To Have and to Hold (45 page)

Humiliation
burned anew as she remembered the afternoon’s events, and the mind numbing fear
that had gripped her in front of Dominic.
 
She had no idea what he thought of her now.
 
During dinner she had made every conceivable
effort to keep her gaze from meeting his lest she encountered censure or
disgust.
 
There had been no opportunity
for private conversation, of which she was inherently glad, but still she hated
him to see her in such a pathetically miserable state.
 
He must be very sorry he had even met her,
much less be wed to her, she thought heavily as she took her hairbrush from the
dresser.

She sat on the
floor before the fireplace and after carefully removing the pins from her hair,
began to rhythmically brush the tussled locks, gazing absently into the
fire.
 
The only noise within the room was
the crackling and popping of the logs in the grate and the steady rustle of her
hair as it was swept with the brush over and over.
  

Within a few
minutes, she gradually became aware she was not alone in the room.
 
She gasped with alarm as she drew to her
knees, her eyes darting around the room until they landed upon the tall silent
figure standing in the shadows by the doorway.
 
She had been so lost in thought she had not heard him enter and close
the door behind him.
 
Instinctively her
heart lurched, as she eyed the so familiar outline of her husband.
 

Words failed her
as she knelt upon the rug and waited.
 
She was aware she was wearing nothing but her corset, and almost translucent
silken undergarments but couldn’t find the energy within her to rise and gather
her wrap around her.
 
Instead she sat
unmoving and waited.

Dominic leant
back against the solid wood of the door and took in the stunning beauty of his
wife.
 
Kneeling beside the fire, the soft
mounds of her breasts swelled alluringly over the tight binding of the corset
she still wore.
 
Her waist looked
incredibly narrow as confined as it was by the strictures of her solid band of
cloth and bone.
 
Her dark hair gleamed in
the firelight as it lay in tousled curls over her shoulders.
 

He knew he could
never allow her to go.
 
Not to Elspeth’s,
with DeLisle or anywhere else.
 
As
annoyed as he was with her for fleeing to Hubert’s, he couldn’t bear the
thought of losing her.
 
This time at
least, she had come back of her own accord.
 
Now all he had to do was convince her that remaining with him was far
better than living life as her aunt’s unofficial chaperone, or alone.
 
God, she was so beautiful.
 
So full of life, and promise, he simply
couldn’t countenance anything other for her than a lifetime by his side.

If he had to
throw himself at her feet and beg for her mercy, he would do everything within
his power to get her to stay.
 
To
convince her that she would find happiness and fulfilment sharing her life with
him.
 
Gladly, he would give her as many
babies as she sought.
 
As long as she
remained by his side, everything would be well.
 
He didn’t think he could bear to spend another day, let alone night,
without her beside him.

“Isobel.”
 
Dominic murmured slowly pushing away from the
door.
 
Her gaze met and held his, but
gone was the proud wilfulness.
 
Tonight
there was an ethereal sorrow about her that almost unmanned him.
 
He needed her to know that wherever she went,
however far she ran, she would always belong to him.
 
She would always be his wife.
 
She need not run any more.

Isobel watched
him slowly move towards her. Sometime earlier in the evening he had removed his
cravat and waistcoat leaving him in a white cotton shirt which now hung open
half way down his chest, revealing the dark shadow of chest beneath.
 
His breeches did little to hide the bulge of
his erection as he moved closer into the soft glow of the candle light resting
atop of the mantle.

Sadness darkened
her gaze as she watched him slowly lower himself to his knees before her.
 
Briefly, she wondered if she should ask him
to leave but the words wouldn’t come.
 
Instead she remained silent and watched as he sat down on the rug beside
her.
 

“This is the old
Dowager’s room.”
 
He murmured softly,
eyeing the darkened shadows around them disdainfully.

Isobel’s heart
thumped painfully in her chest as she nodded.
 
For the life of her she couldn’t speak, it was just so wonderful to have
him so close.

“You are the
Lady of the house, not the Dowager.”
 
He
chided softly, wondering how she would react if he swept her into his arms and
marched down the corridor.
 
“You don’t
belong here.”

“I shall be
leaving again in the morning.” She reminded him, huskily fighting tears.

“You belong in
the master suite, not as a guest in the Dowager’s old bedroom.
 
This place hasn’t been used in years.”
 
He fought to keep his tone soft and
unthreatening.
 
Tonight there was
something different, something more fragile that slightly disturbed him.
 
Whatever ghosts were haunting her, and he had
no doubt there were considerable ghosts; he wanted to be the one to comfort her
when she challenged them.

“It didn’t seem
appropriate to sweep in here and expect to stay in the house at all, let alone
in the master bedroom.
 
Not after –“She
paused in a desperate attempt to find the right words.
 
“Well-.”

“I understand
why you felt the need to go, you know.”
 
Dominic murmured, aware of her startled look but keeping his gaze
steadily on the flickering flames in the hearth behind her.
 
“But, you do know as your rightful husband I
can order you back in the house.
 
Indeed
I can, and will, forbid you to leave in the morning.”
 
He knew his voice had become hard with
intent, but he was determined she understood that he wasn’t going to lose
her.
 
“I admit I did have a momentary
doubt as to whether you had blanked out marriage to DeLisle.
 
You were so ill when you arrived, I briefly
considered the possibility you had chosen not to acknowledge any
matrimony.
 
But, it was only a momentary
flicker of doubt.”
 
He paused to give her
time to consider this, before adding.
 
“Your place is here.
 
You accepted
the position as Lady of the house when you married me in a legally binding
wedding.
 
I insist you now, fulfil the
position.”
 
His eyes met and captured
hers.
 
“In every sense of the word.”

“You are
ordering me to sleep with you?”
 
Isobel
didn’t know whether to kiss him, or thwack him.

“I am not
prepared to stand back and allow you to leave this house.”
 
Dominic murmured.
 
“You are my wife, and as such you should be
beside me, downstairs at the dining table, as well as in bed.”

Isobel shook her
head.
 
Although she loved this man she
knew he didn’t care for her, not really, and anything less than his love would
be unbearable.
 
It was so tempting to
just fall into his arms and hope that time would heal all wounds.
 
However, she knew if nothing changed, she
would sacrifice any chance of happiness with the man she loved.

“You could try
to order me, but I shall not be forced.
 
I cannot meekly resume life as it was all the time knowing you have such
doubts about my honesty.”
 
Her eyes met
and held his challengingly.
 
She knew if
he wanted to, he could force her and there would be nothing she could do about
it.
 
He was however, far too chivalrous
to do so and would, despite his words, give her time.
 
Suddenly she was so very tired.
 
The nerve-wracking day and arduous journey to
Tavistock Hall had begun to catch up with her, and she suddenly found herself
not wanting to argue any more.

Not giving him
the chance to object, she stood and moved toward the bed.
 
“I am so very tired Dominic, I should like to
go to bed now.
 
If you will excuse me we
shall have to continue this conversation in the morning.”
 
She stifled a yawn.
 
There was a strange melancholy that had
plagued her for the past few days.
 
An
indefinable sense of defeat she couldn’t quite shake off, and that disturbed
her.

“Alright my
dear,” Dominic murmured, standing to rise himself carefully ignoring the soft
droop of her shoulders.
 
Clearly she was
exhausted.
 
“The hour is late, and I
think both of us need a good night’s rest, for tomorrow will be a very busy
day.”

Isobel yawned
again and watched him leave quietly.
 
At
the soft click of the door, her shoulders slumped and she fought the burning
sting of tears that threatened.
 
Clearly,
he wasn’t going to challenge her decision to keep her distance.
 
Nor was he going to offer her any
declarations of affection he clearly didn’t feel, and that was something she so
desperately needed from him in order for her world to be anywhere near right
again.

She had just
settled beneath the sheets and was about to blow out the candle when the
bedroom door opened again.
 
She froze as
Dominic entered the room, carefully closing the door behind him.
 

“What are you
doing?”
 
She murmured, as he added more
logs into the fire before removing his shirt.
 

“What does it
look like?”
 
Dominic replied, tossing his
shirt onto the floor before stepping out of his breeches.
  
Splendidly naked he climbed into bed, fully
aware of her astonishment but choosing to ignore it.
 
“I am going to bed.”
 

“But-
“ Confused
, she didn’t know whether to jump out of bed
outraged, or jump on him.

“Lie down
Isobel, neither of us will be going anywhere tonight.”
 
Without further ado, he lay down behind her,
sliding his arms around her waist and settling her against his chest with a
deep sigh.
 
Placing a tender kiss upon
her hair, he pulled the covers around them.
 
He felt more content than he had since the day she left.
 
With her safely encased in his arms, he
settled down to sleep, “Good night, my darling.”
 

Isobel tipped
her head back and looked up at him with a frown.
 
She didn’t know whether to be angry at his
arrogance, or glad of his desire to be with her.
 
Too tired to argue, she settled her head back
upon his chest with a sigh.
 
“Good night,
Dominic.”
 
Within seconds they were sound
asleep.

“Isobel.”
 

Isobel scowled,
and burrowed deeper into the plump pillow.
 

“Isobel,
darling.”
 

“
Mmnn
.”
 
She wriggled backwards until her back came up against the muscled warmth
of his chest.
 
Immediately, she was
surrounded by the corded arms of her husband.
 
Arching her neck, she murmured softly as he placed a gentle kiss in the
hollow of her neck.

“Darling, we
need to get up.”
 
Dominic’s own voice was
husky with arousal.
 
She could feel the
rigid length of him growing against her bottom.

“Now?”
 
She murmured now completely awake.
 

 
“There are people downstairs waiting for
us.”
 
Dominic murmured softly, wishing
they had the morning to catch up on the time they had lost.

“Can’t they wait
just a little while?”
 
Isobel murmured
using the space between them to wriggle around and sit up.
 
Sometime during the night, being wrapped
securely in her husband’s arms, she had become very warm and could remember
drawing her nightgown off.
 
She felt no
embarrassment when the sheets felt to her waist revealing her pert breasts to
his very interested gaze.
 
Immediately
the tips pebbled in the coolness of the room.
 
As he was leaning upon his elbow, her breasts were directly in his line
of vision.
 
She arched her back in a fake
stretch and smiled inwardly at his rapt attention.
 
It earned her the response she had been
seeking.