Chapter 28
“Wake up, angel,” Damien whispered in Caroline’s ear.
Warmth spread through his chest as her naked form stirred to life.
Beneath the sheets that covered them, he felt her backside push into his cock as she arched her back and stretched, letting out the most sinful whimper as she did so.
With a groan, he tightened his arm around her waist and tugged her down, seating his pulsing erection between her warm, wet thighs.
“No, no mornings,” Caroline complained softly.
Yet even so, he could hear the smile in her voice; he could feel the way she teasingly wriggled against him. He chuckled huskily before dipping his head down to playfully bite her neck and reply, “I am afraid so. The day awaits us.”
This had been their start to every morning for the last week, and Damien accepted that it was his own form of heaven on earth.
They now shared a bed just as they shared their bodies, and every night he went to sleep with Caroline in his arms, warming him to his very soul and giving him some of the best rest he had ever had in his life.
Hers too, it seemed, for there were no more nightmares; no more nights where he had pressed his ear to their shared wall and listened to her terrified whimpers, just wishing he could go to her and make her feel better.
That was all over now. This was their life. No torture. No ache or misunderstandings. Just love. And trust.
He slid himself inside her passage, already hot and wet and waiting for him, and he reveled in the moan that poured through her throat as her fingernails bit into his muscled forearms. Slow, long, wet strokes and soft rasping breaths filled the air as they made love one more time before they started their day.
Then a knock came at Caroline’s door.
“Go away!” Damien snarled, then sank himself into his wife again as he clamped his hand around her mouth, stifling the moan he had earned.
“I must insist you get out of that room!” a woman’s voice called from the other side.
Damien growled in annoyance. Whoever was on the other side of that door was about to lose their job, and maybe their life.
“I said, go away!” he yelled, but the knocking persisted. Then a moment later, the maid, who had obviously gone mad, began to sing a song that was apparently familiar to Caroline.
Caroline pushed out of his arms with a gasp, pulling her body from Damien’s so fast that he let out a tortured groan as he shoved his fist into his mouth and bit down on his knuckles.
“Elara?” Caroline asked, revealing her perfect body as she stood up from the bed. From the door, a giggle sounded.
“Let me in, sleepyhead!”
Caroline turned to him, her brown eyes sparkling with delight as her mouth fell agape.
“It is Elara!” she exclaimed, then flew around the room to find her robe.
“So I heard,” Damien grumbled around his fist. He had been so close. So very close.
He let out another groan as he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, willing his need to temper down.
Then he ripped the sheets away from him with great annoyance as he, too, left the bed to look for his breeches.
He had barely had them on before Caroline, now covered in her nightgown and robe, flung the door open and sprang into Elara’s arms.
The two women squealed loudly with delight as they bounced on their feet and embraced tightly. So loudly, in fact, that Damien winced at the pitch and put a hand to his ear.
“Lovely to see that you are finally back, Elara,” he stated dryly.
Elara giggled as she and Caroline pulled away, and she looked over Caroline’s shoulder toward him with a feisty smile.
“Lovely to be back,” she answered impishly. He gave her a mocking grin, but even so, he already felt his annoyance beginning to fade. How could he be upset when Caroline was clearly so very happy?
“When did you return?” Caroline asked, still holding onto Elara.
“Yesterday afternoon,” Elara explained. “I am sorry it took me so long to come visit, but I needed to get the children settled down, and Constantine wanted...”
She paused as her gaze flicked back to Damien’s still half-naked form.
“Well, I think you know what Constantine wanted,” she finished with a giggle.
Damien felt his ears warm up and turn red as both women burst into giggles.
“On that note, I believe I shall leave you ladies be to catch up,” he muttered, reaching for his shirt. “Welcome back, Elara. Sincerely.”
Caroline and Elara turned to him, their arms wrapped around one another’s shoulders.
“Thank you, Damien,” she replied. “And yes, we do need to catch up on many things, but first, I wanted to let you know about your present.”
Damien raised a curious brow as Caroline looked questioningly at Elara.
“My present?” he asked.
“It is waiting for you in the dining room. Get dressed and go down. Caroline and I will ready George and be down in a little while.”
Still confused about why Elara would bring him a present rather than Caroline, he cocked his head and looked from one woman to the other. Caroline shrugged her shoulders, clearly as confused as he was.
“All right then,” he said, then strode across the room until he was standing before Caroline.
His smile returned as she blushed at the way he wrapped his hand around her throat and tipped her head toward his, and he kissed her softly.
“See you downstairs,” he whispered as he pulled away.
He nodded to Elara, who was grinning from ear to ear and bouncing with excitement, and went to the door that adjoined their rooms. As soon as he closed it from the other side, an eruption of loud giggles came through.
Elara’s timing was off, and she shared Adrian’s tendency to sneak up on them—yet Damien could not help but enjoy how much her presence clearly made Caroline happy.
He quickly dressed in fresh clothes, eager to see what his ‘present’ was, and headed down the stairs. As he reached the foyer, familiar voices greeted him, and he quickened his pace even as he told himself it was not possible.
He was almost running when he suddenly stopped in the doorway of the dining room, relief spreading in his chest as he watched two of his oldest friends talking to each other at the table.
“Evander?” he breathed, taking a slow step forward.
Evander and Adrian both turned to him with grins spread along their faces, and Damien could not help but match their expression.
His old friend looked much changed since he had seen him a month and a half ago.
He was no longer skin and bones. Much of his muscled form had returned, even though he still was not the impressive size he was before his troubles.
He was also clean-shaven and dressed in finely tailored clothes, and his once sallow complexion was now flushed with healthy color.
“Damien,” Evander greeted as he and Adrian stood. “It has been a while.”
Damien nodded as he took a careful step forward. Evander was much improved indeed; however, there was still a haunted look in his blue eyes that even his grin could not hide.
“Stop dawdling, would you, and give us a proper greeting,” Adrian drawled sarcastically.
“Well, do excuse me for being startled to receive a visit from all the Mason siblings at once.”
Damien’s grin widened, and he moved, shaking first Adrian’s hand, then Evander’s. Then, before he could help himself, he reached forward and pulled Evander into a tight hug. For a moment, his friend froze, then his arms came around him, and Evander patted his back.
“It seems we have both changed,” Evander chuckled as they pulled away. “I do not ever recall you being one for displays of affection.”
Damien merely chuckled as he looked his friend up and down again, still in disbelief that he was actually there. In London. In his home.
“Have you decided to return?” Damien asked, the three of them settling into their seats.
“It is only temporary,” Evander replied, his tone suddenly somber. “I am not quite ready to return to the busy streets of London. I would not... I do not wish to be seen.”
“Well, for however long, we are happy to have you back,” Adrian replied, clapping his brother on the back. “Mother is over the moon. She even wants to parade him for the Season.”
Again, Damien caught the wince on Evander’s face, and he wondered what or who he was so set to avoid.
“What brings you back?” Damien inquired.
“You, actually,” Evander replied, surprising Damien.
“Me?” Damien echoed, raising his brows.
“Well, your problem anyway,” Evander went on.
“I know that I have not been present in London for quite a while, but I still have ears and eyes in all sorts of places. I reached out to them after your little visit with Caroline, just to see if they could find anything out about this boy that was brought to your doorstep, the one you told me about.”
Damien felt his heartbeat quicken. Even after months of searching, he still had little information on George’s birth, and had begun to think of his efforts as a failure.
“Have you found anything about him?” Damien urged.
“One of my little spies caught sight of this woman who brought the boy to you, no doubt on her way here with him,” Evander explained.
“She was spotted again in the market a few times, this time in a maid’s uniform.
I have not figured out the specific one yet, but I believe that she may be working in one of the houses here in Mayfair. ”
Damien’s brows furrowed with confusion.
“A maid? She said she worked for the orphanage the boy came from,” he replied.
“And could she provide the name of that orphanage?” Evander asked.
Damien shook his head, remembering how strange he had thought it was that she could not be specific about where she claimed to work.
“It was a ruse, I am sure of it,” Evander went on. “Someone wants to set you up, old friend.”
Damien leaned back in his chair, his mind racing with possibilities.
There were so many people from his past who would want to find a way to hurt him.
During his and Adrian’s search for Evander, he had bloodied many faces and broken many bones.
Those men were too weak physically to fight him and win, but maybe one of them had found a cleverer way to attack him.
The other question that kept echoing in his mind was why such a person had not yet exploited the claim. What were they waiting for?
“Evander!”
Caroline’s sweet voice broke through the room, shooing away Damien’s intense thoughts and bringing him back to the present. He looked up just in time to see Caroline, Elara, Jeremy, and George all rush into the dining room, each of them wearing a beaming grin.
He sat forward, ready to stop Caroline from hugging Evander, but as he stood, she slowed just as she reached him, and instead of throwing her arms around him for a tight hug, she rose on her tiptoes and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.
His heart thudded and swelled at the sight.
It seemed his wife was very good at meeting people where they were.
“Caroline,” Evander greeted warmly. “I believe I owe you an apology and congratulations.”
“I will happily accept your congratulations, but I certainly refuse any apology as it is not needed,” she replied, her tone matter-of-fact as she moved away from Evander to take her seat beside Damien.
Damien slid his hand into her lap and gave her thigh a warm squeeze, his appreciation growing for her with every passing breath.
He kept his hand firmly on his wife as he watched Jeremy approach Evander with a warm handshake and, of course, jokes, pointing out that they had both been ‘traveling’.
It was a poor joke in Damien’s opinion, but it did elicit a chuckle from Evander, proving that Jeremy’s silly mood was as contagious as ever.
Then George approached, to Damien’s great surprise, without Caroline at his side, and he puffed out his little chest and offered his hand to Evander to introduce himself.
“It is a pleasure indeed to meet you, young man,” Evander replied with great sincerity as he shook George’s hand. “I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed being a part of our family.”
Evander’s words struck Damien in the chest like a bolt of lightning.
That is what they were, he realized. They were all family now that he and Caroline were married.
It was not the first time he had thought it, but it was the first time he felt it.
He looked slowly around the room, taking in everyone’s cheerful faces.
Everyone he loved was sitting around him, all healthy and happy.
He only looked away when he felt Caroline’s hand squeeze his own, and he hastily loosened his grip on her thigh, not even realizing that he had tightened it.
He murmured an apology as he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
“No need,” she assured him. “You did not hurt me. But you look almost sad, my love. Is everything all right?”
Damien felt a lump of emotion form in his throat as he took another quick glance around the full table.
“I just never thought I would have this,” he rasped. “I suppose I became accustomed to being the outsider looking in on your family. I never suspected I would have one of my own.”
Caroline leaned toward him and kissed his lips so tenderly that he nearly gasped.
“We are your family,” she whispered against his lips, sending light bursting through his heart. “And you are ours.”