Chapter 5
Five
Marriage Contract
This marriage contract serves as a testament to our commitment to maintaining an enduring and supportive marriage. By entering into this agreement, the parties involved pledge to uphold the values of trust, loyalty and mutual respect.
Signed
—a marriage contract between Mr. Joshua Forrester and Lady Phoebe Drake written in haste but with the deepest respect for the woman he loved by Mr. Joshua Forrester, Esquire.
She was straddling him in a most indecent manner as only a wanton widow would do, yet she couldn’t regret it.
Ever. She read the contract a second time through, looking for a loophole only a solicitor would see.
Joshua had taught her what to look for, but what if in this instance he hid something in plain sight?
She grabbed hold of the obvious. “I can’t have children.”
“They aren’t a necessity.”
“You don’t want a son?”
“I would love a son or a daughter, but whether we have children or not has no bearing on my desire to marry you. What if I am incapable of producing a child? Would that have any bearing on your desire to marry me?”
“Of course not, but most men don’t want to marry a widow whose marriage produced no offspring.”
“Most men don’t love you the way I do. I want to share my life with you.
Work together, play together, wake up with you in my arms every day and grow old with you.
If we are graced with children they will only add to our happiness.
If we are not, my joy of spending my life with you will not be diminished. ”
“Most men want my land, my house, my belongings, my business. My money.”
“Then they are blind and ignorant. I want you. Only you. Why else would I give you half of everything I possess?”
She didn’t know. Even her parents hadn’t loved her enough to give her funds of her own. They had given it all to Richard. True, the marriage contract had said everything reverted to her upon his death, but he had run everything into the ground by then.
A tear ran down her cheek and Joshua wiped it away with the brush of his thumb. More tears followed and he gently brushed them away as well.
“No one has ever thought of my needs before their own,” she said in a voice that wavered with every syllable.
“I will always put your needs before my own.”
She stared into his fathomless eyes that seemed more stalwart than she had ever seen before. “And who will put your needs first?” She would of course, but she needed to know what he expected.
“I am content at being second, or third, or fourth.”
“Why would you be third or—oh.” The hope that was blossoming in her chest died. “I cannot have children, Joshua.”
“Then I will be second. It matters not.”
Her chin began to quiver and he placed a gentle, consoling kiss on her lips which only made her tears fall faster.
He pulled back and gazed into her eyes once more, his expression serious and, to be honest, frightening. “I need you to understand that you won’t be able to travel in the same social circle you are accustomed to if you marry me.”
She laughed at his fear. She shouldn’t, yet it was so preposterous, she couldn’t stop that single bit of hope from escaping as she rushed to reassure him.
“You do realize the scandalous set I belong to, don’t you?
They will continue to accept me, provided I continue to throw the house parties they are accustomed to. ”
A wrinkle appeared on his brow and she was certain he would change his mind. “Can I request that we reduce the number of parties to two parties a year?”
“As my husband, you may insist we throw zero parties a year.” She prayed he wouldn’t try to be so controlling. That was not a relationship she cared to have.
“I would not do that to you.”
“I wouldn’t mind if you did.” Because in this instance, if she was being honest, she didn’t.
His forehead smoothed as if he finally understood what she was saying. “Does that mean you will marry me?”
Joy blossomed in her chest in a manner she’d never experienced. It felt as if she would explode with the pure wonder of the moment, and she smiled. “Yes, I will marry you, Joshua.”
He kissed her then. It wasn’t gentle, or soothing. Their lips crashed together hard, with her claiming him with an equal amount of vigor. He suddenly drew back.
“You have to sign it.”
“What?”
“You have to sign the contract.”
She laughed, her bubble of joy bursting from the seam of her lips. “What exactly do you plan to use for quill and ink?”
His eyes twinkled. “My inkstand is in the travel compartment to my right.”
“You thought of everything.”
“I aim to please.” He ground against her and her breath caught. Every part of her that wanted a repeat performance of that petite mort she’d been gifted just moments ago, tingled with anticipation of joining with him for the first time.
She pulled the fur off the seat next to them and removed the cushion. Hidden from view was a compartment large enough to hold a pistol. Joshua’s weapon of choice sat inside, his gorgeous gilt bronze inkstand with a handle in the form of a serpent.
“Nithesdale always said you wielded a deadly pen.”
“I hope this one is filled with life, love and promise.” He pulled her tight against his cock with his free hand.
She removed his quill and the inkstand while trapping the marriage contract between their bodies. “You are not making this easy.” Her lip quirked.
“I want you to know your mind and know that you are certain about your decision.”
“I have trusted you for nearly a decade, it was myself whom I did not trust.”
“And now?”
“I don’t believe I could make a better decision for my future.”
He let out a long, sweet breath as if he had been holding it for years.
He kissed her then and she nearly spilled the ink over the two of them before he pulled away.
“Sorry,” he said but the look in his eyes was anything but apologetic.
He looked as if he would ravish her if she didn’t sign the contract quickly. “You’re torturing me, Phoebe love.”
Phoebe love. Had any two words sounded more beautiful? More decadent? She rubbed against him, torturing them both and she closed her eyes with the wonderful sensation.
“Phoebe.” Her name was a petition on his lips.
She set the inkstand down on the seat and dipped the quill in the inkpot. Then she held the marriage contract on the wide expanse of his chest and signed her name. It was neither neat nor elegant, but it was hers.
She looked up into his face and found his gaze riveted on her signature. “We don’t have a witness,” she whispered, too afraid the moment might shatter if she spoke too loudly.
“Gentlemen don’t require a witness when negotiating a marriage contract for a bride. I hardly see where a bride and groom would require one if both are of sound mind and body, and neither have a guardian.”
That was just one of the reasons why she loved him; they were equal in their decision-making, fifty-fifty.
It was why she had loved him and trusted him like no other for years, yet she’d been too afraid to acknowledge it.
But no more. “I love you, Joshua Forrester. You are a man who recognizes a woman’s capabilities and helps her reach her potential without judgement of her because of her sex. ”
“Can you say that again?”
“You are a man—”
“No. Not that part.”
She grinned wickedly, teasing him with false naiveté. “What part?”
He pinched her backside. “You minx, the other part.”
“I love you, Joshua Forrester.”
“Put the powdered gum sandarac on the contract and let’s get down to business.”
“Business?” she asked with a cant of her hips.
“Completing New Year’s resolutions can be arduous work,” he replied.
“I hope you plan to work exceedingly hard at it,” she said as she sprinkled the sand on her signature and blew on the ink. “I think the sand froze on the vellum.”
“Leave it. Put it all back in the compartment before I lose control and paint us with ink.”
“Of course, husband.” Her lips quirked as she carefully placed the container of sand into the inkstand and then returned everything to the compartment with the addition of their marriage contract.
She threw the latch and Joshua snapped the reins several times.
His Royal Highness responded, galloping across the field at an exhilarating speed.
“You do realize that you will have to do most of the work at this speed?”
“That’s exactly how I fantasized about it.”
A growl was torn from his lips as she reached down and undid the falls of his trousers. She sat on his lap facing him, his arms encompassing her in an embrace as he drove the sleigh across the field. “You are a woman with all the power to wreck me.”
“Keep your eyes on the pasture so that is the only way we wreck.”
His brow dipped in concentration. “I will not risk your safety.”
“That’s why I would only do this with you at the reins.” She freed the length of him from his garments and ran her hand up and down his shaft. She couldn’t help but admire his strength and power and wondered if this position would be too much with a man like Joshua.
She looked up at his face and saw the tightening of his jaw. “Are you well?”
“I am beyond well, but I would love to be inside you fulfilling your wish.”
“Is it only my wish?” she asked as she began stroking him faster, her hand increasing the pressure.
“Bloody hell, woman. Stop that and get on top.”
“Byron would be jealous of your prose,” she smirked.
“Byron would be jealous of my position. He could only dream of having such an enticing goddess on his lap.”
“You don’t need to flatter me.”
He met her gaze, his wild, unruly passion kept at bay behind a mask of seriousness.
“It’s not flattery when a man speaks the truth.
Don’t ever doubt my words when I speak of you.
” His handsome visage never looked so stunning as it did in that moment and she had never desired anything more than to make him hers.