Embracing Ashberry (18 page)

They scolded their brother mercilessly for
his extravagance after the years, they claimed, that he had forced
them to dress in rags. He had simply shrugged and kept his eyes on
Ellie, whose own face was lit in an expression he didn’t
understand.

Ellie was thrilled though she said little.
The twins were completely unrestrained out of Society’s presence
and Ellie dearly wished she could see them so free more often. She
had never been around women who were as fun loving as they and she
found herself smiling more than not. Afterwards when they insisted
she go driving with them, Ellie had looked at her husband, who had
nodded and kissed the corner of her mouth. Charlotte had the
audacity to giggle while Caroline had turned away and hugged her
brother, whispering in his ear. Ellie wondered what she had said,
but had no opportunity to ask for the sisters had nearly carried
her off into the Earl of Eldenwood’s elegant city landau.

The drive in Hyde Park had been a revelation
to her, for Ellie had never experienced one like it. The twins were
polite and proper as peas in a pod when speaking with the matrons
or being complimented by the rare gentleman but when others were
out of earshot, they were merciless. They regaled Ellie with tales
of Ashberry’s growing pains, claiming near perfection on their own
parts, until she nearly doubled over laughing at the images the
girls painted of him.

The twins had returned her to Ashberry House
with plenty of time to return to their own homes and prepare for
their own dinners with their own husbands. Ellie had wandered a bit
in the house before settling in the music room, her fingers
skimming lovingly over the keys.

Ashberry found himself opening his study
door again to listen to the melodies, eventually setting down his
pen and moving to the music room to sit by the fire that burned
there. His chair faced the pianoforte’s bench and his view of her
was unobstructed, and he absorbed every expression that accompanied
each sentiment of the music.

Ellie knew he was there, though her eyes
were closed as she played. The tune seemed to follow the lead of
her heart and she used the passion and sweet sadness of it to
settle her soul. When the piece ended and the last echoes died in
the room, she laid her hands on her lap, speaking to her husband.
“I spent hours playing as I was growing up but I didn’t really
understand how much emotion music could express until after Papa
took us to Europe.”

“You can play as much as you wish,” he
replied softly, his eyes on her.

Her reply was sincere. “I will and I would
thank both your parents for the instrument if I could,” she
murmured. She paused, then said abruptly, “I did not intend for you
to be miserable, Ashberry.”

“I’m not,” he said, surprised. “Why would
you say that?”

“Last night,” she whispered.

Ashberry considered her words. He had been
especially tense, abruptly sending her to bed and hardly even
pausing in her boudoir to say goodnight. She could have tasted the
frustration that oozed from him. Finally, he murmured, “I was not
miserable, Ella. I was wanting.”

Ellie was as shocked by her next words as
Ashberry was, but the question had been troubling her all day and
the words just seemed to tumble out. “I don’t understand, my lord.
You have every legal and Godly right to do everything to me that
you wanted to do last night and you must know that I would not
fight you. Why do you deny yourself?”

Impulsively, Ashberry moved toward her,
sliding beside her onto the bench. He grasped her hands in his,
turning her upper body to him. “Ella dear,” he replied seriously,
“I have told you why already, if you remember.” The sincerity and
confusion of her question struck him nearly as much as her
acceptance of his authority in their marriage and he struggled to
focus on the first issue while ignoring the urges caused by the
second. “I swore an oath just five days ago,” he explained, his
words slightly savage. “To you and to God, that I would honor and
protect you for the rest of my days.” He dropped her hands to cup
her cheeks in his hands. “And I will keep it, even if it means
denying myself something that I desire more than anything else in
my life.”

Ellie licked her lower lip, the gesture
enough for Ashberry to squeeze his eyes closed. He gripped her just
a bit tighter but she did not resist and after a few moments his
hands slackened until they simply rested on hers. “You nearly kill
me, Ella,” he said, the agony in his voice clear. “And you don’t
even know how.”

She drew a deep breath, waiting while her
heartbeat slowed. Her mouth was dry but she dared not wet her lips
again, for despite his words she was learning quickly. Instead, she
whispered, “I should dress for dinner.”

Ashberry did not release her, as she
expected. Instead, his body coiled like a taut spring while he
asked, “That afternoon in your sitting room, were you repulsed by
our kiss?”

She considered her words carefully, finally
settling on a nondescript answer. “No, your kisses did not repulse
me, Ashberry,” in a whisper. It would simply be unfair to him to
admit she had been enthralled, aching even, when he had pulled
away. Even in her innocence, Ellie understood such an admission
would make his celibacy even more painful.

He sighed, muttering, “Thank God.” Almost
compulsively, his hands drew her face toward him until their lips
touched, not bothering to point out that the magic words had once
again crossed her lips when she had anxiously questioned him. Her
eyes closed when he tilted her head, adding a slight pressure to
the kiss. “I have to taste you,” he breathed, the words so hoarse
that Ellie could barely understand them. She shivered, not from
fear but from the delicious tingle that flitted through her nerves,
then innocently turned her mouth up in wanton offering.

The groan that came from him seemed to start
in his abdomen and grow as it swelled through his chest and throat.
One hand slid behind her head pushing her face up even higher while
the other left her face to encircle her waist, sliding her closer
to him on the bench.

With his hand behind her head and his body
nearly touching hers, Ellie knew that every place his hand touched
hers burned. Her fingers crushed her skirts in her fist while she
struggled to keep up with the sensations that flooded her. The
burning of his lips on hers seemed practically impossible for her
to deny, for the ardor of it was increased even by the pressure of
his hand at the small of her back. She leaned toward him,
submitting to the demands of his mouth, until he abruptly released
her and stood, backing away.

His breathing was heavy as he stared at her,
his mouth open. Her lids fluttered under the heat of his gaze,
until he growled, “Go, Ella. Now.”

Ellie did as he said.

It was her turn to flee.

* * * *

Ellie didn’t see Ashberry again until she
entered the salon before dinner. He had changed, adding a simple
cravat to his shirt and coat. She didn’t know his mood but he
handed her a glass of wine and touched the edge of his to hers, so
she smiled a little.

“Thank you,” she murmured, turning so that
he could see two of the beautiful flowers he had sent to her rooms
that morning.

He nodded, ushering her into the dining room
at Alexander’s signal. The butler had observed Ashberry's
preference after that first dinner together and set Ellie’s place
beside his lord’s at the head of the table, but even when they had
taken their seats Ashberry did not speak.

They were well into the meal before he said
carelessly, “I hope you enjoyed the blooms.” The rarity and
abundance of the blooming flowers had astonished her and his
dismissal of them was amusing. “I thought you should have something
fragrant to enjoy,” he told her, “So I asked Adams to put something
special together for you.”

The blossoms’ scents mingling in the air
were a heady combination, a combination Ellie felt was calming,
invigorating. “I shall have to thank him,” she said easily,
planning to speak with the gardener the next day.

He looked at her, his eyes raking her from
forehead to breasts in a blatant, assessing gaze that Ellie found
to be particularly possessive. For some unknown reason, she was
pleased by the appraising examination and his words, uttered with
the slightest bit of boyish petulance, made smiling irresistible.
“He had me pay a small fortune for them, you know.”

“Then I shall endeavor to find a way to
thank you as well,” she said sweetly. Her body seemed strangely
awake this evening, she thought to herself, attributing the
sensations to Ashberry. She took several minutes to decide that she
liked it before asking, “Do you plan to go out this evening?”

He looked at her as if she was daft until
she smiled in return, when his eyes widened in an astonished smile.
“No, my dear, you have not driven me from my own home yet,” he
murmured quietly. “Though if you continue to ask such silly
questions I shall consider the option.” He took a bite before
suggesting, “I thought I might teach you to play billiards
tonight?”

Ellie did not remind him that she had three
brothers and no sisters. Instead, she offered only, “That might be
interesting.”

Three hours later, Ashberry stood against
the wall in the billiards room and watched his wife lean over and
position herself before knocking three balls expertly into a
pocket. Her bottom perked unconsciously beneath the dress in an
alluring curve that had continually distracted him. He might have
been tempted to call her a lucky shot, except that she had already
beaten him twice. Ashberry remembered, amused suddenly, his
introductory ‘lesson’ to her when they had stepped into the room.
She had waited patiently while the marquess had positioned himself
behind her, his hands sliding over hers. He had breathed against
her ear as she had taken the shot. It had been so misdirected that
he thought he would need to repeat the lesson, but time had proven
him wrong. She had been disturbed only by his presence close behind
her and somehow he was not displeased by the inadvertent
information she provided.

He moved behind her again, smiling when she
turned around quickly. “You tricked me,” he murmured, backing her
against the table. Her hands gripped the edge for support but she
remained straight, refusing to bend backward when he stepped so
close that she was forced to tip her head back to meet his
gaze.

Her eyes dared to twinkle a bit. “Billiards
is not considered an accomplishment to which any lady aspires,” she
finally returned.

Ashberry leaned down until their noses
touched. “It seems to me,” he told her, “That it is essential when
you have a husband who enjoys the game very much and no one else at
home to entertain him.”

“You do not mind?” she asked seriously.
“Papa was furious when he found out the boys had taught me to play.
He said it was not a lady’s game.”

The marquess smiled, backing down and taking
her by the arm. “Your parents live by much more traditional rules
than I made for myself,” he told her as they made their way through
the house. “Perhaps your father was right,” he mused, “But we shall
never know.”

Ellie laughed. “Your sisters taught me
something today,” she told him seriously. “though they did not know
it.”

“Heaven help me,” he sighed, “What did they
tell you?”

“All kinds of things,” she admitted, before
explaining, “But what I learned from it all was that you had a
sense of humor.” They began to climb the stairs as she added, “I
hadn’t known it. I suppose not telling you I knew how to play was
my way of finding out if your good humor extended to me.”

Ashberry laughed the laugh of a man truly
amused. “And I discovered that it does,” he admitted, stopping and
kissing her ear in the middle of the staircase. “Although my
sisters, you realize,” he warned, “Have known me their whole lives.
They have already found what I am amused by and what I am not.”

The pair arrived at her sitting room door
before she found the right reply. “Then I shouldn’t mention,” she
said sweetly just as she opened the dressing room door, “That
incident involving you and a pail of slop left in the stable?”

Despite Wendy, despite laughter forming in
his chest, he stood tall and stared her down. “That,” he emphasized
the first word, “Was not in the least bit funny.”

Ellie shrugged her shoulders, breezing over
to her maid. “Are you sure?” she turned back and asked him sweetly
as Wendy began to unfasten the small buttons that closed her
gown.

Ashberry couldn’t stop the smile from
forming on his lips. “No,” he admitted before turning the tables.
His eyes raked over her as the gown began to loosen. He waited, a
knowing and proprietary look on his face as Ellie began to worry
that he would not leave. She shifted uncomfortably, blushing when
he said quietly, “Just remember that I can tease as well.”

Only when Wendy began to ease the gown down
over her arms did he turn away, throwing over his shoulder as he
left, “Wendy, you do an incredible job of making my wife quite
irresistible.”

Ellie tried to frown when Wendy giggled but
she failed miserably. Instead, she considered the words, turning
them over in her mind again and again until they seemed to settle
inside her. Still considering, she dismissed the maid and doused
the candles before showing herself into the bedroom. Ashberry was
not there so she got into bed, watching the fire for a moment
before extinguishing the candle beside her bed.

Ashberry waited precisely thirty minutes,
during which he undressed and stared moodily out into the street.
He was grateful when he found her asleep, taking several minutes to
arrange the blankets around her. Almost reverently, he traced the
lines of her nose and brows before gently kissing the corner of her
mouth. He turned to leave her but stopped before he reached the
door. Instead of returning to his chamber, he made his way to the
fireside chair and settled into it, his eyes firmly fixed on the
crackling fire.