Far Beyond Scandalous (40 page)

The sudden rush of pleasure hit Amy
with the force of what she imagined it might be like to be shot out of a
cannon.
 
Her entire body shuddered
before going higher once more and then crashing back down to Earth.
 
Her mind was spinning, filled only with
thoughts of the man she loved.

Before she could come completely
back to herself, Gibson was over her, looking down into her eyes with love and
longing.
 
If she could hold that look
inside of her heart forever, it would still not be long enough.
 
Then, he was pushing inside of her, and she
opened to welcome him.
 
She was still
tight, and he was still overly large, but this time, it was different.
 
There was no pain, only a sense of
completion and rightness that made tears spring to her eyes.

Then he began to move inside of
her, stroking in and out, and she felt herself begin to tighten around him as
he pushed her to the precipice once more.
 
She clutched at his shoulders, binding him to her with all the strength
that she had.
 
When he tried to pull
away, she held him tighter still and locked her legs around his waist.
 
They were to be wed soon.
 
If he got her with child, it would not
matter.
 
In fact, she would welcome it.
 
It would be a child created from her love
with Gibson.
 
It would be perfect.

Gibson knew he should do what was
right and pull out before he spilled himself inside of Amy's delectable body
but she held him fast, and, in truth, he did not want to leave her.
 
He hadn't the last time, and he would not do
so now, not when their hearts were irrevocably linked.
 
He wanted a child with her.
 
If that happened today, so much the better.

With each flex of his hips, he
drove deeper into her until she was crying and moaning his name, her body
arching up to match the rhythm of his.
 
Then, he was gone, his pleasure crashing over him in a fearsome wave as
he emptied his seed into her and she willingly accepted all that he had to give.
 
She followed close behind him, finding her
own pleasure when he reached between them to stroke her pearl of pleasure.

It was complete and perfect and
right.
 
After years of searching, Gibson
had finally come home, and he had found that home in the arms of Lady Amy
Cheltenham, the last woman on earth that should want him.
 
But he was ever so glad that she did.
 
Even if he wasn't worthy of the honor.

Some time after their passion had
cooled, Amy lay in the cradle of Gibson's arms, relishing the feel of his body
next to hers.
 
She could get used to
this rather quickly, she thought.

"I should leave," she
whispered, though she still stroked her fingers up and down his chest, toying
with the crisp hair there.
 
"I am
certain that someone back at Cheltenham House will have noticed that I am gone
by this time."
 
She did not want to
leave, but she knew she must.
 
Even her
family could only allow the boundaries of propriety to be pushed so far.
 
"They will, of course, think to come
here immediately."
 
Then again,
Marcus was still adjusting to being back in London, and her parents were newly
reunited after her father's long trip.
 
The sun was barely up yet.
 
Perhaps she had more time than she suspected.

Gibson kissed the top of her
head.
 
"I know.
 
Not to mention that I have business to
attend to.
 
I need to pay a visit to
Carlton House to properly thank my benefactor."
 
He stroked Amy's hair, still marveling at his good fortune.
 
"Then, I shall visit the jeweler that I
treat for gout on a regular basis.
 
If
one is going to properly propose to the woman of his dreams, he does need a
ring, after all."

Amy turned in his embrace.
 
"I do not need a ring, Gibbs.
 
Truly, I do not."
 
She also did not want him to suffer the
additional expense until his funds were returned to him.
 
"It is not as if it will come as a surprise
to anyone in society that we are to be married."

"I want you to have a
ring.
 
In fact, I insist."
 
He chuckled, thinking that no man in London
could be luckier than he was at the moment.
 
"Besides, it will look better when I officially ask your father for
your hand later today if I come bearing a ring.
 
Fathers are funny about that sort of thing when it comes to their
daughters."
 

Running a finger down the length of
her bare arm, Gibson found himself imagining a future with Amy by his
side.
 
He wasn't certain what all that
future held, but he liked the idea of it and he loved her.
 
The rest would come in time.
 
"After I return to Wintercrest, I will
look into the whereabouts of my mother's jewels.
 
I do not know what became of them, but if they are still mine
since they were entailed and can be located, I will replace whatever bauble I
buy you with the family's betrothal ring."

"Oh, Gibson."
 
Amy was completely at a loss for words.
 
A true family betrothal ring was beyond
anything she had expected.

He laced his fingers through hers,
marveling at how perfectly they fit together.
 
"My grandfather gave it to my grandmother the day they
married.
 
He had it fashioned for her
from a ruby gifted to him by a friend.
 
The gem was rumored to be from the elaborate headdress of an Indian
princess who was rescued by a man in the employ of the East India Company.
 
The princess, according to legend, was
captured by a neighboring household and was to be forced to marry the local
tribal leader's son, a brutal man whom she feared would beat her."

Amy snorted, even though she knew
it was not ladylike.
 
Or at all
proper.
 
"So far, this is not a
happy story."

"It will be.
 
Do you want to hear the rest or not?"

She acted as if she didn't care,
but at heart, Amy was fascinated.
 
"Go on with you then."
 
Then she snuggled back against his chest to listen.

"As I was saying, the princess
was kidnapped, but being a clever and resourceful woman, she managed to flee
the compound one night and attempted to return home.
 
On her journey, she was cornered by a tiger.
 
Certain she was about to meet a horrible
death, she prayed for a savior."
 
Gibson had heard his mother tell this story so often that he knew it by
heart.
 
Now he was passing it on to the
woman that he prayed would some day soon be the mother of his children.
 
In time, she could share it with them.

"It is getting better,"
Amy allowed, sliding her hands down over Gibson's bare thigh, eager to make
love to him once more before she had to leave.
 
"Continue."

"Just as the princess was
certain that she was about to be eaten, this man, her rescuer, stumbled across
the scene.
 
He killed the tiger before
it could devour the princess.
 
Of
course, she fell madly in love with her rescuer and gifted him the ruby as a
symbol of their eternal love after he returned her safely to her father's
home.
 
When the princess died young,
before she and her rescuer could even marry, the heartbroken man left India and
returned home to England."
 

Gibson toyed with Amy's
fingers.
 
"Legend has it that man
looked for a most perfect love upon his return.
 
He sought one that equaled the love he had shared with the
princess, so that he might gift the ruby to another couple before he himself
passed on from the same illness that had claimed the life of his lady love."

"That is a very nice story,
even though it has a sad ending," Amy sighed wistfully, "but it is
only a story, just the same."
 
It
was also very romantic.
 
She had to give
Gibson that.
 
But she still wanted him
to fill her body with his heat once more.
 
Preferably soon.
 
She was quickly
discovering that she was far more of a wanton than she had realized.

He shushed her.
 
"I am not done yet.
 
Be still so that I may finish."
 
After so long, it felt wonderful to be able
to tease Amy just as he would have done had he been courting her
officially.
 
"As I was saying, this
man looked everywhere for a perfect love, but all he found were pale imitations
of the passion he and his Indian princess had shared.
 
He was dying, as I said, and thought that all hope was lost.
 
Then he met my grandfather."

Gibson's voice grew softer now, and
Amy found that she was eagerly anticipating the rest of the story.
 
"My grandfather described my
grandmother in glowing terms and poured his love for her into every word that
he spoke.
 
He could not stop singing her
praises.
 
That was when the man knew he
had found someone worthy to carry on the tradition of his love affair with the
Indian princess and gifted my grandfather the ruby.
 
It was that very ruby that he had made into the ring he gave my
grandmother on their wedding day."

Amy was at a loss for words once
more.
 
Still she knew she had to say
something.
 
"Oh, Gibson."
 
It was all she could manage with her throat
so clogged with love for him and all he had lost.
 
Yet those two words conveyed more emotion than she could have
expressed with a thousand lines of poetry.

Rolling over onto his back, Gibson
pulled Amy with him until she sat astride him.
 
"It is that ring, God willing, that I will give to you on our
wedding day, Amy.
 
For that is how much
I love you.
 
As much as the lovers in
the story, if not more.
 
More so than I
can find the words to say.
 
And I was a
fool for thinking that I could deny it."

Amy leaned down to kiss him, her
breasts bushing against his chest.
 
"Gibson, I love you.
 
I have
from the very first moment I saw you.
 
I
only prayed that I could be bold enough, not to mention scandalous enough, to
do what was necessary to make you mine."
 
Then she rose up and lowered herself onto his straining erection and
spent the next hour or so showing him how exactly much she adored every inch of
him.
 
Scandal be damned.

Two weeks later

Society
Tales

Wedding bells are in the offing
and sooner than anticipated by many, at least from what this author hears!
 
The Lady A will soon become the Countess of
A., once she marries her newly reinstated viscount.
 
Or should I say earl?
 
It
could not happen for two more deserving people, and this author is thrilled
beyond measure for them both.
 
They
deserve nothing but a lifetime of happiness.

Now if only the Viscount of B.
would look just a bit more cheerful, all would be well, I believe.
 
After all, he has been dubbed the catch of
the season by almost everyone in society!
 
It is time that he embraced that role!

- Lady X

"You look exceptionally lovely
tonight, my lady.
 
Even if you are back
in pastels."
 
Gibson eyed the pale
pink frock trimmed in white lace that Amy was wearing, certain that it was
another Madame LaVallier creation, though much too plain for his tastes.
 
However they were at a ball being hosted in
their honor, so he could not complain overly much.
 
He certainly did not want to embarrass their very generous hosts,
Lord and Lady Chillton, or his old friend and their son, Lord Alex, in any way.

Still, he felt the need to make one
final point on the matter understood.
 
"Once we are wed, those colors will be forbidden.
 
I want that to be perfectly clear.
 
The Countess of Ardenton will be renowned
for her taste and style, as well as her bold color choices, not to mention the
daringly low cuts of her gowns.
 
The
more scandalous, the better."
 
Amy
required bright colors to make her sparkle the was she deserved, and Gibson
would make certain that she had them.
 
There was nothing too good for the woman he loved.

"Once we are married, no one
will care."
 
Amy felt as if she was
floating on a cloud.
 
The last two weeks
had been the most wonderful and perfect of her life. In a few days, she and
Gibson would be wed by special license.
 
Things could only improve.
 
Of
that, she had no doubt.
 
"They only
talk now because it gives them something to do.
 
The daughter of an earl, a woman distantly in line for the
throne, engaged to a man who was, until recently anyway, a physician in the
royal court?"
 

She clucked her tongue in the same
way she had heard many society matrons do over the years.
 
"Completely improper.
 
Unheard of.
 
Just not the thing to do.
 
Scandalous.
 
Beyond improper,
really."
 
Then she winked, a wicked
gleam in her eyes.
 
"So you see,
those here tonight have plenty of things to talk about other than what I am
wearing.
 
The same will be true once we
are wed.
 
Especially with some new and
extremely eligible bachelors back in town for the remainder of the
season."

Gibson chuckled and led Amy away
from the refreshment table and back towards the dance floor.
 
"
I
will care what you are
wearing," he informed her, unable to hide the smile that had been gracing
his face since that perfect, wonderful morning in his home.
 
"Though, to be honest, I prefer you in
nothing at all."

"Gibson, behave," Amy
chided as they passed several other couples on their way back to the
ballroom.
 
"We are behaving in a
simply scandalous manner.
 
It is most
unbecoming of us."
 
The she gave
him another wicked smile.
 
"But
perhaps, that is to be expected considering everything."
 
She was pleased with her own wit, especially
when Gibson smiled as well.
 
He did not
do that often enough in her opinion.

"My darling, we are far beyond
scandalous at the moment," he whispered in her ear.
 
"In fact, I believe we passed that
stage long ago, what with The Paragon affianced to the son of a traitor.
 
Though thankfully, our friends do not seem
to mind."

It still confounded Gibson that, to
a large degree, he had been accepted so fully and easily into the bosom of the
ton
.
 
Oh, there were some old dragons who
disapproved, to be certain, but he had already been assured he would receive a
voucher for Almack's once he regained his official title from the Prince
Regent.
 
Both Coleridge and Radcliffe
had offered to sponsor him at White's, as well.
 
Even in his most fevered dreams, Gibson could not have imagined
such gifts being bestowed upon him.

He was also surprised that the
Selby family had agreed to host this evening's ball in his and Amy's honor,
officially welcoming Gibson back into society.
 
The Selbys, led by the patriarch, the Earl of Chillton, were distant
relations to the Blackwells.
 
Gibson had
played with their son, Alex, when they were both young boys, but he hadn't seen
anyone from the family since well before the scandal that had cost the
Blackwells everything.

When the request to host the event
had come, by way of Lord Coleridge, Gibson had been shocked.
 
He had also wanted to immediately decline,
but both Coleridge and Radcliffe had talked Gibson into allowing Lady Chillton
to host the grand and glittering affair.
 
They had both informed him that with her as his social champion, things
would go much smoother for him as he re-entered society.
 
Not to mention that a Chillton ball was not
to be missed - as was evidenced by the stir that had been made that evening
when both Marcus as well as Lady Julia's brother, Nicholas Rosemont, the Duke
of Candlewood, had appeared at the ball, seemingly ready to socialize.

It was the first true appearance in
society by either man all season and tongues were already wagging.
 
Gibson had no doubt that Caroline would
cover every salacious bit of gossip extensively in her Lady X column the next
morning.
 
At the moment, she stood
partially hidden behind potted plant, as if trying to blend in.
 
She was not, he decided, doing a very good
job.
 
It would be a gift to her if
someone would tell her that she was miserable at attempting to hide herself
from the crowd.

Then Gibson realized that all of
this evening was a gift, from the ball to the fine new evening clothes that he
wore, to the carriage and four that had conveyed him to the Chillton home.
 
Even the presence of Lady Isabelle, in her
horrid gray gown, was a gift and far more than he had ever imagined not quite a
year ago when he had first fallen in love with a cool English beauty in a front
entrance hall.

The greatest gift he had received
however, was Amy's heart.
 
Nothing was
more precious to him than that.

"Even Lord Faraday seems to be
coming around."
 
Amy nodded in the
direction of another potted plant where the young buck was chatting up Miss
Letitia Worth, pulling Gibson from his thoughts.
 
"The two of them would suit nicely, I think."
 
Then she scanned the crowd.
 
"I take it Lord Drake has not recovered
sufficiently to be seen in public?"

"No," Gibson confirmed as
he found Amy a seat where she might rest.
 
He suspected she might already be with child, but he wasn't certain
yet.
 
Still, no sense in taking a
risk.
 
"Dr. Hastings is still
attending to him.
 
He is seeing to your
mother this evening as well."

After the events at Cheltenham
House, Lady Evenston had suffered a minor setback in her recovery.
 
Since the pressure of dealing with Michaels,
even though she hadn't known his true motives for being in the family's lives
on a daily basis, had brought on her attack in the first place, the
confrontation in the morning room had given her "heart flutters" as
she called them.
 
Hastings had suggested
that more bed rest might be in order, especially now that Lord Evanston had
returned home and could resume running the household - provided he was not
still working for the crown at the present time.
 
It was a suggestion that everyone in the family had agreed with
heartily.

"I do not particularly care
for Lord Drake, as you well know, but I also do not believe him to be all
bad."
 
Amy looked up at Gibson
through lowered lashes.
 
"He did
send you to me that morning, after all."

And for that reason alone, Gibson
knew he would forever be in Lord Drake debt, at least to some degree.
 
It rankled a bit, but, as Marcus had
reminded Gibson just the other day, better to be in some degree of debt to a
man like Drake, than to have lost Amy forever to a man who should have been
locked up in Bedlam long ago.

"That he did," Gibson
finally agreed.
 
"But let us think
of more pleasant things."
 
He was
about to suggest a list of things they could discuss, including where they
might honeymoon after their wedding, which still had yet to be decided, when
the crowd parted to allow Lady Diana Saintwood to pass.

"Lady Amy!" the other
woman cried, and Gibson thought the smile on her face to be rather
genuine.
 
"I am so very glad to see
you."
 
Then she offered a curtsey
to Gibson.
 
"Lord Ardenton.
 
I am very pleased to finally make your
acquaintance."
 
She should have
waited for a proper introduction, but Gibson didn't mind.
 
The young woman was enthusiastic and
welcoming.
 
That was good enough for
him.
 
"Please excuse my
informality, but I could not wait to offer my congratulations."

Gibson sketched a low bow.
 
He was thankful that all of his training to
be a viscount had not fled his mind over the years.
 
"Please, my lady, do not think a thing of it.
 
I am only happy that my lovely wife to be
has such good friends."

Diana's eyes sparkled, and he could
see a hint of mischief there, but no malice.
 
She was, he decided, cut from a slightly better cloth than her mother in
that regard, though he was warming somewhat to Lady Sainthill.
 
Like the others, she was not all bad,
either.
 
"We are only too glad that
Lady Amy has finally has found a man worthy of her."
 
Then Lady Diana lowered her eyes, a bit of
the sparkle dimming.
 
"I also
wanted to apologize for my cousin, Lord Drake.
 
His actions the past few weeks were unconscionable.
 
I pray we might still be friends even after
all the damage he has wrought."

It had taken a good deal of courage
to say what she had, and Gibson admired her greatly for it.
 
He only hoped that Amy saw things the same
way.

Amy reached out and grasped Lady
Diana's hand in her own.
 
"Do not
give it another thought.
 
The past is
just that.
 
In the past.
 
It is over and done with.
 
We shall go on from here."
 
She fanned herself lightly, and Gibson was
again struck with the suspicion that she was already carrying his child.
 
"Can we expect to see you and your
family at our wedding, I hope?"

"Yes.
 
Of course."
 
Lady Diana was obviously pleased at the easy forgiveness that Amy
had offered.
 
"Oliver and I will be
there, as will my mother.
 
It is certain
to be the event of the season."
 
She beamed again and Gibson decided that he liked her infectiously happy
manner.
 
It was a refreshing change from
the rest of the rigidity of the
ton
.
 
"Of course, anyone who is anyone will be present."
 
Then she looked beyond Amy to the far corner
of the room, something obviously catching her eye.
 
"I am sorry to be so rude.
 
My manners are not usually this appalling.
 
However, I see my brother beckoning to me.
 
Oliver has been in a snit all evening.
 
I really do need to see what is the trouble
now."
 
With a quick curtsey to both
Amy and Gibson, she hurried off.

When she had departed, Gibson
turned back to Amy.
 
"She reminds
me of a hummingbird."

"Oh, hush."
 
However Amy's eyes sparkled with the same
light that Lady Diana's had.
 
He
supposed that meant she was happy, too.
 
She seemed it, anyway.
 
"She
is a delight.
 
Not to mention that
support from the Saintwood family will also go a long way in helping us
establish ourselves in society."