Chapter 22
Jeremy’s mind had twisted into knots, his blood boiling with every laugh Anna had willingly shared with Colin, every accidental touch of their hands while playing cards, every smile she had cast at the man, and every fond look she had given him.
She had not looked at Jeremy once, not until the end. Whether it had been her intention or not, the jealousy within him had reached infernal temperatures, infuriating him to the point that he had almost walked out at least a handful of times.
But she was on the terrace now, away from the far too friendly attention of Colin.
Jeremy seized his opportunity. Downing what was left in his glass of whiskey, he headed across the drawing room, not caring if anyone thought it was suspicious or scandalous. He could not endure the rest of the evening if it meant watching Anna become someone else’s.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Beatrice move, her brow furrowed, her mouth open as if to call out to him. He quickened his pace, for he didn’t need to be dissuaded and certainly didn’t need to be told that this was likely a terrible idea.
The cold evening air hit him like a slap to the face, but it did nothing to clear his mind to more rational thoughts. The fire inside him was too intense to be cooled now.
A few other guests were on the terrace. He ignored them as he sought Anna out, finding her at the bottom of the marble steps that led into the gardens. She stood there with her back to him, her lady’s maid at her side… as always.
It won’t deter me, not this time.
He marched straight down to where Anna was and pushed between her and her lady’s maid, his hand curving around Anna’s upper arm. With just enough force to make his intention clear, he pulled her into the gardens, looking for a secluded spot where none of the inquisitive guests could see them.
“Are you mad?” she protested in a hiss. “What are you doing? Those guests will go directly to the scandal sheets to report what they saw!”
“I don’t care,” he replied gruffly, as he led her into a trellised tunnel, overgrown with wisteria that had not yet bloomed. Camouflage enough to keep out prying eyes, though not prying assumptions.
Relaxing his grip on her arm, he turned to stand in front of her.
She was breathing fast, his mind filling with visions of her seated before her vanity, stripped bare, those pretty hazel eyes watching in the reflection as he pleasured her, following the trace of his kisses up her neck, and the grasp of his hand on her breast.
“Ye shouldn’t be laughing with him,” he said thickly. “Ye shouldn’t let him touch ye.”
A dry laugh barked from her lips. “Whyever not? Am I not permitted to have fun, simply because you are not enjoying yourself?”
“Because ye’re mine, lass,” he growled.
Her beautiful eyes narrowed at him, the shine of mirth replaced with a glint of anger.
“I am no one’s, least of all yours,” she replied bitterly.
“But I might become Colin’s. He is amusing, friendly, easy to be around, and lives close enough that I could walk in the same places.
It is you who should not touch me, for you have shown you have no intentions toward me. ”
He clenched his jaw, struggling to maintain some semblance of self-control.
All he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and kiss her until she had no thought of any other man.
He would have dropped to his knees right there and buried his face between her thighs, teasing her with his tongue until she cried out his name and the guests really had something to gossip about.
“Yes, I think I might consider Colin,” she continued, taunting him.
“Then, we both get what we wanted. I get to almost keep my home, I get the security of marriage, and a position that would allow me to actually leave my home without fearing it will be taken. I get the commitment of someone who would assuredly treat me well. And you get to be rid of me, so I cannot tempt you any longer. Is that not ideal for all? Indeed, I do believe Colin is the perfect choice.”
He stared at her, searching her face for any sign of dishonesty, eager to find something in her expression to show she was not serious.
Surely, she could not want to live a dull existence as the Marchioness of Belford?
Surely, the thrill of what they had was better than any ‘security’ that Colin could give?
Do ye know how it would haunt me, to have ye so close?
“Never say another man’s name in me presence,” he rasped, wishing he had ridden off the first time he had encountered Colin.
“I shall say what I please to someone who has no say in what I do,” she shot back, her bosom heaving with the exertion of her obvious anger.
“You forget, sir, that a woman is not handed good fortune. I was lucky. I was lucky that my husband died before he could hurt me, as he hurt so many others. I was lucky to be allowed to think of this house as my home for a year and a half. But now, because you have made it impossible for me to stay here, I must seek my own luck, and Colin might well be my stroke of good fortune.”
“Ye will never be his,” Jeremy seethed, his grip slipping on his restraint.
“By whose authority?” she challenged. “Not yours. You do not want me.”
“Oh, I want ye,” he replied, closing the small gap between them. “Wanting ye isn’t the problem.”
How could she think that, when he had not been able to sleep or eat properly over the past few days, consumed with want?
“I am not your plaything,” she said, her eyes bright, her gaze flitting to his lips.
“I shall not be a mistress or a secret. I shall not be a… comfort that you seek whenever you find it convenient. So, allow me to get out of whatever tangle we are in. Allow me to give you what you want, and take my leave of Stonebridge to be a wife somewhere else. Safe, away from you.”
“I don’t want ye away from me.” He curved his arm around her waist and felt his loins ache as she gasped. “I want ye as close as ye can be. I want to lose meself in ye.”
His other hand slipped between them and found the peak of her thighs, cupping his palm against the pulsing core of her pleasure. She buried her face in his chest for a moment to stifle the cry that escaped, and he knew, in that moment, that he would say or do anything to keep her there with him.
When she tilted her head up to look at him, he didn’t hesitate. He caught her mouth with his in a desperate kiss, silently cursing the layers of fabric that kept him from touching her secret bud or sinking his fingers deep into the heat of her.
At once, she kissed him back with equal fervor, pressing her body to his, grinding herself against the curve of his hand, clinging to him as if everything she’d just said meant nothing.
It took what threadbare self-control he still had not to hoist her up and unfasten his trousers, so they might both find their deepest satisfaction.
I could never rush it with ye… I’d want yer first time to be like magic, and that’s why ye can’t marry any of those fools.
Still, it didn’t quiet the roaring desire that rushed through his veins as he kissed her with a frantic urgency, and she kissed him back in kind. Apparently, she no longer cared about the guests who might be whispering. Neither did he.
Just then, as he considered his earlier thought of sinking to his knees to pleasure her, a voice rang out across the gardens.
“Has she agreed yet?” Colin’s voice. Surprisingly resonant.
Anna jumped back as if she’d been struck, her eyes wide with sudden panic, her hand flying to her chest as if that might calm her ragged breaths.
“Agreed?” she panted. “What is he talking about?”
“I don’t know,” Jeremy replied, as he quickly searched Anna’s appearance to ensure nothing was out of place.
Her face was flushed, but that could easily be explained as the anger from an argument or the chill of the cool evening air. The rest of her stayed perfectly pristine and resplendent as when she had entered the drawing room, with not a skirt or neckline out of place.
“Come out and tell us the happy news if you have some to give!” Colin called out again, adding a fresh layer of confusion to Jeremy’s dazed mind.
He took Anna’s hand and looped it through his arm, taking a breath before guiding her to the entrance of the trellised tunnel. She tried to pull away, likely worried about what awaited them outside, but he saw no other way.
I dragged her out here. If there’s gossip, it’s up to me to dispel it.
The moment they stepped out of the camouflage of tangled, mature wisteria, Jeremy noticed that Anna’s lady’s maid was standing nearby. For the first time, he was grateful for her presence, for it at least gave the illusion that Anna was being chaperoned and everything was above board.
Although he had to wonder how much Katherine had heard.
“What did I tell you?” Colin bellowed, drawing the couple’s attention to the rather crowded terrace.
Indeed, Jeremy doubted there were any guests left inside; evidently, they had all come out to see what was going on, drawn by their thirst for scandal.
It sickened him to witness how ghoulish people could be, eager to attend the downfall of others.
Of course, there were some people who warranted an audience to their downfall, but Anna wasn’t one of them.
She had been through enough already, thanks to people like this.
Beatrice…
Jeremy noticed his sister-in-law off to one side of the crowd, her arms crossed, her eyes cold as they seemed to bore into him. An air of ‘I told you so’ or ‘you should have let me stop you.’ All too late now.
“I was just saying,” Colin continued loudly, “That it seems the Dowager Duchess of Stonebridge has finally found the right man for her!”
It sounded rather like a prompt, but Jeremy wasn’t sure of his lines.
Reluctant before, Anna now began pulling Jeremy toward the terrace, a frown upon her face that suggested she was about to make the situation worse. For herself, at least.
“So, is it happy news?” Colin asked, rather pointedly.
Anna shook her head. “Actually, His Grace and I are not–”
“We’re not only in possession of happy news, but we’re ready to share it,” Jeremy interrupted swiftly, noting the glittering eyes of the watching guests, how hungry they were for Anna to destroy herself, baying silently for her blood.
A ripple of confusion whispered up and down the terrace, the bloodthirsty gleam in their eyes dimming for a moment. Beatrice just shook her head in slow disappointment.
“What are you doing?” Anna hissed out of the corner of her mouth.
Jeremy ignored her, more focused on her safety and protection than on his own future vows.
He could let her protest and wait for the scandal to break—that she had been seen alone in the gardens with the new Duke of Stonebridge—but he was not going to watch her endure more suffering than she probably already had.
“Ye might be confused, but we held this house party for a reason,” said Jeremy.
“Jeremy…” Anna whispered sharply.
“Her Grace and I are to be married,” he declared before she could think of stopping him. “And the reason ye’re all here is that we need guests, and I don’t know anyone in English society yet, so I thought… why not turn a house party into a wedding?”
Anna stared at him, her grip on his arm like a vise.
“It will take place in a week,” he added.
“To those of ye who can’t stay, I will take nay offence.
To those of ye who can, consider yerselves the first to know that the Duchess of Stonebridge, this lass at me side, will remain the Duchess of Stonebridge.
” Though he didn’t have a drink, he raised his hand as if he did. “To me bride.”
There was a brief delay in the response, as if the guests were struggling to keep up with what was happening. But Colin didn’t miss the cue, raising his glass in the air.
“To the bride! To the Duke and Duchess of Stonebridge!” he called, leading the rest of the crowd.
Immediately, they began to reply in a clumsy chorus, the sordid air of scandal giving way to a cheerful atmosphere of celebration.
They would not get their pound of flesh today, but they were privy to a wedding announcement that no one else in the ton yet knew about.
And it seemed everyone was satisfied with that.
Everyone but Anna… and Beatrice.
“I cannot believe you did this,” Anna said quietly, her face drained of color, her eyes wide and unblinking. “Excuse me, I think I hear my goats bleating.”
She pulled away from him, a false smile pasted on her face as she walked up the steps to the terrace.
He heard her thank the guests who offered congratulations, and heard her hurried excuse of, “I shall not be a moment; I just need to powder my nose. Please, enjoy yourselves and celebrate in my absence.”
And then she was gone, vanishing through the drawing room door, likely with no intention of coming back to the party.
Jeremy thought about all the doors she could lock and the rooms she could hide in, and immediately knew he had to resolve this before it could fester.
Announcing that he was heading down to the cellar himself to pick out the finest champagne for the occasion, and eliciting a lively roar of appreciation from the guests, he quietly followed after his bride.