The Secret Rose (33 page)

He fixed his gaze further into the distance. In the direction they would sail from London.

He couldn’t look at her yet. Couldn’t glimpse the face that bewitched his every waking hour. That haunted his dreams and kept him awake. That drove him insane with wanting to hold her, to be with her, to bury himself deep within her. That didn’t want to ever let her go. That sure as hell didn’t want to hear her say goodbye.

“Go back, Abby. Stephen might need you.”

“We need to talk.”

“Not now. Maybe later.”

“No. Now.”

The challenge in her voice cut through the air like a sharpened sword slashing through satin.

He turned to face her. His heart twisted in his chest when he saw the determined look on her face. Her beauty stole his breath. She had such strength. Such daunting courage. She’d struggled to keep Mary Rose a secret, offering to give up her father’s ships, even though losing them would cost her everything she owned.

She’d yielded to him when he’d forced her to marry him.

She’d faced Stafford not once, but twice, and had come out the victor both times.

She’d struggled so hard to keep her secrets, and as he discovered them, she’d acquiesced, giving over another part of herself, even though it cost her much to do it.

She deserved to be with Mary Rose and make a life where she would be happy. He owed her as much.

“Very well. Perhaps it’s best to get this over.”

She nodded. “I’ll wait for you in your cabin.” She walked to the stairway that led to the cabin where they’d first made love.

He thought of that first night and all the nights they’d spent together after. That seemed so long ago. Nearly three weeks. Could she know yet?

“Abby?”

She paused and looked over her shoulder. She wore a questioning look on her face.

“Is there any chance you are with child?”

He saw that his words took her aback. Her chin lifted just enough to show her surprise. An expression he couldn’t read covered her face, then she slowly shook her head. “No, Ethan,” she whispered, before turning away and making her way to the stairs.

A knot tightened in the pit of his stomach. Her denial sealed their fate. He would release her from her vows. He owed it to her. He loved her too much to keep her bound to him.

He breathed in a deep breath and followed her down the familiar six stairs, through the narrow corridor, and into the cabin. She stood in the center of the room, her hands clasped in front of her, her shoulders braced with regal stiffness. Her chin held high.

“I’ll not force you to stay with me,” he said, walking into the room and standing beside the window next to the desk. “And I’ll not fight to keep you as my wife. I want you to go to Sydney. He will help you obtain an annulment. You may use whatever excuse you want to have our marriage dissolved. The reason matters very little.” His words burned as he said them, and he extended his arm and braced it against the wall, thankful for something solid to hold him. “I’ll sign the papers before I leave.”

“How generous of you,” she said, unable to hide the sting in her voice. “Does that mean you no longer want me?” She paused. “Or that you never did.”

He turned his head until he could see her. “You know better than that. I was not the one who chose to stay with Mary Rose.”

“No. You were not. You were the one who refused to fight to keep me.”

Her words cut him to the quick, and he closed his eyes to block out the pain. He heard her emerald-green satin skirts swish as she walked across the room, then heard the door close, the hollow thud of her leaving landing yet another painful punch low in his gut.

He thought she was gone but turned at the next sound he heard. The sound of the key turning in the lock.

“What are you doing?”

“I’ve locked the door.”

He stared at her, at the calm look on her face, at the brave and defiant glimmer in her eyes as she faced him. She was like a woman possessed. A woman with a purpose.

“Why?”

“Because you have left me no choice.” She dangled the key from her fingers, then dropped it to the cabin floor in front of the door. “Because in that noble, irritating, self-sacrificing habit of yours, you have made the biggest mistake of your life. I’ll not allow it. One of us has to fight.”

With a graceful swish of her foot, she kicked the key with her soft kid slipper and sent it flying beneath the door out into the corridor.

“That was the only key I had,” he said, his mind struggling to make sense of what she’d just done.

“Really?”

Even though he knew it was futile, he couldn’t resist reaching out to test the door. “We’re locked in here.”

She ignored his warning and walked past him with a haughty swish of her satin skirts.

He stared at her with a look of incredulity as she made her way to the tall clothes chest in the corner and swung open the door. Without hesitation, she undid each of the small ivory buttons on the bodice of her dress. When her gown gaped open to below her waist, she pushed it from her shoulders and let it puddle at her feet on the floor. The creamy white of her shoulders glistened in the bright sunlight. The soft rise of her generous breasts bubbled above her lace-edged undergarment. A knot tightened low in his stomach.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m getting undressed.” She hung her gown on a hook inside the closet.

Every inch of his flesh warmed at the sight of her. “I can see that. But why?”

He could almost remember the feel of her satiny skin beneath his roving fingertips. Feel the warmth of her naked flesh moving beneath him. Feel the welcoming openness in her embrace.

She looked at him with a glint in her eyes and a seductive smile on her face he was not used to seeing. She pulled at the satin ribbon that laced her chemise and let it gape open. “The door is locked and we have no way of getting out until someone comes to rescue us. Which I can assure you will not happen anytime soon. Perhaps days. Surely, husband, you can think of something for us to do to occupy our time until we are interrupted.”

With that, she unfastened the tabs to her petticoats and let them fall. His mouth went dry, his body hardened in anticipation.

“What about Stephen?”

She stopped and pierced him with an intense look, then kicked off her slippers. “What about him?”

“He intends to take Mary Rose back with him and be a father to her.”

Clad only in a calico chemise and white stockings, she walked over to where he stood and touched a finger to his naked chest. “I’ve convinced him that taking Mary Rose to London wouldn’t be in her best interest. Or his own.”

All she’d done was touch him, but his skin burned hotter than if she’d bathed him in fire. When he spoke, his voice came out rough and dry. “How did you do that?”

“It was simple.” She ran her nails across his shoulders, then teased her fingers across his chest. He thought he would die.

“I simply told him that if he tried to take Mary Rose away from us, I’d tell the world that you were her father and I was her mother.”

“But that’s not true,” he whispered. His breathing came in heavy gasps. “No one would believe you.”

“Of course they would,” she said, then lifted her hand and brushed his hair from his forehead. “Society is always eager for a new scandal.”

Before he could recover, she leaned forward and kissed his skin, her hands working their way down his torso. He fisted his hands at his side while every muscle in his body screamed in response.

“Especially when I tell them the reason Stephen left all those months ago was because he discovered us in bed together and couldn’t stand the humiliation.”

“But you would be ruined,” he said. He had to touch her. He skimmed his hands over her flesh, letting his callused fingertips appreciate her softness.

“No. My life would be ruined if I were separated from you. My life would be nothing if I couldn’t spend every day until I die being your wife.” She leaned up and kissed him. “Oh, Ethan. Don’t you know? I love you. I’ve loved you for so long, but was afraid. Afraid to trust you enough to tell you my secrets. Afraid you could never forgive what I’d done. Afraid that I’d lose you when you found out. Please, tell me you still love me. Please.”

He pulled her close to him and held her in his arms, fearful that he’d lose her if he let her go. “I do, Abby. I love you more than life itself. I’d have died if you had left me.”

“Kiss me, Ethan. Now.”

He lowered his head and pressed his mouth against hers. All the pent-up need and hunger and desire he’d felt for her took form in the melding of their lips, in the frantic desperation of their kiss.

He tipped her head to the side, deepening his kiss, satisfying the craving he’d thought would never be sated again. He opened his mouth atop hers, demanding submission.

She yielded. Her mouth opened to grant him admittance, her tongue eagerly awaiting, anticipating his assault, his dominance.

He kissed her again. And again. He couldn’t take in enough of her, couldn’t touch enough of her with his hands. He scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bed.

His breathing came in ragged gulps, his lungs fighting to fill with air, his hands trembling with desire. He wanted her so desperately he couldn’t wait to lie beside her and take her in his arms. He put his weight on the bed, then stopped. “We’re moving,” he said, then leaned down to kiss her again.

“I know,” she answered between kisses.

“Where are we going?”

“I didn’t ask. But Mac promised he wouldn’t bring us back until I told him to.”

He lay down with her on the bed. “And when will that be?” he asked, kissing her again.

“It’s a secret.”

His head came away from hers. “No. There will be no more secrets between us. Do you hear?”

“Oh, yes,” she said, pulling his mouth back to hers. He kissed her deeply.

“So when will we be coming back?”

“Not for a long time, husband. A very long time. Not until I’m certain you never doubt how much I love you ever again.”

He lowered his head and kissed her again, then worked his way down her neck and lower. “I think you should begin convincing me right now, love.”

“Oh, yes,” she gasped, holding him to her. “A task I intend to continue for the rest of our lives.”

“I love you,” he whispered, and matched her wave for wave as the sea they both loved carried them gently into the life they’d made in one another.

Laura Landon enjoyed ten years as a high school teacher and nine years making sundaes and malts in her very own ice cream shop, but once she penned her first novel, she closed up shop to spend every free minute writing. Now she enjoys creating her very own heroes and heroines, and making sure they find their happily ever after.

A vital member of her rural community, Laura directed the town’s Quasquicentennial celebration, organized funding for an exercise center for the town, and serves on the hospital board.

Laura lives in the Midwest, surrounded by her family and friends. She has written nearly two dozen Victorian historicals, all of which are selling worldwide in English, and several which are currently printed in Japanese, German, Turkish and Russian. She is a Prairie Muse Platinum and Amazon Montlake author.

Visit Laura at
www.lauralandon.com

SHATTERED DREAMS

WHEN LOVE IS ENOUGH

BROKEN PROMISE

A MATTER OF CHOICE

MORE THAN WILLING

NOT MINE TO GIVE

TANGLED: Boxed Set

LOVE UNBIDDEN

THE DARK DUKE

CAST IN SHADOWS

CAST IN RUIN

CAST IN ICE

SILENT REVENGE

INTIMATE SURRENDER

INTIMATE DECEPTION

THE MOST TO LOSE

A RISK WORTH TAKING

BETRAYED BY YOUR KISS

WHERE THE WOMAN BELONGS novella

From Kindle Press

THE SECRET ROSE new in 2016