I Know You Page 11

  He didn’t know if it was a spark of recognition in her eyes, or just tears starting to form from her sadness at what she was hearing, but he hoped that it was the former. He needed her to understand.

  Waiting for her response was possibly the most gut twisting moments of his life, but when she finally readjusted her hands and squeezed them in reassurance, he nearly cried out in relief. “So what does all of this mean? Really? I am so confused right now.”

  Happy beyond words, David jumped up and started pacing in front of the fire. “Hear me out before you say anything. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I have thought of nothing else since I saw you and Geoff…kissing the night after our betrothal.”

  A shocked gasp told him that she hadn’t known he’d witnessed that. “You saw?”

  “Yes.” He tried to sound as contrite as possible, but he was literally bubbling with excitement. “I came upon you and Geoff in the back parlor.” He didn’t like implying that he’d only witnessed the kiss, but he wasn’t sure how well she would react to the knowledge that he’d stayed and watched the taking of her innocence. “Ever since then I knew that we needed to work something out. Neither Geoff nor I wish to lose you. And we also wish to stay together ourselves. The only unknown in this is your feelings.”

  Putting her on the spot had not been his intention, but he couldn’t help it. She needed to be the one to have the final say. Without her consent their arrangement would go nowhere, and that just wasn’t an option for him.

  “But I don’t understand…”

  David sat on the settee and took her hands in his. “We are proposing a relationship. An honest to goodness relationship between the three of us. No one would have any more rights than the other. You would be as much my lover as Geoffrey’s and I would be just as much his as yours. All the way around we would be a…”

  “Menage?”

  He blew out a breath. “I am not even going to ask where you heard that word.”

  Anne blushed an amazingly erotic rose color that made him think of her nude on the floor in front of the fire. In fact… He let his eyes slide down to her chest and realized that she was in just as much dishabille as he was.

  As much as he wanted to explore the topic of her naughty knowledge to a much more satisfying conclusion, he had a feeling that Geoff would be the one to discuss it with, not Anne. So instead he asked her the most blatant question he could word.

  “Will you still marry me tomorrow? Knowing that Geoff loves you as much as I do. Will you marry me knowing that I love Geoff as much as I love you?” He couldn’t put it any plainer than that.

  “So I would be your wife? What about Geoff?”

  This was the part that he couldn’t answer on his own. He had the answer, but it was Geoff’s place, not his, to tell her what his part would be in the relationship. He owed it to Geoff to let the man explain his own mind and heart.

  “You will be married to me. But don’t think that Geoff is getting left out. He will explain it to you in full, but believe me when I say that he will be very much involved in every aspect of our marriage. After all, it will be our marriage. Not just yours and mine. In heart anyway.”

  She was silent for a minute and he honestly believed that she was going to argue or inquired further; however, she simply sat back and smiled.

  “Okay.”

  That was it. A simple word and he was undone. All of his worries left him in an instant and he heaved a sigh that he was embarrassed to hear come out as a sob. The weight of everything that had been holding him down was so overwhelming that now that it was gone, he couldn’t breathe. It was like taking in fresh air after being in a fetid prison for years.

  David felt her hand working through his hair and he noticed for the first time that he was kneeling on the floor in front of the settee. His head was actually in her lap, and she was running gentle fingers along his scalp. Though he feared that she was going to be looking at him with pity, he was relieved to see only a sad sort of happiness shimmering in her eyes.

  “Don’t feel the need to stop on my account. I can’t even imagine what you have gone through to be where you are right now. If you need to pour out the sadness to make room for the happiness, then by all means, continue.”

  He looked up at her instead and said the first thing to pop into his head. “I would much rather start on the happiness now and make love to you.”

  If she was shocked by his proposition she didn’t show it. She simply rolled her lower lip between her teeth and nodded her agreement. It was not an unexpected response, but he couldn’t help exhaling in relief once again as if he’d expected her to turn him down.

  He started to rise in order to take her in his arms, but instead he found her lips meeting his partway. The suddenness of it caused him to sit back down and stare at her. She began to apologize, but he reached his hand out and bid her to join him on the floor.

  The kiss started slow, meeting only at the lips, barely touching any other body parts. They were tentative with each other, acknowledging that, though he’d shown her pleasure before, neither were the same as they were last week.

  His hand snaked through her hair, pulling loose the braid that held her sunshine colored locks in check. Now, as he felt them cascading over her shoulders, he felt himself getting more and more aroused at the thought of seeing her spread out on the floor with nothing but her hair covering her body.

  She must have felt the same way, because he felt her hand coming between them, pulling at his dressing gown in an attempt to loosen the tie. Her fingers worked clumsily, but eventually they got the job done. A draft wafted against his belly, making him shiver not only in cold but in anticipation for the upcoming events.

  The kissing suddenly turned frantic as he untied her dressing gown and began to push the soft silk from her shoulders. He moved his mouth down her jaw and neck and then onto her collar, nipping and licking as he listened to her breath hitch and moan in response to his attention. She was so reactive to his touch that he gloried in every inch of her, making his final destination grow greater and greater in importance.

  By the time both of their dressing gowns lay on the floor around them, they were both covered in a fine sheen of sweat and panting through arousals so fierce that release was not going to take but a few thrusts. Slowly, he laid her on the Holland cloth covering the carpet in front of the hearth and came over her. He inserted his knee between her thighs and reached a hand to caress her core, finding her so hot and wet that he almost lost himself in that moment. Instead he gritted his teeth and adjusted himself to her entrance.

  She shivered underneath him, but he didn’t mistake that movement for cold. It was pure lust, and he was seeing it mirrored in her eyes as he breathed in and then plunged forward.

  His world stopped as he took in all of the sensations he was experiencing at that moment. She was perfection itself, but even that word lacked the emotion to effectively convey everything she was to him. He and Geoff were going to have to work hard to earn the right to bask in her presence, because she was truly a gift beyond compare.

  He started moving his hips and discovered that he’d been right. His balls began to tingle and he knew that if she was going to release before - or even with - him, he was going to have to add some encouragement. He reached his hand between them and found the nub of her arousal. With the gentlest pressure, he began to rub in a circular motion, feeling a pulse starting to throb, stronger and stronger.

  When he felt her body begin to seize up he gave himself over to the sensation. Two more thrusts and he was howling his release as she shattered in a scream below him. It took a while for them to come down from the high, but as soon they did they knew there was going to be no problems going forward.

  Returning herself to rights took less time thanks to the fact that she was only wearing a dressing down and night rail. At least she had slippers on to protect her toes from the cold. In running after her, poor David had only taken the time to throw on his dressing gown. He
had no drawers or shoes for the trek back to the house.

  Oh, he’d brushed off her concerns, calling it his penance for lying to her for so long, and had actually laughed when she’d offered to tear off part of her night rail to use as foot coverings. It was a wonderful sound to hear, and because it was such an unusual sound on top of it, she allowed herself to be distracted from her concern.

  Soon enough they were back at the manor and once again treading the dry, warm - or warmer - carpets of the grand staircase. At the top of stairs David kissed her goodnight and turned her softly toward the visitors’ wing.

  “Soon enough I will be seeing you and we will have every night to make up for this parting, but tonight is not the night to worry your maid should she find you gone from your bed.”

  Begrudgingly she admitted that he was right and walked the hall to the room she’d been assigned, thanking providence - or Geoffrey - yet again that her rooms were the first she would come to.

  As she opened the door she was surprised - though really she shouldn’t have been - to discover that the fire in the hearth was blazing and warm, and standing in front of it was the man who’d been part of the night’s activities, even if he’d not been present for them all.

  “Anne!” Geoffrey rushed to her as she closed the door and closed her into a rib crushing hug. “I am so sorry. I…” He cut off, choking on the emotion that was so evident in his voice.

  Emotions were not something Geoffrey often exposed. As a boy he had hid everything with a smile and a laugh. This new and darker Geoffrey was one she was going to have to get used to, though she wasn’t displeased about that prospect. There was much to catch up on, and now they had time to do it.

  Tenderly she brought her hand up to cradle the back of his head. She shushed him softly and murmured meaningless words of comfort until his shuddering stopped and he was able to control the rush of feelings he’d been overwhelmed by.

  “I’m sorry,” he half laughed, once he’d straightened himself in her embrace. “I shouldn’t have lost control there…”

  She reached up and placed her finger on his lips. “If you apologize one more time, I might, in fact, throttle you.”

  He laughed yet again at her words. It was so good to hear the musical sound coming from his lips after the years it had been absent from her life. Yet she knew that there were more serious things that needed to be discussed, so she wasn’t at liberty to keep listening to one of her favorite sounds.

  “Oh Geoff.” She shook her head sadly. Not because she was really sad about everything that was happening, but because she couldn’t even imagine the life he’d had to live until now. “You could have told me, you know. I would have understood.”

  Geoff stepped back, a look of shock and confusion on his face. “Which part? The part where I had to lower myself and take a job in service in order to live? Or the part where I took a man as a lover?”

  She tried to ignore the bite in his words, but she heard the self-consciousness behind them. He wasn’t really ashamed of either of those things, but he was defensive because he thought she might be.

  “Well, I can’t really say I would have understood the second. However, the first would have not made a difference. I never stopped loving you. And I knew about you taking the job, remember? Secily told me at Christmas.”

  Obviously he hadn’t known his sister had told her anything because he looked at her like he wanted to do some throttling of his own. Instead of standing there and letting him stew in his own anger, she placed the palm of her hand along the side of his cheek

  “I just wish you would have told me yourself. You could have written to Secily with instructions to send the letter on to me. You knew that she and I stayed in contact.” Realizing that the argument was really going to get her no where she changed tactics. “And as for the second part of your secret…I will admit that I wish I had found out a different way, but I do see why it could have been difficult to tell me. For both of you.”

  A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he sagged slightly into her palm. “You have no idea how long I’ve hated myself for lying to you.”

  “Don’t,” she murmured. “Don’t hate yourself. Everything has worked out.” As she was caressing his face with her left hand she took note of the ring that David had given her. Suddenly she knew where she’d seen it before.

  “This was your grandmother’s ring.” A look of shock crossed his face, so she explained how she knew it to be true. “I saw a drawing of it once in your father’s library. The drawing was labeled MacAuley Ring, so I knew that it had to be your grandmother’s.”

  He nodded, and for a moment that was all she thought she was going to get, but then he smiled. “She gave it to me the last time I saw her. Told me to give it to you when I got my head out of my ass long enough to realize it belonged on your finger.”

  “But how…” She didn’t need to finish the question. “David said that you were just as much a part of this marriage as he was. That’s what this means.” She held up her hand. “You gave this to him to give to me. So his proposal would belong to both of you. His words, your ring.”

  Geoffrey didn’t try to deny the truth to her discovery, for which she was thankful. It meant far more now, knowing that the men who both claimed to love her had concocted the perfect plan to get her to marry…both of them.

  “So tomorrow…” This time it wasn’t her own realization that prevented the question from being asked, but Geoffrey’s lips descending on hers. He backed her up to the bed and sat her down, still massaging her lips with his own.

  Finally he came up for air and smiled. “Tomorrow, you will become the Marchioness of Ridgely, and I will stand as witness. We will feast you at the breakfast, and afterward…well, that will be just you, David, and me. No one else can do anything about it.”

  “Tonight?” She thought about it, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit how much she wanted Geoffrey to make love to her one more time, just the two of them. Luckily, Geoffrey caught her meaning without needing the words.

  He bent down and kissed her forehead. “Tonight…right now…is about us.”

  A tingle went up her back at the prospect of spending the next few hours in Geoffrey’s arms and knowing they wouldn’t be stolen moments. It would be the first time in their lives that their love could be expressed freely.

  She leaned in to his kiss this time and brought her hands up to his hair to bring him closer faster. She was going to savor every moment of their freedom, no matter what tomorrow - or even next year - brought. It was a small amount of freedom in its own right. The freedom from worry.

  However, there was one thing that did bring her up a little quickly. “David will likely be cold. He had no shoes, and we only managed to cover his feet in linen for the walk back.”

  A low chuckle broke her concern. “David is a big boy who knows how to build a fire and remove wet clothes by himself. I rarely dress him anyway.”

  “Really?” She knew that it was a trap, getting caught up in curiosity when she should be concentrating on her time with Geoff, but she truly was interested in his relationship with David. “What do you do for him then? I thought Valets were slaves to fashion?”

  “Ha!” Geoff laughed. “Everything I know about fashion I learned from David, and he knows little enough. I am lucky that he prefers simplicity in his wardrobe, so my job is quite simple in that aspect. However,” his tone dropped a bit, as if his next words were dire and not something he thought she would want to hear. “I am far more readily employed as a companion of sorts.”

  “What does that mean? David said you two only started…well, getting intimate…recently.” She felt herself blushing straight to her roots, and cursed him for making her say it fully.

  “We did. No, what I mean by companion is that I was there to control his moods. When I first started working for him…well, do you know his story? Has he told you about his brother?”

  When she nodded she could see his shoulders slump in relief,
like he was glad he didn’t have to retell that horrific event. “He was a mess when the Duke brought me here. His moments of lucidness were so few and far between back then that I truly was just a nanny, trying to bring him out of his shell. Afterward, once I’d reached him, my job was to accompany him everywhere. Every walk. Every meal. Every drive. I couldn’t even leave him alone to piss.” He cringed but Anne waved her hand to dismiss any coming apology.

  “What changed? What allowed you to break through to him?” She truly was captivated by this history. While she knew David’s side of the story, David had, admittedly, been incoherent for much of the first few months. Geoff’s tale would be far different from the one she’d heard not an hour ago in the gardener’s hut.

  Geoff sighed, like it was something he didn’t like talking about, but then she realized it was likely because he didn’t like taking credit for it. “I’m not sure what the actual change was, but I think a trust was built between us that David could lean on. He’d been so afraid of everyone leaving him, but when I didn’t leave, he started to see me as solid.”

  “What about for you? You are not the same boy who left Yorkshire three years ago. Was that change wrought by your time with David…or before.” She wanted it to be with David. She didn’t want to hear that something had happened to change him terribly and that David had had to heal him, but from the look he gave her she knew that his answer was not going to please her.

  “When the Earl ordered me from Cressledown March I didn’t have anywhere to go.” She was about to ask about Scotland, but he beat her to the punch. “My grandmother had passed away around the same time as my father. No one else in my family was willing to take on their sister’s bastard.”