Chapter 16 #2
The moment shattered as they frantically looked toward the greenhouse door, but then he remembered he’d locked it.
Milo pressed his forehead to Amelia’s for one aching heartbeat before stepping back, chest heaving. He swallowed down the disappointment that the tryst was ruined before it had even begun. But Amelia, cheeks flushed, lips swollen from his kisses, seemed frozen in place.
Duty—fatherhood—came crashing back around him like cold water, and he straightened his clothes immediately.
He had almost gotten swept away in the heat of another passionate encounter with his wife.
He could not continue to act so impulsively.
He must reclaim his control today. Put passion aside for the good of their marriage.
Step back from the precipice of indecency and consider Amelia’s reputation, too.
Rutting with her whenever and wherever he pleased was not a way to show her the respect she deserved. Amelia, unfortunately, seemed unable or unwilling to stop him.
“We will finish this at a more appropriate time,” he warned, voice thick with desire still.
Amelia nodded and gulped, but she still did not move to straighten herself. Milo took matters into his own hands and smoothed her skirts down, pleased to see she had not been too badly mussed. Her hair had not been disturbed, and he pulled her cloak back around her body.
“Join us as soon as you can,” Milo suggested, and turned toward the sound of his daughter’s repeated calls. “Coming, Lucy.”
He unlocked the greenhouse door and found his children and Lady Ashcroft standing about outside. Phillipa smiled benignly enough at him, but Milo saw her gaze flicker into the greenhouse.
He pulled the door closed behind him to give Amelia time to compose herself.
The last thing he wanted this morning was Lady Ashcroft’s company, but her presence was always a curb for lust. He wished her a good morning, then glanced down at his daughter. “What are you doing outside the nursery at this hour?”
Lucy tugged at his arm. “Will you play with us, Papa?”
“No. It is nearly time for breakfast.”
Phillipa drew close. “Forgive me, Milo. The children seem to have been forgotten by your wife this morning, so I brought them down to the duchess and she suggested a walk together to look for her.”
“They were not forgotten,” he promised, though they had been entirely. He had been too busy seeing to his own needs, however, to remember his children. “I was just fetching Mama.”
“No, Papa. I just want you.”
He glanced down at Lucy in irritation. “Do not dismiss your mother. She is a good woman.”
“She’s not my mother. She tricked you and everyone says—”
Milo placed a hand over whatever Lucy was about to say next. “What have I told you about repeating gossip?”
“But Papa! It’s true! You’re always with her now and forget all about us. You don’t love us anymore,” Lucy accused, pouting.
Whoever Lucy was listening to, they needed their neck wrung. He knew there would be gossip about the speed of his second marriage, but never had he expected to have his child hear it and repeat it to him. “She is nothing of the sort.”
“She’ll be your ruin,” the child claimed, even though she could have no idea what she was saying.
He glanced at Phillipa and saw her nod, agreeing with the child.
“You are too young to understand.” He knelt before his daughter. “I love you and Adam equally. You are my children. I would do anything for you. But Amelia is my wife and deserves respect.”
“Respect must be earned,” Phillipa murmured, but her brows rose. “Where is your wife this morning, Milo? I sent a maid up to your room, but she wasn’t there. I’ve barely seen her in the drawing room the last few nights. Does she have other interests on the estate?”
“I know exactly where my wife is at all times,” he promised, scowling.
He would have to deal with Phillipa before too long. He glanced over his shoulder impatiently, impatient for Amelia to come and take the children away so he could.
She appeared from around the back of the greenhouse, as if she was coming from a long walk alone.
Amelia acted surprised to see them together and he beckoned her to join them. “Here’s Mama now.”
Lucy grabbed his hand and tugged hard, trying to draw him away from Amelia and toward Phillipa. “We’re having breakfast with Grandpa, Papa.”
He dug in his heels, waiting for his wife. As soon as Amelia’s gaze met his, desire pulsed between them.
He forced his impulses down and allowed his daughter to pull him toward the manor house and the breakfast room.
Perhaps he had been spending a little too much time alone with Amelia, and he clearly needed some distance from her to keep his passions under control.
There was also Phillipa’s influence to counter.
Lucy was at an impressionable age and he’d chosen Amelia for his bride to be a steadying influence on the girl.
At the doorway to the morning room, he glanced back, checking that Amelia had followed. She walked beside Phillipa, saying nothing and looking uncomfortable again.
The yearning to wait, to take hold of her hand and keep her by his side, remained strong.
He resolutely turned his back on the temptation she presented and joined his father at the table, devoting his attention to his children and their immediate needs.
Passion would have to wait until nightfall.