Magic in the Stars (33 page)

She dared a touch to his dark nipple, and he moaned just as
she had when he’d touched her. Liking that, she rubbed harder, then lifted
herself to suckle as he’d done.

“Oh, gads, Aster!” Theo fell down on the mattress, carrying
her on top of him. “You’re a brilliant student. Tell me what you’d like.”

“For you to show me what you like, then perhaps I’ll know.”

He suckled at her breast and ran his hand between her thighs
to ply her there. Like the wanton she was, Aster spread her legs, begging for
what he’d denied her earlier. She ached with need and was liquefying with lust.

Theo wasted no time in returning her to the mattress so he
might remove the last bits of his clothing. Finally, she could admire all his
glorious masculine nudity, although he did not give her much time to study his
maleness. He dropped down on top of her, pushing her into the bed, using his
powerful thighs to open her for the act she craved.

“It’s time, Theo,” she whispered urgently. “I won’t break, I
promise. I
need
this.” She wasn’t
entirely certain what she was saying, but her womb had been empty far longer
than she’d ever wanted. If she was to ever have a child of her own . . .
Ancient magic ruled the night. “Now, Theo, please.”

Their bodies shadowed his heavy arousal, but she felt the
blunt thickness pushing at her slick entrance. He caressed her there, causing
her to moan and lift into him in eagerness. He eased deeper. She raised her
legs to surround his hips, desperate for completion. He pushed again, stretching
her more.

“Oh, bloody hell, Aster. If I don’t take you now, I may
combust,” he muttered, pulling back and surging forward again.

He still wasn’t completely inside her. She feared he was too
big, that she was too small or unformed. But then she remembered this was where
babies came from, and she grabbed his shoulders and pressed kisses everywhere
she could reach. “Do it, Theo. Make me yours,” she urged.

With one final thrust, he broke her in two. She cried out
her pain and delight and confusion—just as shots filled the air outside.

“Not stopping,” he muttered, pulling back and thrusting
again, rubbing that place that made her swoon with need.

She dug her fingers into straining masculine muscles and
lifted herself into him. “It’s good, Theo, it’s so good, don’t stop, don’t ever
stop.”

And blessed man that he was, he filled her, he sent her
reeling toward the stars, and while her body convulsed with the rapture he
provided, he shouted his release and poured his life’s seed into her.

Theo wanted to sprawl forever on top of his magnificent
wife and never have to leave this glorious haven again. But aware he was nearly
twice her weight, he forced himself to roll over. A few more pops that sounded
like gunfire split the air. “They may all shoot themselves,” he muttered,
cuddling her warm curves against him.

“Watch the window,” she murmured sleepily. “If the sky
explodes, it’s just my father.”

“Perfect sense,” he grumbled, prying open one eye while his
brain screamed for insensibility. “Looks like a shooting star.”

“My father’s fireworks. He’s a madman.” She snuggled closer,
bringing all her cinnamon-roses lusciousness into contact with his waking body.

“Fair enough. No wonder we don’t scare you. Go to sleep
before I molest you again.” He sprawled on his stomach to quench arousal and
circled her waist with one arm.

“Bathing room next time,” his redoubtable wife reminded him.

That
wasn’t
conducive to appeasing desire.

They slept despite the fireworks. They woke with the gray
dawn and made love again.

And then, with the snickering unfamiliarity of newlyweds, they
crept down to the attic suite where the confused maids had lit a fire and laid
out robes on the untouched bed. Someone had thoughtfully added the cats.

Theo studied the striped creature clinging to the ancient
draperies. “We might want shutters once we choose our rooms.”

“Tabby is intrepid. He’ll come down when he’s ready. Do we
get to choose our own suite?” Aster asked with interest, gathering up a purring
ball of black fur.

“I recommend installing an armed fortress to block passage to
everything in the rear corridor in the wing furthest from my brothers and
nearest the bathing room. All we’d need is access to the kitchen and we could
forget everyone else exists.” Theo tied his banyan over his trousers and
wondered if his valet was wandering the halls with his clothes in hand.

“That is admittedly tempting.” Aster set her cat on the bed.
“I’m not accustomed to so much . . . interaction. May I
transport my pillows and carpets from my London house?” She removed her wedding
dress again, and tied on her sturdy flannel robe.

Theo scowled at the plaid abomination she was wearing.
“When’s your birthday? I’m buying you a better robe.”

“October second, but we’ve better things to do than look for
robes. Having all our clothes in one place might be useful though.” She
gathered up her silk and lace and waited for him to open the door.

His hitherto undiscovered caveman side wanted to hide her
out of sight of their families and keep her to himself. But he supposed he’d
have to prove that his wife still lived before her father would leave them in
peace.

Who was he trying to fool? Peace did not exist in Iveston.

As if to prove this truth, the nursery rang with wails as
they passed by. Aster hesitated, but hearing Pascoe pleading with his
offspring, Theo dragged her on.

On the next floor, Hugh and Hartley were dueling with canes
they were probably supposed to be taking to their father. Theo guided Aster
down the cross corridor to her old room and pressed a kiss to her brow. “Bathe,
dress, we’ll tell the guests they can leave or we can, and we’ll pack a
breakfast and hide.”

She laughed, kissed his jaw, and slipped into her room.

He really should have planned this better, but he was blamed
lucky to have even arranged a marriage ceremony. He’d done it! He’d persuaded
the fairy general to stay with him and she hadn’t run off! Theo nearly strutted
back to his chamber.

Of course, now he had to ensure that his bride would not
abandon him
after
the fact. This
thinking of others business was rough.

He let Duncan’s valet shave and dress him. Theo resented the
necessity, but if he was to act in Duncan’s stead, then he must make some
attempt to keep up appearances, at least while Aster’s family hung about.
Besides, she had seemed to appreciate his sartorial elegance yesterday and at
the tea party—until he’d had to stamp out flames.

He refused to go downstairs until Aster was ready. With the
new freedom of a married man, he knocked on her door and slipped past her maid
when she opened it. His bride smiled in delight. Reassured by her welcome, Theo
kissed her brow and finished hooking one of the gowns her sister had brought with
her.

“It’s raining again. Let’s play house,” he murmured.

She laughed and slipped from his grasp. “First, let’s see if
we are to be rid of my family and half of yours or if I must tell Cook to
butcher a herd to keep them fed.
Then
we can play house.”

“Feeding the savages keeps them occupied, understood,” he
said wisely.

She took his arm. “Having so many people here at once offers
easier opportunities to escape,” she assured him. “They can entertain each
other.”

The rotunda was already filling with boxes and trunks, Theo
noted in relief. Aster might believe that guests entertained one another, but
he knew his family better. War and chaos ensued when they were trapped in one
place for any length of time.

The newly redecorated dining chamber was crammed with people
in travel dress filling their plates and roaming about, reminding each other of
tasks to be completed before they left. Only half of them even bothered looking
up when Theo led his bride into their midst. The women, of course, swooped in
with a flutter of perfumes and petticoats to hug and kiss Aster. Unused to this
much femininity in one place, Theo reluctantly released her and made his way to
his new father-in-law.

“The fireworks were . . . entertaining,” Theo
said dryly.

“Glad you enjoyed them,” the earl roared, slamming him on
the back. “Bring Aster up to see us and you’ll see real fireworks! When will
you be coming?”

“When Aster says the time is right,” Theo replied, realizing
Aster’s charts made a grand excuse for almost anything.

“She’ll dilly-dally if you let her,” Lochmas warned. “If she
says a date might be a good time, settle on it right then or she’ll come back a
minute later and tell ye there’s a bad star on the right or summat of that
sort. Take her in hand!”

Theo grinned to himself at the idea of taking Aster in
hand—he doubted if his interpretation was the same as her father’s. “Right you
are,” he said jovially. “I take it everyone is set on leaving today?”

“Pascoe’s been telling me of some Luddites who want to turn
back time, stop canals, close the turnpikes, and build medieval castles or lunacy
of the sort. They’re a danger to the likes of us. I’ll be going up to London
with him to see if there’s aught we can do to end their depredations. He told
you about guarding the manufactory, did he now?” The earl wasn’t roaring, but
speaking urgently, casting a glance about the room half full of women.

“He did. My men have been warned, but I can’t buy an army to
guard all the machinery. There can never be progress if we must constantly be
looking over our shoulders! We’ll just deal with problems as they arrive.”
Annoyed at being dragged into business on what he considered his honeymoon,
Theo began filling his plate.

Aster’s Aunt Daphne sailed up to join them. “I have half a
dozen more workhouse girls to send down for training. Pascoe says he’s stealing
one of Aster’s half-trained maids for his twins. You’ll need to set up a
nursery to train more.”

Theo coughed and the earl roared his laughter.

***

Aster glanced up to see Theo’s ears turning red and her
father laughing like a fool. Aunt Daphne appeared mildly offended. All was well
with her world.

Her new husband had refused to don a high shirt collar, as
usual, and he’d already loosened his neckcloth, but his form-fitting black coat
and white trousers had her sighing with lust.

“Did you have a chance to observe Theo’s brothers?” she
asked Emilia, watching Theo rather than the company. “I need to see how this
new planet affects my charts. I can start on the one you’re interested in, if
so.”

Emilia answered with a verbal shrug. “They’re all handsome.
If all they need of me is money, then the younger ones will suit. The marquess
is a demanding sort, though.”

“All right, I’ll look at Lord Erran, William, and Jacques.”
Although Aster had her doubts about all three. They didn’t really
need
money, but she thought they might
need women to look after them—as Theo had. And Emilia wouldn’t do it. “I’m just
not entirely certain this is the best way to approach your need for funds.”

“I’m not likely to fall in love,” Emilia reminded her. “I
don’t have time. I need to be back in my laboratory today, if I could just
persuade Mother to hurry up.”

Now they both watched the other side of the room where
Daphne had caught Theo’s studious attention.

“I’m not entirely certain I can train as many servants as
she wishes,” Aster said doubtfully. “This house needs a great deal of
attention, and I still have my charts to keep up. It would be lovely to have a
few servants who actually know what they’re doing, but I’d feel as if I was
letting your mother down.”

“Hire teachers,” Emilia suggested.

“Not if I have to train them too! But I suppose I could make
a few inquiries. We could transform Iveston into a school for professional
servants,” she added with a laugh.

“Training people makes more sense than sending them to the
workhouse. Then all you’d have to do is figure out what to do with all Aunt
Gwenna’s maimed children.” She patted Aster sympathetically on the shoulder.

“Now that I’ve acquired a husband, I fear that task must fall
on Brianna or one of our cousins. Surely one of us has a gift for that sort of
thing.” Aster fretted at her bottom lip, knowing her aunts had been depending
on her—but so was Theo.

She had been selfish in choosing to take this opportunity
for a family instead of remaining single, but she still didn’t regret it.
Perhaps if she never looked at her charts again, she could live like everyone
else and blithely take one day at a time.

That
would be
truly selfish. Her duty was to protect and aid her family, and her gift was
reading the stars. Theo knew she couldn’t just be a housewife. She feared life
would become very complicated once this moment of happiness passed.

Hearing Pascoe coming down the stairs with his excited
toddlers, Aster realized she now had more than herself and Theo and their
respective families and problems to fret over. Soon, they might have their own
nursery. When would she have
time
to
chart the planets?

Her various duties nagged at her as she saw her family off.
She cried as she hugged them and sent them away, not knowing when or if she’d
see them again. She was not so very far from her London relations, but until
she saw her chart clear, she wasn’t certain how often she dared visit.

Theo held her as they waved farewell to the carriages rolling
down the drive. Fighting tears, she clung to his strength for these few
minutes. Learning to deal with each other and their new relationship was the
real test ahead of them, not this parting.

As they left the portico and returned to the rotunda,
Duncan’s angry shouts rang overhead, a couple of the puppies escaped the
conservatory, with one of the twins chasing after them, and the housekeeper
awaited Aster’s orders.
This
was her
future.