Chapter 17
“Good God, is my brother actually smiling? Quick! Call for the physician!”
Jeremy and Caroline both laughed at his teasing. Even Damien chuckled, despite how frustrated he still was at Jeremy showing up at the worst possible time. Something was about to happen between him and Caroline.
The way she looked at him, the way she drew her bottom lip between her teeth as if she were picturing something wicked between them. The way she touched him... Oh, she wanted him. Maybe not as much as he wanted her, but even so, that smidgen of proof filled him with a wicked satisfaction.
Then they were interrupted, and after Damien had finished greeting his brother and settling him into his rooms, he went to Caroline’s freshly reconstructed door and found it locked. Their moment had passed, and at least for that night, he had not been able to get it back.
The following morning, Jeremy demanded that they spend some time together so he would get to know his new sister-in-law.
Damien watched as his brother took both of Caroline’s hands in his and declared her absolutely wonderful before Damien had even introduced them properly.
He had forgotten, in Jeremy’s absence, how easily his brother put people at ease.
He was nothing like Damien in that regard.
Nor in appearance. Where Damien was broad and imposing, Jeremy was lean and elegant, with an almost artistic quality to the way he carried himself.
His dark hair was longer than fashion strictly dictated, and his cravat was tied with considerably more flair than was necessary.
“Oh, do admit that you missed me terribly, Damien dearest.”
“Even I am not so heartless to deny that I missed you, little brother,” Damien replied. “Though I thought your last letter implied you would not be returning for another month? And surely the letter I sent you did not get to you so quickly.”
Jeremy gave a casual shrug as he lounged in his chair, one long leg crossed over the other, as the three of them sat at the patio table.
“It did not,” Jeremy answered. “Though I am sorry I missed it. And yes, we were about to set sail for Crete when we got word that an illness had taken over the island. I decided not to risk it and came home instead,” Jeremy replied.
Affection bloomed in Damien’s chest as he watched his little brother smile sheepishly, making him look so much like the young boy he once was.
A thought passed through his mind, dark and awful, of what would have happened if he had not discovered what their father was doing to him, and suddenly, any lingering frustration over his impulsive return vanished.
“I hope my sudden appearance has not ruined any of your plans, Damien dearest,” Jeremy said, his tone hesitant.
Damien shook his head and reached out to pat his brother’s knee.
“Not at all. Happy to have you home,” he replied.
Then he let out a heavy sigh.
“Even if you have terrible timing,” he muttered under his breath.
“Oh, I am so happy to be back home,” Jeremy replied earnestly, obviously not hearing the last thing Damien said.
Caroline did, though, and it earned him a furtive glance and a small kick to his shin under the table.
Damien only smirked as he shot her a wink, and that was when Jeremy cast a teasing look toward Caroline.
“I have spent all morning telling you of all my adventures on the Continent, but it seems I have missed much in my absence. Do inform me of everything that I have missed, would you?”
Damien let out a chuckle as Caroline let out another beautiful laugh; the sound burrowed deep into his heart. Her natural beauty seemed to only amplify when she was amused or happy.
“I meant to write you earlier, but sadly, I have been caught up with other duties,” Damien explained. “Caroline and I have been married for nearly two weeks now. She has been an immeasurable help with my new ward.”
Caroline’s brows lifted, as if surprised at his praise.
“You have,” he acknowledged, then winked at her again. “You have come quite close to helping with some other things as well, haven’t you?”
Pleasure snaked through Damien’s veins as a blush stole over Caroline’s cheeks.
This time, he was prepared for her little kick, and his hand wrapped around her ankle like a vice.
He gave a look that challenged her to make a scene and reminded her of his words, ‘I will keep my hands off of you. Unless you first put your hands on me’, and he was rewarded with a furtive glower as she tried to tug out of his grasp.
Instead of letting her go, Damien smoothly slid his hand up her silk stocking to her calf and began massaging the muscle.
A dreamy, very soft sigh escaped Caroline’s lips as she felt his touch, and his pleasure increased as she not only stopped resisting him but sank deeper into her chair, allowing him to continue massaging that small area.
Although his fingers itched to travel upward, he kept them exclusively on her calf, content in that moment to bring her pleasure in that small form.
“Ward?” Jeremy asked, both brows flying up in surprise. “What ward?”
Damien tore his gaze away from the content look on Caroline’s face and faced his brother. He had almost forgotten he was there.
“A subject we will discuss at a later time,” Damien said, waving a dismissive hand. “And you will meet him, too. His name is George. He is a good little boy who needs help finding his parents.”
Again, Caroline looked surprised that he would say such nice things. Jeremy, on the other hand, only looked even more curious about the subject, so Damien moved forward before his little brother started to ask a no-doubt long list of questions.
“We need to celebrate your return, Jeremy,” Damien announced. “It has been too long since you left the shores of England, and there will be many excited to see you again.”
“Yes indeed,” Jeremy agreed readily with an assertive nod. “I demand a ball in my honor! I have missed so much in these past years. I need to have my fill of all the gossip.”
His joking tone earned another laugh from Caroline, and again, Damien felt his heart throb at the sound.
So beautiful. He gently squeezed her calf, a quiet show of his appreciation, and he was rewarded with another serene smile. He stroked his hand lower, wanting to please her more, and quietly slipped off her shoe so he could smooth the heel of his palm over the underside of her foot.
A soft sound dangerously close to a moan poured from her perfect lips, and Damien was forced to squeeze her little toe a bit too hard to bring her back to the present.
She responded with a jolt, but did not pull her foot away from him as she straightened up and blinked away the haze of pleasure in her eyes.
“Tell me, Mr. Winterbourne,” Caroline began to say, but Jeremy hurriedly waved a hand through the air.
“Please, dear sister, do not use such formalities with me,” he replied jovially. “We are family now. Call me Jeremy, I do insist.”
Gratitude swept through Damien, happy to see that his little brother was willing to accept Caroline with open arms.
“Jeremy,” Caroline corrected herself, smiling fondly at the man. “Are there any particular names you would like to have on your guest list for the ball?”
“Oh, simply everyone,” Jeremy quipped, then brought his glass of wine to his lips. “I have kept in touch with many through correspondence. Then there are my friends who returned here after graduating from Oxford, while I went on my Grand Tour. It would be nice to see them all again.”
“No one in particular, though?” Caroline asked, raising her right brow. “Such as a certain young lady? Someone you might want to settle down with now that you are back?”
Damien’s arm shot up just as Jeremy coughed and spit out some of his wine, making him let go of Caroline’s foot.
His sleeve caught the red drops instead of his face, but he was a little annoyed that he had to break contact with his wife.
He frowned a little as he shook out his sleeve, but it quickly turned into a smile as he heard his brother’s response and felt Caroline place her other foot in his lap at the same time.
“Do be careful, Caroline dearest,” Jeremy teasingly warned. “For such words might summon our dear grandmother, and I certainly do not wish to awaken such a beast.”
This time, it was Damien who laughed, for he, too, remembered the matriarch incessantly urging both of them to marry young. He caught Caroline looking at him, and to his surprise, she had a fond smile on her lips, as if she might like the sound of his laughter as much as he liked hers.
“Our grandmother is a lovely woman,” Damien explained, taking pleasure in massaging her other foot. “However, she can be quite persistent at times. Especially with how she wants Jeremy and me to live our lives.”
“Yes, and while she means well, the darling dear, she does not quite understand that Damien and I have our own dreams in life,” Jeremy added.
“What were you two like as boys?” Caroline asked, leaning forward with a curious smile. “Did you get into a lot of mischief?”
Jeremy’s eyes lit up at once.
Damien settled contentedly back in his chair, enjoying the way Caroline and Jeremy were so agreeable to one another’s company.
He was not worried about Jeremy telling her about their father.
Even though Jeremy was much more talkative than Damien was, there was a line that he would not cross.
Such dark memories did not deserve to come to light, and they had both grown used to keeping them buried.
“Oh, where to begin,” he said, pressing a finger to his lips in mock deliberation.
“There was the time Damien convinced our tutor that the library was haunted so that we would not have to sit through our Latin lessons. He spent three weeks making strange noises outside the man’s door at night before the poor fellow finally packed his bags and left. ”
Caroline turned to Damien with wide eyes, and he lifted his shoulders in an unapologetic shrug.
“He was a dreadful teacher,” Damien said simply.
“He was perfectly adequate,” Jeremy corrected. “You simply despised Latin.”
“I still do.”
“And then,” Jeremy went on, “there was the incident with the chandelier, which I maintain to this day was entirely Damien’s fault—”
“It was entirely your fault,” Damien cut in.
“And which resulted in our grandmother refusing to speak to either of us for a fortnight,” Jeremy finished, ignoring him completely. “Though in hindsight, that fortnight of silence was rather pleasant.”
“What happened to the chandelier?” Caroline asked.
Jeremy winced theatrically.
“It is no longer with us,” he said, with great solemnity. “May it rest in peace.”
Caroline dissolved into laughter, and Jeremy looked pleased with himself.
“I like her enormously,” Jeremy announced to Damien, as if Caroline were not sitting directly beside him. “You have done well for yourself.”
“Thank you,” Caroline said, before Damien could respond. “I like you enormously, too.”
“Of course you do, dearest,” Jeremy replied, entirely without arrogance. “Everyone does. It is both a gift and a burden.”
“The burden being?” Caroline asked.
“That people are forever wanting my company, and I simply cannot be everywhere at once,” Jeremy said, heaving a dramatic sigh. “It is exhausting, truly.”
Caroline pressed her lips together, clearly fighting a smile.
“It sounds dreadful,” she said sympathetically.
As Damien listened, he watched how easily Jeremy seemed to make Caroline laugh, and he wondered if Adrian might be right.
What if he let go a little? Would his guard fall and lead him toward pain as he feared?
Or would he feel safer, happier, and be able to encourage Caroline’s beautiful laugh to tumble from her lips more often?
Perhaps with Jeremy back, he might just be able to try.
He then felt a small kick at his leg, and only then realized that he had become so lost in such thoughts that he had stopped massaging Caroline’s foot. He grinned, picked up her foot again, and decided that yes, he certainly was going to try.