Page 26 of Brazen Rogue
Her touch sent fire to course through his veins, and he wondered if it would always be like this between them. A wildness that was untamed, uninhabited, and improper.
"Bellamy," she sighed, snuggling into his side. "How wonderful you are. I had always wondered what it would be like to be with a man just so, but you have exceeded all my expectations," she teased him.
He grinned down at her, kissing her forehead quickly. "I hope when you wondered about the sexual act that you only ever thought about it with me and no one else." He shifted so he could see her eyes clearer. "I think I shall be very jealous indeed if I find out you ever lusted over anyone else."
She grinned, kissing his chest before biting it playfully. His cock jumped, and he groaned. "No, you are the only man I ever wanted where you are right at this moment. Can I hope that I am the same for you?"
He nodded, rubbing her back with his hand. "You know I was tricked in London, and the missive Sally had delivered to me was addressed from you," he admitted to her, having never told anyone of the deceiving nature of his wife that night. "I thought it would be you I would meet in that conservatory."
Reign sat up, staring at him, her eyes wide with shock. "No, that cannot be true. Lady Lupton-Gage would not be so cruel to steal you away in such a way and break my heart. I know I did not know her so very well, but surely a lady of her breeding could not be so horrible. I always believed the note was from her, and you foolishly did as she asked."
One of the reasons why Bellamy had fallen for Reign hard and quick in London. She had been truthful, honest, and brutally beautiful. In his opinion, she should have been the Season's diamond.
She was certainly his jewel.
"Sally was not a nice woman or anything like the perfect debutante she made herself out to be. She only married me for my money and status. She never wanted me in any way and made that clear after our wedding night." He shivered at the memory of that evening and how cold and disinterested she had been. He had felt as though he were forcing her, and he had not touched her again. Not that she cared, not when she admitted to wanting to travel without him or their child.
"Oh, Bellamy," Reign said, reaching out to touch her palm to his cheek. He leaned into her touch, having been denied a woman's comfort for too many years. "I'm so sorry that this happened to you. To us both. I can understand why you do not mourn Lady Lupton-Gage as a husband might as much as it shames me to say so."
He nodded, but guilt savaged his soul at her belief in him. He was not a fine example of gentlemanly behavior by criticizing his wife. Not to mention he ought to make what they had done right and offer to marry Reign. Not appear to use her to slake his own lust while she lived under his roof as a governess.
He ought to be horsewhipped for being so brazen, but instead, he kissed her and lost himself and his conscience in her arms.
ChapterFifteen
Reign found the mathematical lessons with Lady Alice difficult to keep forthright in her mind the following morning. Her introspections kept drifting back to the evening before and what she and Bellamy had shared.
She shivered at the memory of his touch. Her body already craving more of what he had gifted her.
She had woken almost before dawn and crept upstairs to her room without being seen. She awoke at daybreak, her body feeling lethargic and the most relaxed it had ever felt in her life.
She grinned, knowing the reason why. Not to mention she could not wait to have Bellamy alone once more. Already she missed his handsome face and interesting conversation.
"Miss Hall," Lady Alice said, glancing up at her with her sweet little face. She had her chalkboard before her, doing some number writing, and Reign could see she was also thinking about something else.
"Yes?" she answered, curious to hear what the little girl wanted to know. She was an intelligent child and observant.
"Why are you not married? My parents were married, and Lord and Lady Chilsten are married, but you are not," she said, a little frown between her brow as if this information troubled her.
Reign smiled, having wondered at that question a time or two. Yet she had always had the same answer—because she was tricked out of her love and lost everything after that fact.
"I suppose because I've not been asked, and I'm not in love. I think a lady ought to love her husband and have those feelings returned to make a good match, and I've not found that," she said in half-truths.
While she had never been asked, she had once been on the cusp of a proposal.
"I hope that you are married one day. Mrs. Watkins says that governesses are pariahs who live on the outskirts of society and are not accepted belowstairs either. Are you happy, Miss Hall?" the little girl asked her, her frown deepening.
Reign schooled her features, wondering what Mrs. Watkins meant when saying such things to a child. "I'm happy, and I'm delighted to be teaching you, which is enough," she said, unsure why the housekeeper would say something so troubling to a five-year-old. While she knew that she was not accepted above stairs or below due to her station, she had hoped she was gaining friendships with the servants, but perhaps that was all in her mind.
"My mama has passed away, but Mrs. Watkins says no one is ever really gone. Do you believe that, Miss Hall?" she asked.
Reign frowned, wondering if Bellamy had explained how life and death worked. From the little girl's words, it seemed he had not, and she certainly would not be the one to do so.
"I'm certain when you're an old lady with a wonderful life behind you, that you will see your mama again," Reign said, wishing it would be the case for the child's sake if nothing else.
"Papa misses Mama, and I miss her too," she said, picking up her piece of chalk once more. "You will have to leave when Mama returns. Mrs. Watkins said that Mama does not like pretty ladies, and you're so pretty Miss Hall, that Mama will surely be jealous."
Reign could not form the words to reply to such a statement, nor would she allow Mrs. Watkins to continue speaking to the little girl in such a way. What happened between his lordship and his wife in the past was not something the housekeeper ought to be speaking of in any manner at all, least of all to his lordship's daughter.
