.
Hush.
He mouthed the word before sinking down behind his newspaper.
Heroically suppressing her giggles, Kalina asked the girls what they wanted to do for the day, skillfully changing the subject. This was her life now. And it was better than she could have ever dreamed.