Married by Morning (10 page)

    Jarvis stood in the doorway clearing his throat.  “The reverend has arrived.”

The ceremony was quick and his sister Stella and Lord Avery said their vows after Sebastian and Lady Constance.  It was very appropriate and not very pretty but the job was done.  They were wed.  He looked down at his beautiful wife and shuddered all over with pure joy.  He was so lucky to have found her.  She was all he had ever dreamed of.  He ran his fingers down her face and kissed her lovely mouth.  She tasted of honey and sweet warm wine.  He would never get enough of her.

     Lady Darby snubbed and handed Lady Diane, Lady Missie, and Lady Rachael all handkerchiefs.  They were very upset that their sister had wed before them but their beaus had stayed for the wedding.  That was a good sign.  Lady Darby walked off with Lord Thornton.  He had two children and was a tubby barrister but he had the same sexual appetites as her.  She had never been so happy to find her a mate.  Her son had just made her a dowager and she hated that title.  She wanted her own place.  Lord Thornton wanted her too.  “I am so happy the children found each other.  It was a most distressing night.”  “Yes, I wanted to spend more time with you. May I call on you tomorrow?  Can we take a picnic to the park?”  “Why yes, that would be…oh…why don’t you come here for tea.  I am not so sure the weather will be as good tomorrow.  I would not want you to be caught in the rain.”  “Thank you for being to considerate but I wanted you to be alone with me.”  “I will arrange for us to have complete privacy, Lord Thornton.  Do not worry yourself.”  “I look forward to it then.  I shall be here by two?”  “Yes, that is most agreeable.  I will await you then.”

     Everyone else departed the mansion and it quieted down in the parlor.  The new Lady Darby pranced into her husband’s arms and smothered him with kisses.  “I am so happy to be your wife.  I am excited that we are at last alone.”  Sebastian sighed.  “I must go see my cousins again and ask about Horace.  It seems he met with an accident.”  Constance closed her eyes tightly and shook her head.  “You think they did what the Constable was talking about?  My God, would they do that to me or you?”  “No, I think they were protecting you but I must find out for sure. You stay here and I will return in an hour.”  Constance shook her head.  “No, I will not let you out of my sight.  I don’t trust any of your relatives and those cousins are very weird to say the least.”  “It is better if you stay behind but if you must come then let’s get it over with.”  He grabbed his coat from the hall peg and her pelisse. “ It might be windy in the tunnels.”  They moved to the stairs and disappeared into the lower depths of the house.

     After a lengthy silence Constance swallowed and asked Sebastian what she was supposed to do concerning his cousins.  “Do I accept them or notice them or how should I act around them?”  “They are our family.  We treat them the same and just acknowledge they are a little different.  They usually don’t cause a disturbance within the family.  Something set them off on Horace.  He must have been doing something very bad for the family.”  He paused outside of Cousin Devlin Snead’s rooms.  “This is Cousin Devlin Snead’s rooms he is another cousin.  He stays to himself more than the others.  I do not think I have seen him in the house for years.  I saw him at the cemetery when father was buried but that was the first time in a very long time.”  He knocked on the door and there was only silence.  “Devlin?  Are you in here?  I need to ask you about Horace?  He swung the door wide and paced a bit inside the room looking from side to side.  It was a very dark and duty room.  It did not look like anyone lived in the room at all.  It was very quiet in there too, like a grave.  Devlin stepped out of the closet and smiled.  He seemed to slither around the room “I am right here cousin.  I can tell you what happened to Horace.  He was being a very nasty fellow when it came to the announcement of your impending marriage.  He was fooling around with Lady Tracy Lee Penton.  She was using him to get information on you. He also helped to steal a few things for her.  He blackmailed her about the thefts and she decided he was no more use to her.”  Devlin paced the room and slithered into a corner.  “His temper got the better of him so he slapped her around.  Then he decided to take Lady Constance and kill her for Lady Penton.”  Devlin sat down and looked at Lady Constance with apologetic eyes. “He thought that would get him back into her good graces.”  Devlin shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, as his eyes seemed to flare in the darkness of the room.  “He was wrong. When he tried to call he was sent packing. She would not speak to him so he decided he would kill Lady Constance himself and get into your mother’s good graces.  He took Lady Constance to the woods and laid her on the ground and took a large rock to bash her head in.  Cousin Alfred saw him outside with Lady Constance.  Cousin Driscoll followed too and saw it all.  He quickly stopped him.  He fed off of Horace’s blood first.  Then Alfred’s temper flared and he changed into himself, the wolf part and made a meal out of Horace.  They were protecting the Lord of the Castle.  You know how the curse is.  It is their responsibility as mine to keep you safe and happy.  You are our new Lord and Master.” Sebastian grimaced.  He had forgot about the curse.  “Yes, I remember now.  I am sorry that you are in such a situation.  I think the Constable will rule it an animal killing.  He seemed to be disposed to that.  I will have to make up a reason that Horace is gone.  Maybe he decided to go to America.  Most people disappear over there these days.”  “I think that would be best but book him passage on one of the freighters we own first. You need evidence.  Then you are covered.  It should be easy enough.  I am glad you are the new Lord.  Your father was not up to the job any more.  Your stepmother ran him into the ground.  You are getting rid of her aren’t you?”  “I think she has her cap set on Lord Thornton.  I believe they would make each other very happy.”  Devlin snorted, “I think they would be perfect together.  He will make her step to a different tune.  She won’t get her way any more.  I believe it will make her a happier woman though.”  He laughed an ugly kind of chuckle that made Constance shudder.  It was good that he couldn’t see how scared she was.  She stayed behind Sebastian all the way back to the stairs.  She  was terrified of the tall slender man that had spoken to her husband.  He did not look real to her.  None of the night had seemed real but now she understood that it was real.  She was grateful for her husband’s protection.  When they got to the head of the stairs he took her hand and pulled her into their bedroom.  “Lady Darby, I want you.  I cannot live another minute without you.  Will you please come to my bed?” Constance looked up at him through her long lashes. Her hands went beneath his shirt again running over his muscled back and down seeking out the indentation of his spine and following it until the waistband of his trousers.  Her hands then came back up his sides tracing the ridges of his ribs and around the front of his chest.  She wanted him.  She wanted to see his skin, feel her hands on his flesh and explore his body.  He shuddered and she sighed with expectation. She had an ache in the pit of her stomach that would not stop.  It was some kind of heated hunger she had never felt before.  He lowered his head and captured her mouth forcing her lips apart as he entered her mouth in some dance of exploration.  Sebastian backed her into his room and shut the door and locked it.  He was gasping for air.  “You remember when you came into my study and started seducing me?”  “I remember when you seduced me.” He giggled and took her by the shoulders.  “I think we seduced each other.  I know I was in a state.  You were the answer to my prayers. I never loved anything more in my life.  You were exquisite.  I was overcome with need for you.” He stepped back shrugging out of his waistcoat.  He fumbled with his cravat around his neck cursing, as it tangled until Constance grabbed his fingers and untangled his mess.  She smiled back into his eyes watching the brilliant purple in them sparkle.  His black hair fell into his eyes and his dimples deepened with a wide grin.  “I am so thankful my Lady.  I needed your help.” He stared into her small oval face and large corn flower blue eyes.  Her porcelain complexion and small perfect nose over her bow shaped lips almost made him weep. He held her face in his large hands and wanted to shout his joy at such a prize. “You are my Lybbestre and your virtues deseritur.”  She looked into his fathomless eyes and quirked an eyebrow.  “What?” He laughed as he captured her mouth before he explained.  “You are a Sorceress and your virtue is forsaken because I am about to make mad passionate love to you my darling.  Having him so near she couldn’t even think straight.  He leaned forward to take her mouth again and she wanted answers, like how the hell could his eyes be so purple.  She shook her head. No, not that answer but maybe she needed to know how his body could be so hard, so strong yet at the same time so gentle.  His hand rose and caressed her chest.  She gasped out his name. “Sy, oh my how can this be?  It feels so wonderful!”  She needed to ask him more questions about his strange relatives but her mind would not let her.  She was trembling in his arms.

     He tried to undo the tiny seed pearl buttons on her dress and his fingers were shaking so he could not. He shook his head and jerked the dress with his hands and it simply fell apart.  He mumbled he was sorry and she mumbled she was not as he clenched his fists into her hair and pulled her toward him.  His arms lashed around her like iron and his mouth dug into hers.  He kissed her as if he would never stop, as if he could not get enough of the taste of her mouth.  Constance went up on her toes cursing that she was so short.  She could not seem to reach him.  She barely touched his lips and he groaned a deep rumbling sound.

     He felt as if he had gone up in flames, as if the heat of his lungs from her lips raced through him fueling his fire higher. His hands went to her shoulders and captured her pulling her tighter into his embrace.  He rubbed her back and spine and then cupped her round bottom in his large hands and gasped.  She felt like a pillow of clouds, so soft and sensuous that he could not breathe. He traced the ridges of her ribs around to the front of her chest and cupped her round pear shaped breasts.  His thumb flicked a nipple and she shook.  He could feel her flesh heating to his touch.  An ache so pure coursed through his abdomen that he gasped and took a step back.  Pulsing with a primitive hunger he had never felt before he crushed her to his chest again.  He looked into her eyes and they were slumberous with passion.  He reached down and untied the belt of her now torn gown so it could pool at her feet.

     Constance felt the texture of his fingertips on the sensitive flesh of her breast as he tugged off the fabric of her dress. As the fabric caught on her nipples it heightened her arousal and centered the heat between her legs.  Her eyes closed and her head fell back lost in the sensations as he stroked his hands over her.  She let him devour her flesh at the apex of her neck and shoulder.  He nips and tender kisses only heated her further.

     Sebastian realized he was the sorriest wretch ever to indulge in sensual foreplay.  His wife was a virgin and he had not let her get to the bed.  He was attacking her while they stood by the door.  He grabbed her up into his arms and strode to the bed laying her down on the covers as gently as he could.  He shook from head to toe with his need for her.  His eyes devoured her as he saw her bare chest.  He pulled her drawers down and undid her hose.  His hands peeled off the hose and shoes and he was gasping for air.  Connie looked up into his face adoringly, capturing his heart for all time.  He could not think of anything but her beauty.  The light flowing through the windows cast a light across her face and breasts giving the alabaster skin a translucent appeal.  He was utterly and wholly in love with this creature.  He wanted her more than he wanted his next breath of air.  He wanted to take her to a summit higher than the clouds and all the way to the stars. 

     Only inches away from his body hunger blossomed deep in her abdomen warm and insistent.  His purple eyes heated her like a blanket she wanted to root under.  Everything within her seemed to soften toward him yearning for something she could not name.  She leaned forward again and his arms went around her crushing her to him.  He laid her down so gently on the bed but frantically she remembered she should be afraid. She started to try and rise.

     His mouth came down on hers and kissed her long and tenderly imprinting her soft flesh with his lips.  She held back for a minute then her arms went around him clinging to him with all her might.  She kissed him back her mouth pliant and hungry enjoying the taste, the scent, the feel of him.  He filled her senses and she could feel her body opening to him her breasts swelling gently.  He broke the kiss his breath rasping harshly in his throat.  She held him knowing he was hers and hers alone.  She would always belong to only him.

      His clothes were discarded on the floor. Sy did not remember taking them off.  He was beside Constance on the bed rubbing her body with his own warming her with the length of him.  He slid his arousal between her thighs and his breath caught in his throat.  His lungs seized up on him.  His body jerked and he knew he was close to losing control.  He had to find a way not to hurt her.  He could not bear the thought of hurting her.  His fingers slid down to frame the tender slim column of her neck feather light or feather like against her throat.  He could feel her blood pumping against his fingertips.  His hands closed around her scalp.  His mouth lowered to hers and once again his mouth took hers anticipation like a heated coil in his chest he deepened the kiss with a single sweep of his tongue. He ravished her mouth and his hands tightened in her hair.

     She whispered, “Please, please!” She did not seem to know what she begged for but he decided he would show her.  He slid lower and kissed her breasts and abdomen and then the inside of her right thigh.  She moaned and he was almost undone.  He could not stop now.  He kissed the juncture of her thighs and hummed a groan himself.  His tongue flicked out and she squirmed around on the bed like a mad bee. He smiled and plunged into her with his tongue.  She screamed and went into convulsions.  Her eyes glazed over and she trembled all over.  He knew it was time and he climbed back up her body.  He was hard as stone and entered her in one thrust.  He felt her virtue tear as she let out a yelp. He covered her mouth with his and kissed her deeply again. She quieted and he started to move inside her.  She lay still at first but then she started to move with him and he felt her relax.  He did not go far. He could not contain his own pleasure any longer. He ground into her and let out a growl as he found his pleasure.  It was the most exquisite release of his life.  He fell back onto the bed and almost felt himself feint.  How would he ever explain that to his children?  Oh by the way, your father feinted on his wedding night!  That would never do for a Lord Darby.  He chuckled to himself and she elbowed him in his ribs.  “What is so funny?  Did I do something wrong?”  He looked into her large blue eyes and stuttered, “Oh, my no, you did everything right.  I was just thinking I was about to die from wanting you.  That is all.”  He was not about to tell her that he almost feinted.  She peered into his eyes and searched his face.  “You wouldn’t lie to me would you?  I think I love you most sincerely.  I could not bear it if you did not love me too.”  He swallowed and ran his forefinger down her nose.  “I know I love you.  You are the most wonderful woman in the world.  Now don’t you ever think differently?  You had better love me. Did you know that my old maid aunt Mable ran off with Lord Fenster last night?  It seems that love is in the air and it is your fault for making love alive in this house. My stepmother and Lord Thornton are now engaged.  He could not wait to ask my permission to wed.  I was most impressed.  My sister Rachael and Lord Rathbone are talking of weddings.  He is very wealthy and thinks he loves Rachael already.  Also Lord Rally and Missie have their heads together all the time.  The only sister not in love seems to be Diane.  She did have an old beau that father would not let her marry.  I may give her permission if that is what she still wishes.  It is all so wonderful to have all my nuts, I mean, all my relatives happy.  You make wonderful things happen.  You are the Goddess of love.”  He winked at her and raised an eyebrow.  His fingers itched to touch her again.