Page 69 of His Scandalous Viscountess
“I’m a bastard.”
She jerked in his arms. “You shouldn’t say such things. You were notthatbad.”
He sighed and held on to her, unwilling to see the moment the truth dawned on her. “Lord Wolfington is not my father. My mother had a lover who sired me upon her.”
With a strength he’d not have credited her, Jules sat up from his embrace, though she did not scramble from where she sat. “You are not your father’s heir?”
“Oh, I am his heir, as he has not publicly denied me as such. But it is the dark family secret that I am not in fact his natural born son.” He closed his eyes and let his head tilt back against the chair. “I learned this fact the night we were to run away. Wallthorpe sent me a letter laying all the sordid details out. How he knew, I do not know, but when I confronted my mother about it, she broke down in tears and acknowledged the truth.
“I was devastated, reeling from the news, but I was still determined to marry you. I went to my father and told him that Wallthorpe had threatened to expose the truth of my birth if I married you. I told him it mattered little to me as long as he would not deny us. But he refused. He told me if the family name was exposed in such a fashion, that he would not acknowledge me as his heir any longer. He would deny me—and you—by extension.
“We would have been penniless and nameless. Christ, I didn’t even know the name of the man who sired me. All I knew was that I couldn’t protect you without my father’s help. Without his acknowledgement, I was a pauper with no true skills other than being a gentleman. Whether I came to you or not, you were doomed. But I had no idea Wallthorpe would be violent with you. Had I known that, I would have damned the consequences and taken you away that night.”
A gentle touch swept away the moisture that streamed down one of his cheeks. Then soft lips kissed away the matching track. He opened his eyes as she drew back from the kiss. To his shock, tenderness and forgiveness shone in her gaze. He would have liked to believe he saw love there, as well, but he refused to delude himself.
“Wolf, I am so sorry my life brought such misery to your doorstep. Had you not been tangled up with me, that family secret would have remained a secret.”
“No. I am glad it came out. The truth in many ways has set me free. Until then, I had spent years trying to win my father’s approval. I had long since given up on love from him, but approval, I believed, was still achievable. Once I learned he was not my father, I let go of that small glimmer of hope. I stopped trying to please him with all my decisions.
“He and I came to an understanding that night. If I kept the family secret buried as it belonged, he would, as well. There was no hope of my having a brother, as proof she was not barren. They had tried for years after I came along. I think they both believed he was the one who could not produce an heir. Since the fault was no longer hers, and to save face, he simply claimed me as his.”
Silence stretched between them for long moments.
He looked at her through a half-lidded gaze. She didn’t appear disgusted by his revelation, but he couldn’t be sure. “If you find the reality of my birth repulsive, I shall release you from your vows. I would never want to shackle you to me if it made you unhappy.”
A small cry of dismay escaped her as she clasped his face in her hands. “Never! I cannot imagine my life without you now that you are in it once again. I admit, I have had my doubts and worries”–she pressed her hand to her breast—“but here, in my heart, I know I cannot walk away from you again.”
Wolf inhaled sharply. It was not a declaration of love, but it was so close, he was willing to take it. “If you agree to stay, you will be mine. I shall never let you go. If you leave, I shall come for you. I shall hunt you to the ends of the earth before I allow you to disappear from my life again.”
“I am not going anywhere,” she mumbled, and then planted her lips on his.
Immediately, her tongue pushed past his lips and teeth, demanding entrance to his mouth. Willing to let her have the lead for the moment, he opened to her. Their tongues crashed together, slipping and sliding over each other as they tangled and twisted. The small fire suddenly felt like a towering inferno as his body heated up.
His cock had flagged as he told her of his past, but once her mouth claimed his, the blood had returned to his shaft. The way she squirmed and fidgeted on his lap was driving him mad, even as he relished the need clearly pumping through her.
Cradling his wife in his arms with the robe belts in one hand, he stood and walked to the bed as they kissed. There, he set her down, letting her body slide along his as her feet found the ground. Far enough away from the fire to allow their skin to cool a bit, he still felt the heat from within. The passion he felt for Jules far outpaced both the evening chill and the small fire he’d lit. He could not deny the love he felt for her; nor did he wish to. But he was aware she needed a bit more time to grow comfortable with her own revelations.
Knowing what he did now, he could give her that time.
Setting aside the quagmire of emotion in his heart, he focused on pleasing her. With a gentle touch, he slipped her negligee from her shoulders, exposing the expanse of her pale skin. The longer she remained in England, the paler her skin had grown. Maybe he should take her to his country home, where they could make love naked in the outdoors…under the sun. The naughty thought made him smile as he imagined her rolling about in a field like a fairy or sprite.
Her breath caught then, drawing his focus back to the task at hand, a truly pleasurable one he had not anticipated tonight. She had been right, hehadbeen tired when she’d come in. In fact, he’d had every intention of not taking her to bed, since she’d spent every one of the last fourteen nights since their wedding in his arms and in his bed. But then she’d walked in, and his cock had stirred immediately upon seeing her.
And when he’d noticed the robe ties in her hand? All good intentions had been lost.
The evening chill combined with her desire had her nipples puckering into tight little buds. He had to lick them, to roll the hard tips over his tongue. The need pushed him until he bent over and captured one. As he sucked hard, nipping and teasing her, she gasped and arched into his mouth.
So responsive.
He shifted to her other breast and repeated the action until she whimpered with need. Then he released her rosy tip and stood looming over her. A fierce need to possess her rode him, but he tempered it, knowing that soon she would be bound and unable to escape his bed. Taking her hands, he gathered her wrists together and used one of the ties to loop around them.
Her breathing grew jagged with excitement as she realized he had every intention of fulfilling her earlier request.
Once he tied the silk band off, he prowled around behind her. With his chest pressed to her back, he commanded in a soft, but unrelenting tone, “Bend over the mattress, love.”
She moaned softly, but did as directed, without argument. With her bound hands in front of her, she lowered to her elbows, leaving her backside raised high in the air for him to do with as he pleased. He loved her submission, the way she willingly gave up control to him. It was heady stuff for this strong and independent woman to bow to his will in such a fashion.
Positioning himself behind her, he cupped the rounded cheek of her backside, stroking the delicate skin with a gentle touch. Then he raised his hand and crashed it back down against her bottom. The slap of his palm hitting her flesh sent more blood rushing to his already engorged cock. He repeated the process on her other cheek, noting how her breath caught and then continued in shallower rasps than before the smack.
