Beauty and the Earl (28 page)

She fumbled for her thoughts, which were jumbled by his unexpected reaction.

“My son,” she said softly. “He is of great concern.”

Now the playfulness left Liam’s face and voice. “Of course he is. You would not be a woman I could love if you didn’t adore your child and didn’t think of him in every decision you make. What specifically is your worry?”

“If I agreed to marry you,” she said and shook her head when his face lit up. “
If
, would you accept my son?”

“I would treat him as my own,” Liam said without hesitation. “I would include him in my life and yours and never let any children we might have of our own believe that I felt anything for him other than the love of a father. I would also include him in my financial arrangements after my death. I cannot leave a son not of my blood my title, but I will leave him a hefty inheritance and a property if he desired that.”

“How do you know you could feel love for him?” she whispered. “When his own grandfather looks at him and sees him as bastard trash?”

His jaw set. “Is that what he said to you at some point?”

She nodded, trying not to recall that moment when she could have ripped her own father’s eyes out. It had been their last encounter. It would forever be their last, as she would never set foot in a room with the man again.

“Your father is an idiot,” he said softly. “I looked at that boy today, all sweetness and brightness, and I can’t imagine anyone not loving him. I will be there.”

“And what if he doesn’t accept you?” she asked, taking in a sobbing breath. “To be honest, he’s not yet fully accepted me. It would be so much for him to bear, so much change in such a short time.”

He tilted his head and seemed to ponder that. Finally, he spoke again, low and sweet.

“I would like to marry you today if I could, Violet. But we must consider Peter, I know that. If you would agree to be my wife, I would buy a home near yours here in Romwell so we could be near each other. And I would wait until he was ready to accept you, until he was able to accept me.”

She tilted her head. “And if that took a month? Six months? A year or even more?”

He shrugged as if those timelines meant nothing to him. “It seems I’ve been waiting for you for a long enough time as it is, Violet. I wouldn’t be so foolish not to practice some patience if it meant having you in my life forever. I would wait. Although I would require conjugal visits in my prison down the lane.”

“Would it be a prison?” she asked on a broken laugh.

He smiled. “Without you? Definitely.”

She reached out to touch his face, tracing the line of his scar that spoke of his strength, his fortitude, his stubbornness. He leaned into her hand and smiled.

“You make it hard to say no,” she whispered.

“Then say yes,” he urged, catching her fingers and drawing them to his lips where he kissed the tips. “Say yes and save me. Say yes and let me save you. Please say yes.”

She leaned into him, staring up into his eyes and seeing a future she had never dared dream about.
 

“Y-Yes,” she stammered and squeezed her eyes shut as she laughed. “Yes.”

He drew back a fraction. “Truly?”

“Yes!” She shouted it now, letting it echo off the walls of the protective cove. “I will marry you, Liam. Assuming approval of my son, I will marry you.”

He caught her in his arms, lifting her to spin her in the sand as he showered kisses against her lips. When he drew back, his smile was wide and bright and as beautiful as he had been to her from the first moment she saw him rise up from the water in the baths.

“I love you,” she whispered. “I love you so very much.”

He didn’t say anything, but bent his head to kiss her one more time.

Epilogue

One year later

It was quiet in the sunroom, light streaming in the floor to ceiling windows, but Violet couldn’t help but grin as she looked out over the garden below. It wouldn’t be quiet for long.

They
were coming.

She turned quickly reorganized the biscuits on her tea tray and then turned to face the door. It flew open and in came a group of babbling, laughing people.
 

Her family.

First came Ava and Christian. Christian had their eight-month old son Julian in his arm and hardly leaned on his cane at all anymore. Ava always beamed and said love had cured him, though Violet was fully aware that the duke still suffered from pain from that long-ago accident that had changed all their lives so much.

They were followed by Malcolm and Olivia, married for a year with their own newborn baby tucked into her mother’s shoulder, sleeping despite the ruckus.

Just after them entered Lord and Lady Weatherfield. They were new friends to her, but Portia was quite possibly the kindest woman she had ever met. Despite her misgivings and anxieties, Portia and Miles had welcomed Violet into their fold as if there was nothing abnormal about a former mistress marrying an earl.

Of course that earl followed them all, swinging Peter with his good arm as her boy belly-laughed. Her fears of her son’s acceptance of Liam had been utterly unfounded. In fact, he had been closer to her husband than to her for many months.

“Do the other, do the other! So you can get strong,” Peter cackled.

Liam laughed along with him. “My own physician,” he said to the group at large. “We will practice lifting you with my bad arm a little later, Peter. I promise you.”

Her son groaned but let Liam go. Her husband moved straight to her, his single-intentioned movements making her heart race even after nearly nine months of marriage.

“Hello, darling,” he said, pressing a kiss to her lips despite all the company. His hand slipped down to cover the swell of her belly. “And how is Agatha today?”

“You don’t know that this baby is a girl,” Violet said, laughing even as she covered his hand and they both felt the baby move inside of her. “And I never agreed to Agatha.”

“Hmmmm,” he murmured, his fingers spreading slightly. “But I have ways to convince you.” The last was said in a whisper that made her cheeks darken with a blush.

He smiled and backed away, turning his attention toward the group. Everyone was gathering around, Ava pouring tea, Portia rallying the children and handing out sweets when she thought no one was looking, but as Liam stepped away, what made Violet happiest of all was how the three men flocked together.

Christian and Liam talked for a moment and Liam actually laughed at something their brother-in-law said. Violet exchanged a quick smile with Ava. It was a slow process, but it felt like finally the men were coming to some kind of comfort with each other.

Perhaps one day they might even be friends.

Violet sighed as she settled herself into a comfortable chair and took the tea her sister-in-law offered her with a smile. After a lifetime of loneliness and knowing she didn’t belong with her family, with anyone…now she had everything she’d ever wanted.

She had more.

About the Author

Jess Michaels is the award-winning author of over forty romances, erotic romances and urban fantasy novels. She lives in Arizona with her fantastic husband and two adorable cats. When not writing about sexy gentlemen and wicked ladies, she can be found doing geeky things like playing video games and performing aunt duties to two nephews. You can find her online at
www.authorjessmichaels.com
, on Facebook (Jess Michaels) and on Twitter
@jessmichaelsbks
.

Look for these titles by Jess Michaels

Now Available:

Mistress Matchmaker

An Introduction to Pleasure

For Desire Alone

Her Perfect Match

The Pleasure Wars

Taken By the Duke

Pleasuring the Lady

Coming Soon:

The Pleasure Wars

Beautiful Distraction

The Ladies Book of Pleasures

A Matter of Sin

A Moment of Pleasure

A Measure of Deceit

The Notorious Flynns

The Other Duke

The Widow’s Wager

The Scoundrel’s Lady

Once the game begins, there is no tearing your gaze away.

Pleasuring the Lady

© 2013 Jess Michaels

The Pleasure Wars, Book 2

Her mother’s madness and her father’s and brother’s irresponsibility have relegated Lady Portia to the life of a wallflower. The only shining light in her life is her best friend, Ava, who is suffering a rift with her own brother.

Portia’s quest to help takes her to the notorious Donville Masquerade in the hells, where—behind the safety of a mask—she witnesses shocking public acts of sin. And succumbs to the touch of Marquis Miles Weatherfield.

Unfortunately, they’re discovered. And now, tainted by scandal, she and Miles are destined for a marriage neither of them want. But Portia makes a bargain that raises even Miles’s eyebrows.

In return for saving her mother from the asylum, Portia will do anything Miles wants in bed. Shocked by his driving desire for Portia, Miles agrees. As they explore every wicked desire, every forbidden act that pleases them, they discover something that goes far deeper than flesh. But the lies that brought them together could be the very wedge that drives them apart.

Warning: This book contains wicked encounters, erotic voyeurism, lies, a brief threesome, and unexpected kindnesses.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Pleasuring the Lady:

Miles scanned the room for potential subjects, but again was simply bored with his choices. Women in plunging necklines, their breasts almost bare, panting over any man who gave them a side-glance. They were all so bored and jaded…a bit like he was. There was no one to—

He cut the thought off as the crowd across the room parted and revealed a woman standing along the wall by herself. She had pale blond hair done up in a simple chignon at the base of her long, creamy neck.
 

Her mask covered half her face, but it was not of the ornate variety that the others wore as calling cards. It was blue and very plain, possibly handcrafted out of leftover silk from a gown. It didn’t match her dress, which was a deep green and cut in a modest style that had little frills. Still, the fabric was high quality. He was left confused.

Was this a highbred lady or a lower-class one?
 

He moved closer, inexplicably drawn to her. She hugged the wall with her body, exactly like a wallflower at a ball at Almack’s would do. She stared out at the room, her eyelashes fluttering as she blinked and blinked…almost in innocence, shock.

But was that real or affected? There were plenty of women who came here and pretended to be virtuous in order to play into the fantasies of certain men.

He had never been one of those, and yet he continued to move toward her. As he reached her, he realized she had dark brown eyes and they were dilated with high emotions that did not seem artificial.

“Hello,” he said softly.

She jerked with surprise, for her attention had been so focused on the activity around them that she had not even seen him advance on her. She looked at him, cheeks flushed and those brown eyes widened with surprise and, he thought, recognition.

“I—hello,” she whispered, her voice husky.

He smiled, sly. “You seem surprised to see me approach you. Do we know each other, my lady?”

She swallowed and then shook her head. When she didn’t say anything else, Miles moved a little closer.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”

She shook her head again, her eyes focused intently on his face.
 

He smiled at her refusal to speak. If this was a game to obtain his interest, it was well-played. Her silence gave her an air of mystery that he found fascinating, indeed.

“You said hello, so I know you are
capable
of speech,” he said with a chuckle.

She shivered, almost as if the sound of his laughter had touched her in an unexpected way. She hesitated a moment, then she said in another low whisper, “I am, my lord.”

He arched a brow. Did she assume he was titled or
know
? He still couldn’t tell.
 

“I’m sorry if you find me reluctant to speak,” she continued. “I-I really don’t know what to say to you.”

He stared at her. “Your honesty is refreshing in this situation. I am a gentleman, so I would never do anything to make you uncomfortable. Would you prefer it if I choose the topic of our discourse? You may nod or shake your head in answer to me if that is more amenable to you.”

She pulled the corner of her lip between her teeth and his gut clenched with a sudden desire. Her lips were full and he longed to feel them pressed to his flesh. Anywhere. Everywhere.