Compromising Kessen (29 page)

He gently placed both wrists in her lap as he rested his hands on her hips, then he moved her gently against him and breathed into her hair. His grip tightened on her waist, and he spun her around to face him.

Kessen turned, and with his help was now straddling the future Duke of Vandenbrook in his room. Lady Newberry would have a fit if she was to barge in, but nobody was going to barge in. It was just them.

Christian sighed and placed his hand firmly over Kessen’s chest as if he wanted to feel her heart beat through his hand. Her breathing sped up. He leaned in and kissed her on the side of the mouth. The room felt heavy and tense as he tugged at her bottom lip with his teeth.

Gently at first, then more forcefully as she opened her mouth to welcome his slow invasion. He took his time, as if each taste told him more and more about her. She might as well have been naked for as exposed as she felt.

Her arms were still limp at her sides; Christian reached down and wrapped them around his neck. She braced herself against him and he continued to kiss her as if she was the only reason for his existence.

His kisses could ruin a girl.

She felt thoroughly ruined at that point.

Just when she didn't think she could take anymore, he slid his hands down her sides and paused, pulling away from her face for just an instant. His eyes were black with desire.

“How many days?” His voice was hoarse. Apparently his wooing was doing just as much to him as it was to her.

She smiled seductively, pushing her hand against his chest and biting his ear. “Two days.”

Christian groaned. She kissed his neck.

Muttering something in French, he threw his weight over her, his body acting as her blanket as he suggestively started pushing up her shirt.

Heat personified, he possessed her with a hunger she never knew possible. Desire coursed through her veins as she pulled him closer.

A knock echoed distantly through the haze.

They froze.

“You've got to be kidding me…” His breathing was uneven as he hovered over Kessen. He looked like a lion ready to pounce at any minute.

The knock grew louder and more insistent until finally Christian told Kessen to go hide while he opened the door.

He walked slowly to the door, making sure he looked presentable, then opened it a slight crack.

Kessen couldn't hear anything but was more than shocked when Christian turned around with a silly grin on his face and walked out of the room.

She came out of her hiding spot, extremely confused, but the confusion didn't last long as her father walked through the door with arms wide open. “I should punish you for being alone with that young man, but it was my dearest wish you would marry a Brit!”

Good to know her father’s moral compass only pointed true when the man wasn't of his same heritage. It made a girl feel good.

A little mortified to be caught in any man’s room by her father, she hung her head and slowly walked over to him. He pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her forehead.

“I couldn't have planned it better myself, you know,” he said into her hair.

“What do you mean?”

He chuckled. “Oh, nothing—just that the duke and I have been discussing for some while about how to get you two settled down. It only made sense to throw you at one another and see if any interest came out of it. Of course…” he cleared his throat, “I knew he would be interested in you, but I've never thought any of the boys you dated were good enough for you.”

All two of them, Kessen thought, suddenly glad Nick wasn't there to laugh in her face. How odd that her own father noticed she needed help in the dating department. It suddenly seemed her and Christian’s suspicions were right.

They had been set up.

Well played. Well played. Both parents made it seem like it was an accident that they were caught in the garden. It made her wonder if they had been spying on them all night, just hoping and waiting for an opportunity to sell them out to the press. She made a mental note to ask her grandmother for more clarification after the wedding … and after her grandmother had downed at least two glasses of wine.

She choked back the escaping laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Her father pushed the hair from her face.

“Just excited you are here.” She hugged him tighter and closed her eyes.

“Me too, me too.”

****

As weddings go, this one was turning out to be far from perfect.

First of all, the harpist was an hour late. Then it started raining, which shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone since they were in England, but people still grumbled. Luckily, Kessen’s grandmother had had enough foresight to order tents for the outdoor reception. Though Kessen was thankful that the ceremony would take place in the family’s old chapel on the estate.

Kessen was trying not to be a bundle of nerves, but was failing miserably when she caught her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing a dress straight out of Cinderella’s dreams.

It was strapless with a perfectly tight bodice that went out to her hips. The bodice had hundreds of crystals sewn into it and was, by all accounts, gorgeous. The rest of the dress flared out low on her hips into small waves of taffeta elegance. The material gathered at the back and went into a two-foot long train.

Her grandmother told her it was customary for the ladies of their families to wear tiaras, which on the inside made Kessen leap for joy, but on the outside she pretended to be indifferent.

It was a beautiful family heirloom, which delicately fit on the top of her head amidst the giant curls of her bright blonde hair.

Not that she needed any reminding, but her grandmother was doing a perfect job of making sure Kessen knew just how important this ceremony was.

“You are no longer the daughter of Lord Newberry, but the wife of the future Duke of Vandenbrook. As the future duchess, you must hold your head high like one.” Lady Newberry showed Kessen how to walk and lift her head high above the crowd.

Kessen wasn't listening.

She was only thinking about Christian and the fact she would be his wife in less than an hour. A warm fluttering had tormented her stomach ever since she woke up that morning. She hadn't seen him all day. Even though it was bad luck, she kept praying he would stop by her room to reassure her.

And then a knock came at the door.

It was Duncan and Nick with a blindfolded Christian in tow.

“What’s this?” she asked, breathless with delight.

Nick tightened the blindfold and shrugged. “He kept complaining about wanting to see you, but Duncan said it was bad luck, so we blindfolded him.”

Duncan looked beyond pleased with himself as he put his fingers through his suspenders and nodded his head in agreement. “You have five minutes, Christian. Then we are coming back to escort you to the ceremony. Do try to behave yourself until we return.”

Christian shook his head and tilted it towards the sky as if to say, “I can't believe they did this to me.”

Kessen suddenly felt nervous as she looked at her future husband. His suit had obviously been made for his chiseled body. He looked every bit the aristocratic man he was. The only thing that gave him away was the ecstatic grin spread across his face.

“So….” Kessen said, approaching him. Her dress swished around her ankles as she walked. “What brings you to my chamber?”

Christian swallowed then opened his mouth to speak; it was then Kessen, in all her bravery, stole a kiss. And not just any kiss, but a kiss that came from deep in her soul. She grabbed the back of Christian’s head and pulled it towards her, leaving him no way to escape her grasp.

Not that he appeared to mind, considering his hands began roaming all over her dress in the most inappropriate fashion.

“You're beautiful,” he said against her lips.

“What? You’re blindfolded! How would you even know?”

His hands were on her hips as he pulled his head away. He began slowly running them across the bodice, up her sides then back down again, then he pulled his hands down her hips and felt the material as it pooled at her legs. “Just beautiful,” he whispered.

Kessen wanted to melt right at his feet.

Christian stood up to face her, blindfold still firmly attached, and put his hands on her face. “I can't wait to marry you.” His voice was husky and stretched; his limit had been reached already.

“Okay!” Nick said, entering the room.

Duncan followed close behind. “It’s time to get you two married!”

“Finally!” Christian bellowed, turning to the two men.

Kessen held back her laughter and watched them leave the room.

****

Christian had always thought himself a man in control, a man who knew himself, who knew what his limits were. Yet after having his hands on Kessen’s body and feeling her dress, he wanted nothing more than to push Duncan and Nick down the stairs and lock himself in the room with Kessen.

This was not his normal behavior. For crying out loud, he had been raised to be the next duke. He had self-control; he knew what was appropriate and inappropriate, yet the temptation stayed and burned into him, causing such agony he wanted to yell.

This was love.

It was also lust—but it was mainly love. He could never do without her smile, the incessant talking, the intelligence, the spunk—there were so many things he loved about her, he felt the need to break out into song and dance, which would most likely terrify the guests, his father included.

He took off his blindfold and went outside to wait for his bride in the chapel.

Five minutes later the music started, and his heart felt like it would beat directly out of his chest. This was it—the moment they had been waiting for.

Everyone stood, making it difficult for him to see Kessen at all. He wanted to yell for everyone to sit down. He nearly went out of his mind with anticipation, and then he saw a flash of white.

And then more.

And then his heart stopped altogether.

She was perfect, and she was his.

Kessen looked like a fairy princess as she glided down the aisle towards him. The logical side of his mind said, “Steady, man. Let her make it down the aisle first. Steady.” While the more impulsive side said, “Run after her! Run to her arms!”

Up until that moment, life had always been about the logical side; he hated that side. He looked at Duncan and winked. Then he strode towards Kessen like a bat out of Hell. The normal bride reaction would be shock; instead Kessen sped towards him.

He was giving the media a feast at this moment. A Vandenbrook was breaking protocol at his own wedding. A Vandenbrook was making a romantic scene. As he closed the distance between him and Kessen, he heard people start to laugh, then gasp, then clap.

He pulled her roughly into his arms and stared into her glassy eyes. “I love you.”

She nodded, which he knew meant she was about to cry at any moment and could not utter words. She reached up and kissed him. He twirled her around the aisle kissing her face, her neck, her cheeks, anything he could get his lips on.

A throat cleared, making both of them break apart in laughter.

After all, throat clearing was what had followed their first kiss, and their second, and … well, there were a lot of interruptions during their short romance.

But no more. Now they were to be married. He put Kessen’s arm in his own and escorted her the rest of the way down the aisle while people cheered loudly.

Before he knew it, he was sitting at the reception drinking wine and joking with Kessen about the look on Duncan’s face when he started walking towards her down the aisle.

“I thought he was going to faint,” she said, laughing.

“I almost did,” Duncan grumbled. “Nick held me back. He said something about Christian being romantic.”

Nick crossed his arms and nodded. “It reminded me of those romance novels, and then I realized I wanted Kessen to be the star of her own story.”

“Aw, Nick. That's the nicest thing you've said all week.” Kessen patted his arm.

“Well, he is rather foxed, so maybe that's why,” Christian interrupted.

Nick glared while Duncan laughed and poured everyone another glass of champagne.

“To romance novels!” he said, lifting his glass into the air.

“Cheers!” they said together, then laughed as they celebrated what had to be the craziest Vandenbrook story yet.

Epilogue

“Are you sure the doors are locked, Christian?” Kessen was closing the blinds and making sure all windows had locks on them.

He groaned loudly. “Kessen, I promise if you don't stop asking me that or making me check, I'm going to cry. You will see firsthand the future Duke of Albany cry on his wedding night.”

“Aw, that's so sweet.” She purred, kissing his cheek.

“Not. Sweet.” His voice was hoarse. “Not sweet at all. I'm going to cry because I've wanted you for what feels like forever and now you’re putting me off … because you're worried about interruptions!”

“Well.” She lifted an eyebrow and ignored Christian’s grumbling as she pulled her bathrobe tighter. “You must admit they seem to be constant.”

“But we're married now!” he nearly shouted, tugging at her silky night robe.

She liked torturing him; it might be her new favorite hobby. But he was only a man and he had obviously had enough. She sighed then lowered the lights.

Christian’s eyes widened as she played with the cords of her bathrobe then suddenly threw it off. His mouth dropped open and his gaze reverently went to her body.

Neither of them moved.

The air in the room was electric.

Christian finally broke the dense fog that was their sensual tension by walking towards her. She knew what he was thinking. She had ordered French lingerie in order to drive him mad, but instead she found her own body ready to explode with need.

He took one look at her and her white lingerie and pulled her into a tight embrace. “If a man ever looks at you again, I'll have him killed.”

She shook with laughter in his arms. “I'd rather my husband not be in prison during the first year of our marriage.”