Deeply In You (36 page)
“I love you,” he cried, then he arched up and came too.
And her most wonderful, perfect fantasy of passion and happiness with the Duke of Greybrooke was coming true.
Bells rang from the village church in the village of Winter’s Bough, the village near Winterleigh. The entire village had been invited to attend the marriage of Damian Caldwell, the fifth Duke of Greybrooke, and Miss Helena Winsome.
Helena knew the real reason for the excitement brewing among her sisters and the other unmarried females in attendance. Two unmarried dukes were among the guests: the Duke of Caradon and the Duke of Saxonby.
Caradon had insisted she call him Cary, as Grey did. He was the best man. Helena had all her sisters and Maryanne acting as her bridesmaids. To make that possible, Elise and Maryanne walked arm in arm. Both looked breathtaking in their ivory satin gowns.
Helena followed her bridesmaids down the aisle. Will was giving her away.
Grey stood at the altar with the reverend, and the look on his face as she approached almost made her toss her bouquet and run into his arms.
He looked so happy.
Next thing she knew, she was repeating her vows to Grey. She stumbled over his full name: Damian George Arthur Richard David, but Grey only smiled at her.
Then it was time for those two simple words that promised happiness and told Grey how very much she loved him. “I do.” Goodness, she thought she saw a glint of a tear in Grey’s eyes.
He gazed deeply in her eyes as he repeated his vows. “I do,” he said, huskily. “I do. I do. I do,” he mouthed to her.
“By the power vested in me,” intoned the reverend in his clear, deep voice, “I now pronounce you man and wife.”
They were married! Grey clasped her hand and hurried her down the aisle and through the church doors. They burst out into the warmth and sunshine of a glorious June day. A breeze sent fragrant petals scattering over them.
“I planned that,” Grey teased.
“Of course you did,” she answered, loving the happy smile on his lips.
He stopped on the steps of the church and drew her into his arms. A hush settled.
“We’re wed,” Grey said softly. “It seems like a miracle.”
Then he leaned in that last inch, and his lips claimed hers. Holding her bouquet, she hooked her arms around his neck, savoring all the complexity of the kiss. There was sweetness, a hint of naughty passion as he teased her with his tongue, and something intoxicating and precious and lasting, that she knew was love. She could feel all of it in his kiss, and she tried to bestow it on him in return.
Cheers sounded, along with laughter, and suggestions that were just a little ribald.
Breathless, Helena drew back. Dizzy from his kiss, she tossed the bouquet. It soared through the air toward Elise and Maryanne. Then it kept arcing, and the Duke of Caradon had to grab it so it didn’t hit his face.
Applause and cheers exploded. And more ribald suggestions.
Grey was taking her toward their carriage that would whisk them away. Her family was to stay as guests of the Winterhavens, then to join them at Grey’s estate, which Jacinta—Lady Winterhaven had insisted Helena use her Christian name—said was even more grand than Winterleigh, but also lovely. The sort of home that deserved to be loved.
“And it can be loved now,” Jacinta had said firmly. “I feel as if the past has weighed on us for years, but you have shown us all that we must cast it off and be happy.”
Now Helena hugged her sisters-in-law.
Grey embraced Elise. “Soon it will be your turn, my dear, brand-new sister,” he said. Helena had to put her gloved finger to the corner of her eye. A tear threatened to spill. Grey had been so wonderful with Elise, Jane, and Louisa. They were to all live with him. He had settled a stunning dowry on Elise, enough to ensure she and her husband-to-be would have a secure future. Elise’s fiancé, a studious, gentle young man named Anthony Styles, was training to be a surgeon. Jane and Louisa would be starting at the best school for girls in England.
Will stepped forward, and Helena’s heart soared as Will and Grey clasped hands, then Grey gave her brother a brief, masculine embrace.
She had been so worried about what would happen between Grey and Will. How could Grey, who found it so hard to trust, forgive him? Will had printed a retraction in the newssheet, had insisted the stories were false, and revealed he had been forced by a villain to print the lies. He had printed an apology to Greybrooke and his family and an apology to the readers of the newspaper.
Will had told her he believed he should close down the newspaper, since he had tarnished its integrity. He apologized in person to Grey. And he had apologized to her for having been irresponsible. To Helena’s surprise, Grey had accepted the apology and had become a financial investor for the newspaper, insisting Will continue at the helm.
Grey helped her into the open carriage. Caradon came forward with the bouquet. “And who did you think should have this?” he asked her.
Helena shared a wicked look with Grey, who said, “It’s yours, Caradon. Beware: My new bride and my sister are plotting to fell the Wicked Dukes with matrimony.” Then his voice caught and he added, “I hope they do. There is no greater joy than love.”
The carriage lurched forward. And Grey drew her into another kiss.
A glorious kiss to herald their future.
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author
Sharon Page
has written more than twenty novels and novellas. Her books have won many awards, including two RT Bookreviews Reviewers Choice Awards, two National Readers Choice Awards, the Colorado Award of Romance, and the Golden Quill. Sharon was nominated by RT Bookreviews in 2013 for Career Achievement in Erotic Romance.
Married, with two children, Sharon holds an industrial design degree and worked in the structural engineering field for many years. Sharon Page’s style is “sharp, sexy, and will seduce you from the first page” (
Just Erotic Romance Reviews
). She can be reached at
www.sharonpage.com
.
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