Page 127 of Dick Stone, Regency Stud
“For me?”
“For my wife.”
Edward carefully opened the box before his wife’s eyes and revealed the Chasterly ring. It sparkled in the sunlight, one of the few cheerful heirlooms owned by the family. How many wives had watched that ring slide on their fingers with hope, only for those dreams to die in the face of stony indifference?
This marriage would be different.
Tabby snatched the thing up; her love of shiny objects never failed to delight him.
“Oh, I have a ring for you, too,” she said, sliding the enormous stone on the finger she’d promised Edward before feeling about in her coat. She held up the silver flask — now unusable because of the hole from the major’s bullet. “Thought we could have it made into a ring.”
“You mean to put a ring on me, Tabby?” asked Edward, pulling her closer so she could feel how much he liked the idea of her claim on him. One to match the claim she had on his heart.
“I’m afraid I must. One never knows if the other wives will have heard that Dick Stone has closed his business. It can be armor. Again.” She leaned her head back against him, swaying with Tencendor. “I used to think a full belly and a warm place to sleep would be enough for the likes of me.”
“But not now?” asked Edward, his arm securely looped around her waist.
“I don’t think that’s enough for me anymore. Well, I want a full belly, but the meaning has changed.”
Edward growled, wishing they were closer to their rooms so he might fuck his bride yet again.
“And I thought having Tencendor again would be enough for me,” said Edward, his chin resting on his wife’s cropped hair.
“Not now?” asked Tabby.
“Not nearly enough,” he whispered into her ear, liking how she shivered in response to his heated breath and words.
“You think we have something special? That we’ll make it?” asked Tabby, harkening back to a conversation they’d had long ago in Hyde Park as they’d watched a merry trio in love.
“We’ve changed a bit to get to live as our true selves, haven’t we?”
Tabby looked at her togs and shrugged. “Some days more than others.”
“Then it’s fortunate that I love the part of you that’s immutable. The part that connects me to you so soundly it makes my ribs ache when you’re not right here against my chest.” Edward slid his hand over the ring once worn by his mother and an unbroken line of Chasterly marchionesses. “Promise me you’ll stay beside me always, my love.”
“Didn’t I promise that in front of the archbishop?” she asked, teasing him in the way he adored. What he wouldn’t give to toss her on the bed right now and punish her with pleasure for asking such a silly question.
“I’m greedy for you. Same way you are for jellied eels.”
“You know what I like.”
“What about what you love?” he asked hopefully, always wanting to hear her feelings.
“Yes, I alsolovejellied eels,” she said. He could hear the smirk in her voice and urged Tencendor to step faster. “And I love nobs who won’t let me go when I pick their pocket.”
“Do you now?” asked Edward, getting some ideas. “Like the first time we met? You want to pay the price for your crimes in some slum alley?”
“My lord, I don’t know about that,” she said in her most demure, schooled voice. “You see, I’m a viscountess now. I must think of my family’s reputation.”
“I’ll give you a family,” he said into her ear as he pressed his fattened cock against her rear. She’d kill him yet!
“Even now, I might carry my husband’s heir!”
“If you aren’t, I’ll have you bred in no time.”
“But, my lord, you must let me go!”
“You take the leap first, and I’ll follow your lead,” whispered Edward against her ear, planting a quick kiss on her neck.
