Counterfeit Countess (31 page)

The tasks gave her time to come to terms with the fact that someone had tried to kill John. Not just someone, but her husband.

Her first husband. He hadn’t asked her if she knew anything about the matter, such was the trust between them now. He didn’t have to ask. He already knew.

* * * * *

Sophia and Charlotte, obedient as always wore grey and sat next to their mother, heads bowed, exchanging glances. But for Faith, one of them could have expected to marry John and become the Countess of Graywood. However, John couldn’t have made his choice more clear and Faith was past guilt now. He wanted her and he would have her.

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The thought of how sent her knees to soft trembling. Not in fear but eager anticipation.

She barely remembered the service when she tried to recall it later. Only the cool feel of the gold ring he slid on to her finger—a new one, not the one she’d used for the last several years, first as John Smith’s wife, then as the widow of John Dalkington-Smythe.

That lay in her jewellery box, the casket not as bare as it used to be.

She wore the magnificent string of pearls that John had given her.

Robinson had brushed out Faith’s hair that morning and threaded a simple ivory ribbon through it before Turvey had reverently placed the bonnet over her curls.

Faith had no idea if John noticed the care with which she’d dressed. He only gazed at her as if she were the answer to all his dreams, which she could not help considering a foolish notion. Not that she would castigate him for thinking so.

How could she, when she could hardly concentrate for the overwhelming joy that suffused her?

They had elected to wed at ten in the morning, before most of fashionable society was about. Their ploy worked, for nobody more than the family appeared in the small but fashionable church near their home.

Their home. She ruminated on that during the short ride back to the house, this time with her hand tucked into John’s. “I never imagined I’d think of Grosvenor Square as home.”

“Wait until you see Graywood. I want it to become our real home. It’s beautiful and peaceful.” He squeezed her hand as they arrived. “Do not expect to spend long in those fine garments, my lady. I intend to make you pay for the two nights I slept in the club, cock in hand, wanting you with every inch of it.”

“John!” She turned her head to conceal her blushed, but he touched her chin and turned her back to him.

“It’s the truth. I want nothing but honesty between us from today until the day we die.”

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The thought that he would be here with her until she passed her last breath gave her comfort and a kind of wonder, that he would spend that time with her.

True to his word, he barely allowed her to taste her wedding breakfast before he declared she was too tired with the recent exertions of the ball and now the wedding. He courteously drew back her chair for her as she got to her feet and faced him, almost shyly. Despite her experience, and now being married for the second time in truth, she felt like a young maiden, unsure of what lay ahead.

On the other hand, the knowledge of what had passed between them already made her sex damp. It swelled, became more sensitive, so although she should care that the dowager gave her a knowing stare, she could not bring herself to do so.

They bypassed the bedroom Faith had used for the past two nights and went straight to the one John declared would be theirs henceforth. “Every night, come here. Don’t consider using any other place. This is ours, our room, our sanctum.” He lifted her hand to his lips, brushing the knuckles with a tender kiss, the soft pressure making her shiver with anticipation.

He pushed open the door, the last one lying between them and their total intimacy. “No more barriers. You are mine, and I intend to make you happy.”

“I want to do the same for you.”

“Why?” He closed the door behind them. “Guilt, a desire to please?” But he was smiling, his words a gentle tease.

“Because I love you. I need you to be happy.”

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again they held raw passion. For her. “My only love, come to me now.”

He cursed as he fumbled for the fastenings on her gown. He soon discovered the buttons at her neck and then down her back, concealed by a flat placket and pleats, and he undid every one.

“Why so many?”

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“It makes the gown fit well. Turvey can undo them in half the time.”

He groaned. “I should have allowed her to do it for you. I want you Faith, but I want you to keep this gown. It’s a reminder of the first of our days together as man and wife.”

Finally the gown came loose and she let it fall from her shoulders, off her arms. When she lowered them, the garment slid down her body to the floor.

Why should John have all the fun? She shoved his coat off his shoulders. Because he did not wear his coats so tight it took two men to reverently ease it away from his body, he could shrug it off, allowing the finely tailored cloth to join her beautifully made gown on the floor. The floor covered with an exquisitely fashioned oriental carpet.

For all she cared they could be wearing coarse woollens and be in a country inn, or a makeshift tent. She only had eyes for the man before her, stripping off his finely embroidered waistcoat and lawn shirt, revealing his powerful chest, carved muscles inviting her touch. No need to resist. She smoothed her palms across his nipples, glorying in the sensation of the sharp points over solid muscle, reminding her of what a pure male felt like. She’d missed that touch so much that two nights had seemed endless. “I woke up several times last night and you weren’t there.”

He smiled down at her. “That will never happen again. Faith, my wife, come to bed. And say it.”

She frowned in confusion. “What should I say?” She’d already told him she loved him and she expected to say it many times tonight. Then she knew what he meant. “John, my husband.”

His broad and tender smile told her she’d discerned the truth.

“You think I didn’t notice you never called me that?”

“I couldn’t do it. Even in my mind. I meant to leave you and then, when I decided to stay, I still wasn’t your wife. I am now.”

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He unfastened her petticoats, then her corset, turning her around to get at the laces. “That’s for sure. Why did you decide to stay?”

“Because it occurred to me you would be unhappy if I left.” It was that simple. Not because she loved him and wanted to stay more than she wanted her next breath, but because she’d leave him totally alone. “And I didn’t want you to touch anyone but me in this way. Look at anyone but me like this.”

“I never will.” The last of her garments disposed of, he took her in his arms and kissed her. Her breasts pressed against his chest, the heat they generated enough to set the day on fire. Sure she wouldn’t leave this room today, nor would he if she had anything to do with it. His tongue entered her mouth in carnal invitation and she returned the lavish, passionate kiss, sinking into him with wholehearted pleasure. He explored her as if he’d never kissed her before, taking her with every stroke. Reminding her of what they were about to do, his tongue imitating the action of his shaft. Faith drew away, panting. “I want you naked.” It was the honest truth.

She needed to reacquaint herself with the body of the man she’d been fortunate enough to ensnare in the net of love.

He still wore his pantaloons and his underwear but not for long.

After helping him dispose of his boots, she undid his fall for him.

Roughly, she dragged his clothes away before dropping to her knees and taking him into her mouth to claim the first drops of his desire.

The smooth head filled her mouth, and she ran her tongue around the flange underneath until he groaned and begged for mercy. “I want you now, Faith.” He sounded breathless, as if he’d run five miles or more. “Turn around. Hold on to the bed.”

Wide-eyed, but eager as he, she did as he bade her. She turned around, held on and spread her legs so he could see, smell and touch the evidence of her need for him.

He made a sound deep in his throat, half-groan, half-sigh, and touched her. He pushed a finger inside her, bringing it out and
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sliding it along her crease to touch the swollen nub at the front. Her cry might have raised the alarm, had not the household been aware of their activity. Sturdy doors lay between them and the rest of the world but the volume of the sound she made wouldn’t have been stopped by solid furnishings.

Not that she cared. Neither did he. “That’s the way, sweetheart.

Scream for me. Cry out, so everyone knows what we’re about, because I don’t intend to keep it a secret. London will know the Earl of Graywood is unfashionably in love with his wife and fucks her senseless every night. Then he makes love to her and soothes her with sighs and pretty words.” He kissed her shoulder, so tenderly she hardly felt the caress. “I want you every way, Faith. Fiercely and softly, facing each other and spooning close. Head to foot, you sitting on me, riding me to oblivion, me on top, driving into you so hard you won’t be able to close your legs for a week.”

“Oh God, John. Take me now, for pity’s sake.”

With a rough laugh, he prolonged his torture no longer, for she was ready, more than ready. His cock nuzzled her entrance, then he pushed, and entered her with a completeness that left her in no doubt of his readiness for her. “I wanted to do this to you from the moment I saw you in the doorway of the church. Quite desperately so the vicar nearly had to marry us in our bridal chamber.” Her responsive laugh turned into a moan as he slid one arm around her waist and dragged her against him. “Lean forward, my love. I’m going to take you hard and deep. You’ll come so much you’ll see stars.”

He gave her no mercy, even when she begged for it, reminding her, “If you want me to stop, I will, but hold on if you can. You will come, Faith, and often. This is only the first time today. Can you feel me, deep inside you? Do you want me to stop?”

“No!”

He thrust deep, then withdrew nearly all the way and hammered into her again, turning the action into a series of ramming thrusts
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that took her breath, then her senses. The smooth wood under her hands, the slight roughness of the embroidered bedcover against her waist, all registered. She feared she would never feel them again without a reminder of this sublime lovemaking. No, he was right, fucking. He took her, forcing her to come. When he felt the first helpless spasm of her body, he called her name, words of encouragement flowing from his tongue in a litany of desire.

“John, I don’t think I can bear any more.” She gasped the words, lightning shooting through her, sensations she had no words for, so out of her experience were they. Even his close attention in the last few weeks was as nothing compared to this. “You will always feel me there. Remember this, Faith, how your new husband took you so relentlessly.”

“I will. Forever.” She knew she would. Responding to a flurry of quick jabs, she leaned forward more and pushed out her backside to impel him deeper. Her astonishment and doubt of a moment ago forgotten, replaced by hungry lust. “I want more.”

He gave it to her, chasing another climax and she revelled in the sensations coursing through her. Every part of her body seemed sensitive, every gasp and drop of sweat intensified as they correspondingly heated and cooled her. Her thighs hit the bed with every drive, until the rhythm they set sent fire through her, prickling to the tips of her fingers and each hair on her head.

This time they came together, the gush of his seed inside her punctuated by the staccato clench of her channel around him and their mutual hoarse cries of fulfilment.

He fell half over her, his body protective, warming her, probably too much. Not that she cared. “Forever, Faith. I love you.”

“I love you, my husband. Now we’ve done the fucking, can we get to the lovemaking?”

The household also heard his sudden yell of laughter and everyone smiled, even the dour dowager Countess when she thought nobody could see her.

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Things had worked out rather well, after all.

Did you love
Counterfeit Countess
? Then you should read
Noblesse
Oblige
by Lynne Connolly!

Marianne Noble is a lady's companion when she meets Jerome Rivers at the fashionable Northern resort of Scarborough. The devastatingly handsome Jerome sweeps her into a world of riches, privilege and love. When a mysterious assassin threatens their lives, Marianne must take all her courage and defeat the evil that has entered her new world. Otherwise she will lose everything; a love beyond imagining, her independence and even her life.