Deceived (22 page)

For a moment she appeared confused, but then she glanced down with a pointed look at his cock. Which of course went harder with her attention.

“Oh—oh!” she gasped, her cheeks pinkening. “Oh, goodness, I see.”

“So we should probably go inside, yes?” he said with a laugh.

She nodded. “That would be best. Only I would like to do something first.”

“What is that?”

She didn’t answer with words, but instead lifted to her tiptoes, cupped his cheeks and brushed her lips against his. He was surprised by the sweetness of the action, but surprise quickly turned to increased desire when her tongue darted out to gently trace the crease of his lips. He brought his arms around her, using all his control not to crush her to his chest, and opened his mouth to her explorations. The kiss deepened as she tilted her head, granting better access and finding it with that one movement. When they had stood kissing for what seemed like forever, she let out a little moan deep in her throat.

Their lips broke, though he continued to hold her close. She smiled. “So sorry, my lord.”

“Why?” he panted.

She arched her hips a little and he grunted at the contact of her pelvis with his now very erect cock. “That. It seems I
am
a curse.”

She grinned as she said it and he couldn’t help but smile back at this new, relaxed Josie. He rather liked this side of her, light and free, comfortable with him and their desire for each other.

He couldn’t wait to explore her further.

“A terrible curse,” he teased back, “who should go back inside before she is thoroughly mussed herself.”

He set her aside, turned her toward the door and gave her a swat on her curvaceous backside. She yelped in surprise, but he thought a little pleasure as she looked at him over her shoulder. “And what will
you
do?”

“Stand here with my back to the door and do a recitation of each and every governess, tutor and professor I ever had. And hope that distraction will make me presentable soon.” He gave her a playful glare. “Go, woman! Go!”

She giggled as she did as she had been told, disappearing into the house and back into the party. When she was gone, he turned his attention back to the darkness of the garden and the duty to ease his desire.

“Nanny Plum, the old goat,” he began as he smiled up at the full moon. “Nanny Jane, rest her soul…”

Josie all but danced back into the ballroom, her heart soaring. If she had been nervous about Evan’s thoughts about her before, those few stolen moments on the terrace had eased her fears. He wanted her. More than that, he
liked
her.

Oh, she had known that, she supposed. But now it meant a great deal more to her. She could picture their life together, laid out before them. And what she saw was years of playful in-jokes, laughter and passion, so much passion.

Eventually, he might even come to love her. Why not? They had a good base on which to build such a powerful connection.

She smiled at her guests and was about to rejoin the mothers and Mary across the room when Gabriel came into her view. He was standing beside the refreshment table, a drink in his hand. And he was watching her.

She cast a glance toward the terrace. Evan hadn’t yet come back inside, but she thought of what he’d said to her earlier. A row with his brother had set him on his heels the past few days. And wasn’t part of her job as wife to help smooth these things over?

She took a deep breath, for she wasn’t comfortable with such things, and crossed the room to her new brother-in-law. As she reached him, she smiled.

“Good evening, Gabriel.”

He had watched her approach, but Gabriel actually seemed surprised to hear her voice. “Oh yes, hello, Josie.”

Her brow knitted at the slight slur to his tone and the glassiness of his gaze. “Gabriel, are you…are you drunk?” she whispered in shock.

It wasn’t so much that the concept was shocking in general. Men drank—it was practically a national pastime for those of their rank. But Gabriel
didn’t
. She recalled Claire making specific note of how her twin always stayed in control of his faculties, limited his alcohol intake to one drink every so often.

He blinked as if digesting her words. “Drunk? Indeed, it appears so,” he said with a slight bow. “Are you?”

She smiled as she reached out to pat his arm. “No, not this time.”

“Would you like to be? I could fetch you a drink.” He motioned behind him where a strong punch was within reach. “’Tis no trouble, I assure you.”

“I appreciate the offer,” Josie said. “But I think not.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourself. Did you only come to see me out of control? It’s a sight, they say, rarely seen. Museum quality.”

He teased her, but in his eyes she saw a darkness. A sadness. And she thought of Claire and frowned. Her friend wouldn’t want her most beloved brother to be in such pain.

“Gabriel, Evan tells me you two argued around the time of our engagement,” she said softly, watching his face closely. “I hope it wasn’t over me.”

Gabriel hiccupped. “Of course it was over you. What else would we argue about?”

Josie flinched. When their engagement was announced, Gabriel had been kind enough, but his welcoming had obviously been for show. Now without a filter, he was showing his true hesitations.

“I realize it was fast, Gabriel, but I assure you that I will make the best bride I can for Evan. And I will prove myself to you. Just don’t punish him for your hesitations about me. I know it hurts him.”

Gabriel stared at her, his brow wrinkling with confusion. “Hesitations about you? God no. You’re fine. He seems to like you well enough. After all, he won’t do what I want. If he didn’t like you, why would he care? Why wouldn’t he just do it?”

Josie shook her head. “I—what?”

“It’s not about you,” Gabriel said slowly, enunciating each words and rolling his eyes as if she were daft. “Well, it
is
, but not how you think.”

Josie felt like the room was spinning even though she wasn’t the one who was drunk. She didn’t know what the hell Gabriel was talking about, but anxiety was beginning to knot in her stomach regardless.

“What is it then?” she asked softly. “About me but not about me.”

He was silent for what seemed like forever. “Claire,” he finally choked out. “Everything is always about Claire. But he won’t help. He won’t do what needs to be done. So she’s lost. Lost, Josie.”

He was blinking rapidly and she could see he was choking on high emotion. She reached out to touch his hand this time and squeezed gently. “Oh, Gabriel. I know it hurts you deeply. We
all
love her and miss her.”

“But not enough,” he grunted. “Not enough to make the hard choices. To do the distasteful things. Not him. Not you.”

He shook off her hand and, without another word, walked away. She watched him go, helpless and still confused by his insistence that somehow Evan wasn’t willing to help with Claire. She had no idea what Gabriel wanted Evan to do or whatever that could have to do with her.

But she could see now what Evan had gone through with his brother recently. Gabriel was still deep in his pain, even though Claire had been gone nearly two years. And after talking to him for five minutes she wanted desperately to help him, so she could only imagine how Evan felt.

Perhaps once things had settled down, they could work together to ease some of Gabriel’s pain. Or even work on finding Claire and bringing her home.

“Jocelyn?”

She turned at her name and found Mary standing there, a smile on her face. “Yes?”

“Lord and Lady Trefeld are about to depart and were looking to say goodbye. I cannot seem to find Evan anywhere, so will you join Edward and me in saying the farewells?”

Josie nodded and followed Mary across the room. She was just as happy for the interruption. Thoughts of Claire and the confusing conversation with Gabriel were islands of sadness on this otherwise happy day.

And if she was lucky, it was about to lead to a wonderful night as well.

Josie could hardly hear over the rush of blood in her ears, and her hands shook as she parted them from their grip in front of her to allow her maid to lift her dressing gown over her shoulders. Nell smoothed the fabric a few times and then knotted a pretty bow at Josie’s waist with the robe ties.

She stepped back. “You look lovely, ma’am.”

Josie shifted slightly and glanced at herself in the mirror. Nell had brought her dark hair down and fluffed and combed it until the soft waves shone. Her cheeks were pink with nervousness and her eyes wide.

“This room feels very small right now,” she whispered, her voice rough.

Nell laughed. “Well, normally we have the dressing room door open to your chamber. But since your husband awaits you there and we closed the door, it does make the room feel small. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

Josie swallowed hard, her throat suddenly full and thick with worry. “I—no,” she stammered.

“Then I’ll step out,” Nell said, moving to the door that led to Josie’s private sitting room rather than her bedchamber. “Good luck, my lady.”

Luck. Josie shut her eyes as her maid left her alone. She didn’t need luck. After all, her virginity was already gone. But that had been done in a sweeping moment of passion and demand. It had been hurried by circumstance and location.

Tonight would be different. Tonight she and Evan were alone in the house aside from a few key servants. They were wedded and would not be interrupted. Tonight she was a wife, and this time when Evan took her, it would be more than just a thoughtless claim. It was a promise of a future.

More than that, she had come to realize she loved him. And the binding of their bodies now meant so very much more to her.

“Oh God,” she muttered beneath her breath as she stared at the barrier between her and her bedchamber. “Just open the door.”

She reached out her trembling hand and caught the door handle. With a whispered prayer, she turned it and pushed, slowly revealing her bedchamber.

She had been expecting to see it as it usually was. The way it had been her entire life. But when she stepped inside, it was like coming into an entirely different place. While she had been readying her body for this night, Evan had also been busy preparing her room.

Candles were lit all around, giving the chamber a soft glow, and her fire burned brightly. Her room smelled of roses, and she saw why. Evan had scattered the petals all around the bed and on a path leading to it.

But the thing that drew her attention most, that made this the most special of evenings, was the man himself. He stood beside the fire, his shirt already removed, his feet bare, and he just
stared
at her.

“You are beautiful with your hair down,” he breathed.

She lifted her hand to the tresses. “I suppose, despite it all, you have never seen it like this.”

“No. We were always too hurried, too focused on other things, too afraid of being caught to take it down. But now that I see you this way, I want to keep you like this forever.”

“In my night clothes with my hair around my shoulders?” she said, her laughter rusty and rough with the desire building in her.

He nodded. “And ready for me.”

“I am very ready,” she whispered. “Though slightly terrified.”

He cocked his head. “Really? Why terrified?” Then understanding dawned. “Oh, Josie, the first time, the pain, that will never happen again.”

“No, it isn’t the pain that frightens me. Honestly, I have not thought of the pain once since that night, and I have dreamed of our stolen moment a hundred times.”

He swallowed hard. “Then what?”

“You won’t be swept away by passion tonight,” she whispered. “And I don’t want to disappoint you.”

He smiled and finally took a few steps toward her. She felt his heat even before he touched her, dragging the back of his hand across her cheek. “I will most definitely be swept away by passion before this night is through. And I already know you could never disappoint me.”

Then he bent his head, and any words she might have said evaporated. His lips were gentle at first, brushing hers with whisper-light pressure. But when she lifted her hands to his biceps, gripping the muscle there to remain steady, the ardor in his kiss increased. He cupped the back of her head, drawing her closer, angling her as he dipped his tongue inside and thoroughly explored her mouth.