Caleb could not help being taken aback by the effect Jane had on him. The very lady he’d once considered an unremarkable wallflower now set his blood on fire. The way she matched his wit, teased him in return and countered his playful harassment of her kept him entertained and endeared him to her. He wished to take her sweet mouth with his if for no other reason than to stifle her smart remarks. He found her to be an endless source of amusement. She was not at all like the empty headed misses of the ton. Jane possessed brains as well as good looks and impeccable taste. At the same time, her lush body and matronly innocents tempted him beyond imagining.

God he wanted her.

Desired her as he had never desired another woman.

Every time their bodies came into contact passion engulfed him sending pleasurable heat and shivers through the core of his being. He had spent countless hours since their wedding ceremony wondering what it would be like to bed her and bemoaning the fact that he could not recall their past liaison.

A stab of regret hit him hard in the gut. He would wager he had not been gentle that night as he thought himself to be rutting with the widow, not a blasted virgin.

Nonetheless, what was done was in the past and there was no way of going back. He would rectify things tonight. Show her how wonderful coupling could be. He would be attentive and slow, using all of his skills to pleasure her.

Caleb fought against the growing desire overtaking him. Now was not the time. He must sever his arrangement with Dahlia, first. He would not dishonor Jane by bedding her while he still kept a mistress.

He accepted his coat and hat from the butler before exiting Keery House. The sun beat down warming him as he mounted his stallion bent on paying a call to Dahlia. He had every intention of breaking their arrangement upon his return to London, however, now that he had a wife it was far more pressing. Jane deserved better—hell all women deserved better—than a husband who could not, or would not be faithful to the marriage bed.

After what his mother put their family through, he could no more stomach the idea of keeping a mistress and a wife than he would willingly go to the Tyburn gallows. Old wounds opened, anger seeping into his pores at the thought of mother and how she had dishonored them all.

She’d absconded with her lover leaving him, Maggie, and father alone. At the time Caleb had been little more than a boy, barely out of short pants. His father became unbearable after mother left, always yelling or complaining about things that did not matter in the least. Maggie was thrust into the care of nannies with only Caleb to cling to as father no longer wanted any part of his children. Certainly not the daughter who bore such a striking resemblance to his unfaithful wife.

Caleb had been punished on more than one account for something as trivial as asking a question or using the wrong fork at supper. He often wondered who had been treated worse, himself who was constantly berated and punished, or Maggie who father completely ignored. They were all miserable, the end result being the severance of their relationship. Maggie passed onto her final reward and Caleb left for Oxford, never returning to the ducal estate.

Caleb studied hard and worked harder, making smart investments with the allowance father bestowed upon him. He had also turned his marquessate into a very profitable holding. It mattered not to Caleb that he would eventually inherit the dukedom and all that came with it. His only concern back then was to escape and become self sufficient. Something he had excelled at despite his debauched ways—or perhaps because of them.

Caleb’s only responsibility all these years since had been to manage his estate and funds. A fact that allowed him to indulge in spirits, gaming, and women. Some of his best investments were born from a night of carousing. He would hear someone talking of a business venture or boasting of their latest investments and use the chatter to his advantage.

Something he likely would not have been doing if he’d married sooner or stayed under fathers thumb. Not that he could abide the idea of marriage. The very idea of being responsible for another, a female at that, chilled him to his marrow. Indeed, he could not imagine a more frightening scenario, not after what he allowed to befall Maggie.

Shaking away the dreary ruminations, Caleb urged his horse up South Audley toward Grosvenor Street. His aversion to marriage no longer signified. As it stood, Caleb had a wife. With Jane came the duty to protect and provide his fears be damned.

Having reached the unobtrusive townhouse he’d purchased for Dahlia, he dismounted and tossed his reins to a stable lad. Part of him, a very small part, regretted what he must do. Dahlia had been a very accommodating mistress and despite her place in life, she was a good woman. Leastwise, she had always treated him well.

He had purchased the townhouse two years prior as part of their agreement. He was to provide her with housing, a carriage and horses, as well as a small staff and large monthly allowance. In return, she never pressed him about his life away from her or pressured him for anything. Instead she welcomed him willingly and accommodated all of his baser needs whenever he called on her to do so—until recently.

Of late she had been making off handed comments about wanting more of his time and pouting about how much time he spent away from her.

Regardless, he did not love, Dahlia. Never had and never would. She was nothing more than a bird of paradise and they both understood that theirs was an arrangement between to people who could meet one another’s needs. She had required a protector and benefactor, both of which he had excelled at. He had required someone to warm his bed and satisfy his desires, which she proved exceedingly good at. Now the time had come to sever their contract.

When he entered her sitting room, he found her curled up in a chair near the fire. She glanced up at him, a slow, seductive smile overtaking her lips. “Darling, I’ve missed you.” She pushed to her feet and started toward him.

“I did not come for that tonight.”

Reaching him, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, twining her long fingers through the hair at the base of his neck. “Allow me to change your mind,” She said seductively, her tone low and raspy.

“We must talk.” He removed her arms from around him then led her to the settee before taking a nearby wingback chair.

“Will you not at least sit near me?” She pouted.

He leveled his gaze on hers. “There is no delicate way to say what I have come here to impart.”

She leaned forward, shrinking the distance between them. “Is something amiss?”

Pressing the heel of his palm to his forehead, he massaged for a moment. He had no wish to distress or hurt her. Contrary to popular belief, he did posses the ability to care, just not to love. Two entirely different emotions.

“Caleb, whatever it is we can fix it.” She watched him, her expression turned serious.

There was nothing for it other than to have out with his reason for calling on her. He swallowed hard, bracing for her reaction. “I compromised a lady while I was away and was forced to marry her.”

Dahlia exhaled, audibly as she relaxed back into the settee. “Is that all? You had me worried for a bit there. I thought something severe had occurred.”

“This is serious. Do you not understand what I said? I am wed, leg shackled, caught in the parsons noose.” Irritation laced his voice.

“Come now, Caleb, this is not the end of the world. Lords almost always marry ladies. They still continue on with their lives as normal after the deed is done.” Dahlia came to him. Placing her hand on his chest she began rubbing small circles. “There is no need for your marriage to affect what we have.”

He placed his hand over hers, stilling her ministrations. “There is every reason. I cannot keep a mistress and a wife. Considering the latter is a lifetime commitment, I must sever our arrangement.”

“You cannot be serious.” She leaned in, pressing her lips to his.

Caleb closed his eyes for a heartbeat, his lips remaining rigid beneath hers. She trailed her kisses across his cheek to his neck.

Unable to tolerate much more, Caleb stood. “Do not make this harder than necessary, Dahlia. I have no intention of casting you out into the streets. My solicitor will be by tomorrow. I assure you, you will be provided for.” He turned, striding from the room.

“Caleb wait.” She ran after him, taking hold of his coat sleeve once she reached him. “Do let us discuss this further.”

“There is nothing more to discuss.” He shrugged free of her hold and made haste for his waiting mount.

The ride home allowed Caleb time to clear his head. He had done the right thing for everyone. Dahlia would come to realize it in time. There was no shortage of peers hunting for skilled mistresses and she was a beauty as well. It would not take long for her to settle in with another peer of the ton.

He shoved all thoughts of Dahlia from his mind as he entered his smoking room, going directly to the sideboard. After pouring a glass of brandy he swirled it in the short stemmed glass. The delicious burn of the liquor as he drank it chased away any remaining stress. Setting the glass aside, he quit the room. He did not know whether or not Jane waited for him, but he could not stay away from her another moment.

Reaching the threshold of her bedchamber, he rapped on the wooden panel before pushing the door open.

She sat up in her bed the blanket slipping to her waist, revealing her thin white gown. His body instantly reacted as he found himself powerless to look away—not that he wished to. She was magnificent with her raven hair cascading around her and sleepy paisley eyes, not to mention her barely hidden curves and rosy complexion. It took every ounce of control he possessed not to pounce on her as a lion would a gizzel.

“W-what are you doing.” She snatched the blanket to her chest. “I mean…”

He started toward the bed. “I thought it time we consummate our union.”

Her eyes widened as he sat on the mattress next to her.

“My apologies, that came out far crasser then I had imagined it would.”

She averted her gaze. “You thought about what you might say before entering my room?”

“I have thought about little else since we left the country.”

The flush covering her checks and neck deepened. “I thought you were not interested in a true marriage.”

“On the contrary, love. I want our union to be long, and mutually satisfying.” He reached out stroking his thumb across her cheek. “Of course, if you wish for me to leave, I will.”

“N-no, stay.”

He worked to remove his hessians then stretched out in the bed beside her before pulling her into his embrace. He paused when she stiffened in his arms. “I am heartily sorry if our first time was unpleasant for you. I promise to bring you nothing but pleasure this time.”

Her lips parted and he took the opportunity to capture them.