Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Priscilla sat in front of her mother, tearfully recounting the entirety of what she’d learned. “And he kept her from me. All this time.”
Her mother grimaced as she reached for Priscilla’s hand. “He did.”
She didn’t talk about her feelings. Not yet. They were still so new and so raw. But her mother squeezed her fingers. “And what secrets have you been keeping?”
Priscilla sucked in her breath. “Secrets?”
“How did you and Wyatt meet?” her mother asked.
Priscilla felt as though the wind had been knocked from her lungs. Her mother knew the truth, she could sense it, and Priscilla hated lying to her anyway. “I placed an ad in the paper.”
“And why didn’t you tell me?”
Biting at her lip, she shook her head. “I thought you’d be disappointed. I broke every rule you ever taught me.”
“Ah, so you did it to protect me? Our relationship?”
Priscilla nodded.
“Has it occurred to you that he didn’t tell you the entire truth for the exact same reason?”
Her mouth dropped open and drat it all if her mother wasn’t right. They were exactly the same. “But I love you.”
Her mother gave her a side eye, her brows lifting. “And how did you know that he doesn’t love you?”
“We’re a match of convenience. I don’t love him and he doesn’t love me.”
“Don’t be silly,” her mother huffed. “Of course you love him. That’s why you married him.”
“I married him because he agreed to allow me control of father’s assets. I needed to protect the trust that father placed in my...”
“What?”
“He taught me how to manage the money and left it in my care. I know he wished for me to protect his legacy.”
“Maybe.” Her mother laced her fingers into Priscilla’s. “But he also taught you to love your family with your whole heart.”
That shook Priscilla right down to her toes. Because everything her father did had been infused with love.
“Perhaps what you’ve been missing is a little more heart,” her mother whispered, leaning over to kiss Priscilla’s cheek.
Priscilla rose. Because her mother was right. This whole time she’d been attempting to protect her father’s finances when his real inheritance had been his love and affection.
She shouted her goodbye as she sprinted from the room, racing toward the one place she knew Wyatt would be. The carriage house.
But she hadn’t made it down six steps when footfalls boomed up toward her. She stopped, Wyatt coming into view as he rounded the corner of the narrow back stairs. “Wyatt!”
In answer he charged toward her, sweeping her into his arms, his lips finding hers.
She kissed him back, every fiber of her body responding to his.
Her arms twined about his neck as he pressed her back into the wall, their bodies so close, not an ounce of air moved between them.
He felt so strong as her legs wrapped about his waist, his hands holding her up by her behind. “Wyatt,” she gasped between kisses. “I have to tell you something.”
“Is it that you want me to make love to you right here?” he said before kissing her again, their tongues as desperate as their bodies to close the distance between them.
“Yes,” she replied breathlessly when the kiss finally broke. “But more than that…”
“What, love?”
Heat filled her cheeks. She didn’t know how else to say it and so the words just tumbled from her lips. “I love you. It’s why I was so upset. I just…I know I wasn’t supposed to…I tried to resist…”
But she stopped when his mouth covered hers again.
With an agility that left her breathless, he pushed up her skirts, undoing his own falls. When he pushed inside her, they both groaned their satisfaction.
“Priscilla,” he breathed, as he pulled out and then pushed all the way inside her again. “I love you too. So much it hurts.”
“You do,” she said, the pleasure of the words, and their bodies making her hiss out the words in short gasps.
“I’ve been so afraid you wouldn’t return my affection.”
The unifying point she’d been trying to ascertain suddenly clicked and she stilled in his arms. “You thought I’d leave you if I knew she did?”
“My father hated me and so few people have ever stayed. Chosen me. Only my brother, but we had no other allies, it almost wasn’t a choice for him, and honestly, most of the time, I don’t deserve his loyalty either.”
She kissed him more slowly then, the pace of their lovemaking becoming more languid. “I’m not going anywhere, Wyatt.”
He smiled and then pressed his lips into her neck. “And I’ll always support you, Priscilla. I wasn’t sure I could be the man you needed but I’ll do my best.”
She bit back a smile. He was supporting her this very instant as he held her in his arms.
He moved inside her, pleasure coursing through her. “How can you not see that you are everything I need and want?”
He growled out his appreciation of her answer, the pace picking up again until they were both panting and grinding together.
“I love you, Wyatt,” she cried as she held him even closer.
“And I love you.” He held her hips in both his hands, their bodies moving together.
The pleasure built inside her until finally it broke, shattering into a thousand tiny pieces.
She cried out into his mouth at the same moment he let out a guttural moan, his body spasming in pleasure.
Their lips met over and over, the shadowy darkness of the stairwell adding to the intimacy of the moment. “What shall we do now?”
“Go to bed?” he said with a wicked glint to his eye.
She giggled. “It can’t yet be five in the afternoon.”
He kissed her again. “I know. But what I wish to do with you might take all evening and all night.”
An excited thrill raced down her spine.
That sounded wickedly wonderful. This was her husband. Her hero. The man who was working so hard to be everything she needed. “I know that you promised to retire the Bushy Hero, but do you by chance still have the domino and mask?”
He cocked a brow, his manhood lengthening inside her once again. “Is that the sort of request I think it is?”
Heat crept into her cheeks. “Only if you’re going to do it.”
He chuckled. “I would be honored, my love, to fulfill whatever fantasy you might have. But tonight, the costume is unavailable.”
“You’re not going out in it, are you?” she asked a bit of fear replacing her excitement.
“No, my love. My nights are now yours. But my brother is going to end this business with Eugene once and for all.”
“Oh,” she breathed, understanding immediately. She kissed her husband again. “We’ll have to find another way to celebrate then.”
Lifting from the wall, he pulled her skirts down to cover her. “I can think of a few ways,” he murmured in her ear as he started up the stairs toward their room.
Priscilla could hardly believe her luck. She’d found her future. The one she’d always dreamed of, the one her father had wished for her to have.
“Does Ralph need your help? I know I said that I wished for you to give up your campaign for justice, but I don’t want to endanger others for my benefit.”
He shook his head. “He’ll be fine. But if you’re all right with it, I may just lurk in the shadows to see that he’s safe. Be there in case he needs me.”
She looked into his eyes, her fingers trailing along his cheek. “I think you should. Much as I want you safe at home, we all have to protect the ones we love.”
He smiled then as he entered their room. “Thank you for understanding.”
But more words failed her as his lips found hers again.