Chapter 20 #2
Dev was stunned to silence. It was precisely the turn of events that was necessary to relieve Kit of his old identity entirely and to allow him to live as Kitty alone for as long as she desired to.
Wilkes shared a few more details as they continued on to Russell House.
It seemed that The Brotherhood had been working behind the scenes, without either Dev or Kit being aware of it, or even of the organization, for weeks.
Wilkes was, of course, responsible for the unseen protection they had had all along as a friend of Kit’s and member of The Brotherhood.
“We would be more than happy to have both of you join,” the man said once they reached the house and stepped down from the carriage. “But I suppose this is a matter that should be discussed at another time.”
“Indeed,” Dev’s father said, looking a bit overwhelmed by the volume of information they had all discovered on the drive from the church. “A certain discussion with the family needs to be had before all others.”
Dev’s gut tightened at his father’s words and at the way the man looked at him. That look made him feel thirteen again, as it had when he’d gotten into one sort of mischief or another.
Goodbyes were said to Wilkes along with promises that Dev and Kit would call on him at some point when they returned from the country, if they returned from the country. After that, the family entered the house.
Instead of going straight to the wedding breakfast, where some of Dev’s and Kitty’s close friends had already arrived, Dev’s father steered the family into one of their private parlors.
“I believe a few things need to be brought to light before we proceed,” Dev’s father said once Dev and Kitty were seated together on a small couch, James and Ameila on another to one side, Dev’s mother and sister on their other side, and the rest of the family who had come in from the country, all of whom looked confused, standing around them.
Dev fully intended to make whatever excuses he needed to for Kitty, but before he could, Kitty sat straighter, hands folded in her lap, likely to keep them from shaking, and glanced up at the newfound family around her.
“I must beg your forgiveness for not confessing all immediately,” she said. “I understand that this is a monumental secret that I am asking you to keep.”
“What secret, my dear?” Dev’s mother said in a somewhat tremulous voice, attempting to hold her smile and pretend that nothing was amiss.
She had donned her spectacles once they reached home, however, so she could not claim a lack of vision for her ignorance.
“You are my daughter now, and I fully intend to embrace you as such,” she said.
Kitty glanced to her with grateful, teary eyes. She then reached to the back of her neck to unhook the fastenings of the elaborate choker she wore with her wedding gown. As soon as she took it away, her Adam’s apple was clearly visible.
Those of Dev’s family members who had not already guessed the truth drew in breaths of surprise. It was only his sister, Olivia, and his brother Julian’s wife, Barbara, who reacted, however.
“My father was correct in every accusation he made,” Kitty said, lowering her face, but only for a moment.
She lifted her eyes to meet everyone’s that she could before continuing with, “I was also correct when I said that I am not now nor was I ever his son. I do not know how these things transpire, but I have always known in my heart who I am. It is some sort of accident of nature that I was born into the incorrect physical form. But I am and always have been Kitty.”
Silence filled the room. Dev’s heart swelled so much with pride in his beloved’s bravery that it nearly brought him to tears. He reached for Kitty’s hand, taking it in his and squeezing it.
“I love Kitty,” he told his family. “I accept her fully for who she is. She is my wife. Nothing else matters. I understand if any of you cannot accept this, but I ask of you, I beg of you, for both of our sakes, that you forget whatever past my beloved might have had and see her only as the daughter or sister that she will forevermore be to you.”
More silence followed. For a moment, Dev was uncertain whether the two of them would find the acceptance that he longed for. What he was asking was incomprehensible, and some would call it willful participation in sin.
“Of course we accept you,” his mother said, standing and coming forward so that she could kneel in front of Kitty and take her free hand.
That in itself was a gesture so profound that Dev caught his breath with the intensity of the emotion it evoked in him.
“I must confess that I always suspected something,” his mother went on, shocking him even more.
“But I have also seen how sweet and how kind you are, my dear.” She rested a hand on the side of Kitty’s face.
“And I have seen that you have embodied a great sadness which needs love as its remedy. I would be honored to give you that love as your mother.”
Kitty let out a quick moan of relief as tears streamed down her face. “Thank you, my lady.”
“Have I not already bid you call me ‘Mama’?” Dev’s mother said, pushing up a bit so she could kiss Kitty’s cheek.
“And you will call me ‘Papa’,” Dev’s father added. Dev glanced to his father in surprise. “Your mother is right,” he said in answer to Dev’s expression. “Kitty is lovely. You have chosen an admirable bride.”
Dev gusted out a breath and shook his head. “I never would have thought we would find so much acceptance.”
“Well, you will not find it anywhere but in this house, among these people,” James said, coming forward with a more serious look.
He glanced back to the others before saying, “We must all pledge to keep Kitty’s secret for as long as we live.
Our brother’s happiness and, I fear, our sister-in-law’s life, depend upon it. ”
The family agreed, which would never cease to astound Dev.
Kitty was beside herself with gratitude as each of Dev’s family members came forward to hug her or kiss her cheeks and welcome her into the family.
When that was done and when Kitty’s choker was put back into place by Evelyn herself, the entire family left the parlor as one and joined their guests for the wedding breakfast.
“It is all so miraculous,” Kitty said later that night, after the celebrations and feasts, after they said goodbye to some of their family who departed for their country houses, and after their own things were packed up and sent downstairs to be loaded onto a carriage that would whisk them out to Wiltshire in the morning.
“I never could have imagined a day like this.”
“Neither could I,” Dev said with a pleased smile, going to the vanity in the suite they’d been given in a far corner of the house for their wedding night so that he might help Kitty remove her wig. “I never imagined I could be so happy.”
Kitty beamed at him in the mirror as he removed her wig and set it on its stand. “I love you, Dev,” she said. “You have given me the greatest gift imaginable today. You have given me a life.”
“And you have given me love,” Dev said, bending down to kiss her cheek and then the top of her shoulder .
She wore only her chemise and drawers at that point, and Dev could not help but to push the strap down over her shoulder so he could kiss more of her. He slid his hands down her sides as well, pulling up the gentle fabric of the chemise so he could touch as much of her skin as he could reach.
“Perhaps if we try hard enough tonight,” he said, grinning mischievously at Kitty’s reflection, “we could defy nature and make a baby as well.”
Kitty laughed, then stood from her stool so that she could fit herself into Dev’s embrace. “I would not mind giving it a try at all,” she said, her voice low and sonorous.
Dev tugged her tighter against his frame, glad he wore only a banyan and nothing underneath, and kissed her hungrily.
She was so much softer in his arms than she had been the first time they had spent together.
It was as if losing all vestiges of the Earl of Castleton had freed her inhibitions.
She kissed him back eagerly and did not flinch away from her own erection at all as she did.
Dev laughed with joy, kissing his bride and walking her back toward the bed.
When the backs of Kitty’s legs bumped against the mattress, he paused to pull the chemise up over her head and to toss it aside, then pulled at the drawstring of her drawers.
As they came loose and slid down her legs, Dev moved to a crouch.
He kissed his way down Kitty’s flat stomach until he reached the tender spot above the base of her cock. Only then did he feel her stiffen.
“You know I love you as you are,” he said, gazing up at her with a loving smile. “I love every part of you, inside and out.”
“I’ve no wish to be a disappointment to you,” Kitty whispered.
Dev grinned and kissed her belly on one side of her cock and then the other. “You never could be,” he said. “That would be impossible. ”
He underscored his words by taking her cock into his mouth as deeply as he could to give her all the pleasure in the world. Kitty gasped and groaned, threading her fingers through Dev’s hair and holding on as Dev bobbed to give her everything.
He did not want to stop there, however. When he could feel Kitty trembling with need and close to release, he stopped and stood so that he could shrug out of his banyan. Once that was on the floor, he swept his bride up playfully and tumbled into bed with her.
Kitty laughed at the sudden change of their positions, and once she was settled on her back with Dev above her, wedged between her legs, she hummed with contentment.
“I pray that we are like this always,” she said, smiling and wriggling under Dev to cause friction in all the right places.
“We will be,” Dev promised her. “If I have anything to do with it, we will be.”