In the Prince’s Bed by Sabrina Jeffries (18)

Chapter Twenty-four

The thundering in Alec’s head intensified as his muddled brain put two and two together and came up with a hundred thousand. Pounds, to be precise. A fortune that Katherine thought he didn’t know about.

Blast it all. No wonder she wasn’t angry—she hadn’t yet figured out that he’d courted her precisely because of that fortune.

He should tell her the truth while she was still feeling guilty for causing his little accident. He should lay his case before her, beg her to forgive him for all his deceptions, and convince her that they should still marry despite his wretched behavior. Because later, when she wasn’t in this state of relief, she might figure it all out. And then it would be worse for him.

But she might not figure it out. Or at least not until after the wedding.

“Alec? Did you hear me?” she asked. “I have a fortune.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he stalled, “my head is still spinning and…”

“Oh, yes, of course!” She leaped up from the bed. “Where is Mrs. Brown with that water?” She hurried to the door just as Emson walked in carrying a pan, towels draped over his arm.

After his butler set the pan down, she dipped a cloth in the warm water and came back to Alec’s side to dab at the drying blood. “At least the bleeding has stopped.”

“Has it?” he said hoarsely. What in God’s name was he going to do? He didn’t want this to end, and it would certainly end if he told her the truth. He liked having her fuss over him. No woman had fussed over him in years, unless he could count Mrs. Brown’s constant attempts to get him to eat more of her awful cooking.

Katherine touched the cloth to the gash, and he cursed as fire streaked through his head.

Remorse flooded her face. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you—”

He choked back more curses. “It’s all right, sweetheart.”

Emson watched them warily.

“We’ll get a doctor to look at it,” she said. When he started to protest, she added, “You mustn’t worry about the cost, do you hear? I told you, I can afford it. Or I’ll be able to once we marry.”

The moment of truth had arrived. He hesitated, loathing the idea of letting her continue in her mistaken assumption.

But he had no choice. His servants and tenants were depending on him. Emson was watching him even now, waiting for what he would do, hoping that he wouldn’t ruin Edenmore’s chance for a future. Their chance for a future.

Damn. “Yes, you said something about…a fortune. But you told me before that you had no money.”

Every lying word filled him with self-disgust. It had been one thing to avoid telling her the truth before, but this was a more deliberate deception. How could he lie to her so egregiously when she trusted him and even accepted his situation?

Because she would never marry him if she knew the truth. He was sure of that.

“Appearances to the contrary,” she said brightly as she threw the soiled rag aside and got a fresh one, “I have a fortune of a hundred thousand pounds that will come to me upon my marriage. My grandfather left it to me.”

“Really?” He glanced to Emson, whose face showed relief that Alec was pretending not to know of her fortune. “You may go now, Emson,” he snapped, unable to bear having the man watch him lie.

Emson nodded, then left, obviously satisfied that all was well.

All was not well. The man didn’t know Katherine, so he didn’t care if Alec lied to her. But Alec knew that every lie drove a wedge between them that he’d have to push past after they married. Every evasion was one more eventual stake in her heart.

Would it be worth it? God, he hoped so. Because he was now committed to that path.

“It’s true.” She wiped away the rest of the dried blood. “Aren’t you pleased? You look as if you aren’t.”

“Of course I’m pleased. It’s just my…head, that’s all. I’m still a little shaky.” When her face clouded over, he added quickly, “But I feel much better now that you’re taking care of me.” Forgive me, sweetheart, if you can.

“It’s the least I can do after causing this,” she said sorrowfully.

“It was merely an accident. Besides, it’s well worth it to have you here.”

Watching me lie like a fiend. How could he continue this deception until the wedding? He could hardly speak the lies now without gagging on them.

He forced himself to continue. “But you never did explain why you decided to come here. I thought we’d agreed that you would stay in London.”

Ducking her head, she busied herself with unknotting his cravat. “Here, let’s make you more comfortable.”

“I’m fine,” he bit out. “Really, it’s all right.”

“Your said your head was still spinning.” She dropped to her knees and tugged off one shoe, then the other.

By God, she was already catching him in his lies. He allowed her to finish removing his shoes and made no quarrel when she took off his coat. But when she went to work on his waistcoat buttons, he stayed her hand. “Thanks, that’s much better. But I still want to know why you came here.”

A blush turned her cheeks a pretty pink. “I-I knew you were hiding something, that’s all. It made no sense that you wouldn’t want us to visit.”

“So you rushed here from London?”

She shrugged. “I might have stayed there, if your friend at the Stephens Hotel hadn’t behaved so suspiciously, evading all my questions the same way you did.”

That’s because Jack knew the whole of Alec’s financial situation and his need to marry an heiress.

“You said you don’t care about my…er…lack of money. But I seem to remember you bursting in here demanding to know what was going on.”

“I…um…may have said something to that effect.” She stood. “Now you really should lie down—”

“I want to know what you thought was going on when you rushed in here,” he persisted.

She uttered a long sigh. “It’s just that…well, I heard female giggling and talk of wickedness and a naked woman and…”

When she trailed off, the light dawned. “You thought I was ‘cavorting,’ ” he said irritably. “I was trying to arrange—”

“I know, I know.” She pressed her fingers to his mouth, then glanced over to the sculpture of Lady Godiva. “Though your taste in…er…art is rather—”

“Wicked, yes. Like your taste in books. But you don’t find me bursting into rooms to surprise you.” Given the circumstances, her distrust shouldn’t annoy him, yet it did.

“I’m sorry. You must think me horrible. I’ve misjudged you over and over, with no good reason.”

Just that quickly, his annoyance turned to guilt. “It’s all right. Your suspicions were understandable.”

She shook her head. “I let my fears about your character run away with me, and I shouldn’t have. I know better. You’ve shown me time and again that you’re a good man, and yet—”

“That’s enough, sweetheart, no apology necessary,” he said hoarsely. “It’s forgotten.”

“Not by me. But I’ll make it up to you. With my fortune we can turn Edenmore into the most beautiful home you’ve ever seen.”

His guilt nearly choked him. “You said you would be glad to put all the responsibility of estate management behind you. I hate to think of burdening you.”

“It’s no burden when you have money,” she said brightly. She turned to roam his bedchamber. “Only think of what we can do to this. If you repair the crumbling moldings, replace the wallpaper and the carpet and perhaps the drapes…why, it would be stunning.” She faced him, her eyes sparkling as she swept her hand to encompass the room. “Though the furniture needs some refurbishing, it’s really quite fine, and that marvelous fireplace is perfect as it is.”

“So you…like it.”

“The house? Oh, yes, what I’ve seen of it. Even in my brief walk through, I could tell it was solidly constructed.”

“The fifth earl, the one who built it, used top-quality oak timbers and the best red brick. And every room has a mantelpiece of Italian marble exactly like that one. My…er…father never got desperate enough to tear those out and sell them, thank God.”

Her face clouded over. “How did your lovely house come to such a pass?”

“It’s a long story,” he said, unwilling to tell it when he’d have to mix the truth with so many lies.

“I like long stories.” Coming back to sit beside him, she laid her hand tenderly on his thigh.

What else could he do? With a sigh, he explained about his “father’s” bad management, the corrupt steward, the worthless investments…everything he dared to tell her. He’d just begun to describe how the estate looked in his youth when Mrs. Brown hurried in with the tea and a plate of brown lumps obviously meant to be food.

“Sorry it took me so long,” the housekeeper said cheerily. “Your mother had all sorts of questions about the house, miss.”

“I can only imagine,” Katherine said dryly, as Alec stiffened.

“I put her in the front parlor while I was making the tea.” Mrs. Brown set the tray by the bed. “But when I returned, she’d gone off to sleep, poor thing. Right there in the chair.”

“We did have a long trip.” Katherine poured the tea and handed Alec a cup. “And we rose very early.”

Mrs. Brown wiped her hands on her apron. “I put a shawl over her, so she wouldn’t catch cold.” She looked them both over. “I see you’re feeling better, my lord. But I could make a poultice for your head—”

“No need. Miss Merivale is taking good care of me.”

“You’d best eat something.”

Not if he wanted to keep feeling better. “That will be all, Mrs. Brown.”

Pursing her lips, she said primly, “Very well. Then I’ll go see about supper.”

After she left, Katherine cast him a chastening glance. “I know you don’t feel well, but you didn’t need to be rude.”

“It was either that or eat those.” He gestured to the lumps. “I’d rather die.”

She eyed him askance. “Don’t be silly—how bad can they be?”

“Mrs. Brown has been our housekeeper for years, but she didn’t do the cooking until we lost our cook right before I came home. She’s not very good.”

“She can’t be that awful,” she said as she picked a lump up and took a bite. Or rather, attempted to take a bite. It was more like a tearing with the teeth, the way a dog tears meat off the bone. As she chewed, she carefully laid the lump back down on the platter. “I…um…see what you mean. What on earth is that supposed to be?”

“Does it taste like spiced mud? And have the consistency of leather?”

She nodded, eyes round.

“Gingerbread cakes. Those are actually tolerable compared to her apple tarts. She takes the ‘tart’ part very seriously.”

“My goodness, we’ll have to hire a cook at once.”

“If you want me to live here, you will.”

She laughed. “Are Mrs. Brown and Mr. Emson your only servants?”

“Almost. There’s John, the coachman you met, and Mrs. Brown’s two daughters, who are housemaids. Her husband is the gamekeeper. He makes sure the larder stays stocked with fresh meat for his wife to cook badly. I need more staff.”

Her eyes twinkled. “I should say so. We have nearly that many servants at Merivale Manor, and this place is four times its size.” She glanced around. “Oh, dear, will it be too much a hardship for Mama and me to stay here tonight?”

“Blast.” He rose, wincing when his head pounded. “I forgot to tell Mrs. Brown to prepare a couple of rooms for you—”

“Don’t!” She tugged him back onto the bed. “I’ll go tell her. You lie back and rest.”

“I don’t want to rest.” He reached for the shoes she’d removed earlier.

She whisked them away, along with his coat. “Now, now, none of that. Lie down. I’ll be back in just a minute.”

Watching as she left, carrying his clothing with her, he couldn’t decide whether to feel irritated or heartened by her overprotectiveness.

Or just plain guilty. But telling the truth would devastate her. She seemed so happy to be of use to him, so delighted by the prospect of using her money to restore Edenmore. How could he deprive her of that pleasure?

All right, so he was making excuses. The truth was, he didn’t want to lose her. If he could only keep her happy until they married—

Damn, had he brought the special license with him from London? If he hadn’t, that would delay everything more.

He left the bed, swayed a bit, then was able to steady himself. Now, where had Emson put those papers? Ah, yes, in his study downstairs. He looked for his shoes, remembered Katherine had taken them, then went looking for another pair in his closet. As he rummaged around, he heard her come up behind him.

“What are you doing, you stubborn man? Get back in that bed at once!”

He picked up a pair of shoes and faced her. “I’m fine, I told you.”

“You are not fine.” She took his arm. “Now come back to the bed—”

“No.” Shrugging off her hand, he put on the shoes. “I have to check something in my study. I’ll just be a moment.” He had to find that license, had to make sure he could marry her before she figured out the truth.

Purposefully he headed out the door. He heard her following after him and quickened his pace toward the stairs.

“Wait!” she called out.

He halted with his hand on the banister. “What is it, Katherine?”

Her voice lowered to a throaty murmur. “I know one way to keep you in bed.”

His blood roared in his ears. He turned to find her standing in the doorway, wearing a seductive smile. She couldn’t mean what he thought. Could she?

As he watched, she removed the pins from her hair, then shook it out with the mischievous look of a woman who knew she was being naughty. “Come back to bed, Alec. I promise to make it worth your while.”

His mouth went dry. Damn her. It had been two long days since he’d touched her, two long nights since he’d felt her sweet softness beneath him.

“No, you come here,” he ordered, before he lost what was left of his control.

Wordlessly, she shook her head and disappeared inside the room.

“Blast it all.” He couldn’t do as she wanted—and not because of his throbbing skull, either. Making love to her with this lie between them would poison everything. Once they were married and he could tell her the truth, it would be different, but he couldn’t compound the deception by making love to her now.

Perhaps he should go downstairs and stay there until supper. But she’d left the bedchamber door open, and the thought of Emson or one of the housemaids finding her in some state of dishevelment…

Just imagining that state of dishevelment sent his cock into instant attention. He walked back to the bedchamber in a trance. His mind might balk, but his body knew exactly what it wanted.

Even if he couldn’t have it. He approached the open door, bracing himself for anything, yet he still wasn’t prepared for what he saw through the doorway—Katherine wearing only her chemise and stockings. Katherine with her hair spilling freely over her barely clad shoulders.

Katherine leaning against a bedpost, her eyes a smoldering chocolate brown as she stepped out of her shoes. “Come in and close the door, Alec,” she said in a throaty voice that nearly undid him.

He couldn’t move. He could only stand there staring, his eyes scouring the translucent muslin for whatever glimpses of her flesh he could get. And there were plenty, blast it. Her nut brown nipples showed dark and pouty through the fabric, and he could even see the flaming curls between her long, incredible legs.

That had to be the thinnest chemise in creation. And he could already remember how it felt to be inside her, driving hard, buried deep—

“No,” he growled, hanging on to the last bit of his self-control.

“You need to be in bed resting.”

“If I get into bed with you when you’re dressed like that, there will be no resting.”

She arched one brow. “And if you go traipsing about the house, up and down the stairs, you might pass out and injure yourself even worse. At least in bed you can’t hurt yourself.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that.” He changed tactics, desperate to make her put her clothes back on. “Besides, your mother will come looking for us when she wakes. You don’t want to shock her, do you?”

“When Mama dozes, she sleeps for hours if she’s undisturbed, especially after she’s been traveling.”

“Yes, but what if one of the servants awakens her—”

“That’s a chance we’ll have to take. What happened to Alec the rule-breaker, Alec the rakehell who doesn’t care about propriety? Come here, Alexander the Great…break some rules with me.” Casting him a sultry smile, she wriggled her chemise off her shoulders and dropped it to her waist to bare her perfect breasts. “If you want to see more, you’ll have to come inside.”

Sweet God in heaven, see more? He wanted to tear her blasted chemise off with his teeth.

To hell with conscience and good intentions. This was his Katherine, in his bedchamber tempting him into his bed. He was only a man, and he wanted her. Striding through the doorway, he shoved the door closed behind him, then kicked off his shoes and advanced toward her in a trance.

But as he neared her, she jerked her chemise back up and scampered across the bed. Before he could react, she’d raced over to the door to turn the key in the lock. “There,” she said in triumph as she knelt to slide the key under the door out of reach. “Now you have to stay in bed.”

So that was her game, was it? Crafty wench. “I could call for Mrs. Brown.”

“And she’ll tell you the same thing I’m telling you—get into that bed.”

“Not without you.” He veered back toward her, stripping off his shirt and unbuttoning his trousers. “Now that you’ve started this, you had damned well better finish it.”

“Don’t come any closer, Alec,” she warned as she left the door, giving him a wide berth, “you’ve had a bad head injury. You really need to rest.”

He dragged off his trousers and threw them aside. “Take off your chemise, and get into the bed.”

“You said you couldn’t rest like that.”

Damn it, this could go on all day, and he wasn’t in the mood to dally. Edging close to the bed, he pretended to stagger. With a cry of alarm, she hurried to his side. He grabbed her and tossed her onto the bed.

“Alec, your head—”

“You wanted me in bed, didn’t you?” he rasped as he covered her body with his.

She stared up at him in alarm. “I want you to rest.”

“If you thought tempting me into bed, then abandoning me, would accomplish that, you don’t know much about men, sweetheart.” He bent his head to kiss her, but she turned her face aside, so he settled for scattering kisses over her cheek and her warm silky neck.

She went limp beneath him and twined her arms about his neck. “Don’t blame me if you collapse in the morning.”

“It was your idea.” Nuzzling her ear, he then laved it with his tongue.

“I…couldn’t think…of how else to get you back in bed.”

“This is working very well.”

“But Alec—”

“Shh, sweetheart.” He nibbled her ear lobe. “I’m busy ‘resting.’ ”

A choked giggle escaped her. “Oh, Alec, I missed you and your joking so much. Did you miss me?”

“Every hour of every day since I left.” Then he captured her mouth with his.

Would he ever get enough of her, of this? It was all he could do not to take her right now, part her legs and bury himself inside her. But she was still barely initiated into the pleasures of the bedroom, so he settled for kissing her with all the fervor he’d kept banked for two days.

He would undoubtedly regret this later, but right now, he could no more push her away than he could stop breathing. He’d spent too many nights hungering for her, too many days craving her company.

When he was with her like this, he forgot all his sins…except for the one of wanting and needing her, far more than was wise. He ravaged her warm mouth and plundered her supple breasts through her chemise, storing up pleasures for when she punished him for his deceptions.

By the time he could bring himself to drag his lips from hers, they were both gasping for breath.

“Well,” she whispered, eyes alight, “I think you did miss me.”

He dragged up her chemise, then searched for the hot, juicy center of all her need. Reveling in the mew of a sigh she uttered when he stroked her, he muttered, “Apparently you missed me, too.”

“Only every hour of every day since you left. That’s the real reason I came here, you know.”

He didn’t want to be affected by her words, but he was. He’d never expected to find a wife who matched him desire for desire…who needed him. Her open affection humbled him.

And scared him out of his mind. Because he at last realized this was what he wanted: Katherine needing him despite everything, Katherine wanting him for who he really was.

Only she didn’t know who he really was. She might not love him or claim to want more than a practical marriage, but she wanted a husband she could trust. And he’d already denied her that. Once she found out…

No, he wouldn’t lose her. He couldn’t. “Now that you’re here, we can marry at once. Tonight, if you want.” If he’d brought that license from London. “I’m sure the vicar in Ipswich would be happy to oblige us. We can send for him right away.” He couldn’t shake the feeling of impending doom…that if he didn’t secure her as soon as possible, he’d lose her forever.

She gazed up at him through passion-glazed eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re getting a conscience about our…coupling before marriage. That’s not like you.”

“I want you to be mine, that’s all.”

She pulled his head down to hers. “I’m yours already.”

You won’t be if you find out the truth, he thought as he kissed her again. And that thought perversely fired his need even higher.

Sliding from the bed to shuck off his drawers, he pointed to her chemise. “You said if I came to bed, I could see the rest. Take it off, sweetheart. It was too dark in the orangery for me to see you well the last time.”

She swallowed. “I-I don’t know if I want you to see me well. I’m so thin and freckled, and my hair is too…red.”

“I don’t believe that.” He might not have her blasted poet friend’s gift for pretty words, but he could surely reassure her. “Come on, let me see you.”

Sitting up, she dragged her chemise off over her head, then lay back down on the bed, looking so vulnerable it made him ache. “There, look your fill.”

His breath quickened at the sight of her smooth alabaster skin. “My God, Katherine, you’re perfect, absolutely perfect,” he said in a husky voice.

With a frown, she reached for her chemise again. “You can’t look at me if you’re going to make fun.”

Snatching it from her, he tossed it on the floor. “Have you no idea how beautiful you are?”

She eyed him askance. “You’re the first to think it.”

“Then the rest of them are blind.” Climbing back onto the bed, he lay down beside her, then kissed her mass of curls spread out over the coverlet. “How could they not notice how lovely your hair is?”

“It’s red, Alec.”

“I know. It reminds me of the sea.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “The last time I checked, the sea was green or blue. Decidedly not red.”

“Except when the sun rises or sets.” He twisted a curl around his finger. “On the Suffolk coast, it rises over the water. As a boy on holiday there, I used to watch it turn the sea to fire. And the fire ended in foam at the water’s edge.” He combed her tangled curls with his fingers. “Like your hair, all wild and tumbling.”

A smile tugged at her lips. “And you claim you can’t use pretty words like the poets.”

“That’s what you do to me—turn me into a poet.” Her chuckle became a sigh when he trailed his hand down the side of her face to her jaw, then traced a line along the smattering of freckles on her upper chest. “And you know what they say about freckles—that they’re fairy love bites.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Who says that?”

He grinned. “Somebody must. Isn’t that what they look like?”

A laugh bubbled out of her. “I don’t know. What’s a love bite?”

Bending his head, he sucked the skin low on her shoulder, then rubbed the red spot with his thumb. “That’s a love bite.”

“Oh,” she whispered as she stared down at it.

“You see?” he said, kissing her freckles. “Fairy love bites everywhere.” Then he pressed more kisses down the slope of her breast. “And as for being thin…believe me, you have the right amount of flesh in all the right places. Like here.”

She moaned as he circled her nipple with his tongue. He sucked her breast until her nipple stood to attention, a sweet pearl he could lick and nibble all day. He lingered for a moment before dragging his open mouth down to her belly to dart his tongue inside her navel.

“And here.” He planted a wet kiss to her belly. “Just enough flesh to make you soft, the way a woman should be.”

As she stroked his hair, he slid lower until his mouth hovered over the patch of fiery curls that barely covered her silky petals. But when he pressed an open-mouthed kiss there between her legs, she gasped and tried to pull him away. “Alec…my goodness…what are you doing?”

He lifted his head to smile at her. “Breaking the rules.”

Her eyes widened. “Ohh…so that’s what’s happening in the picture.”

“What picture?”

Turning crimson, she stammered, “N-never mind.”

“It’s that blasted book again, isn’t it? Now you’ve got me curious about it. Is there actually a picture of people doing this?”

“Well…yes…but I couldn’t figure out why a man would—”

He scraped the rigid bit of her flesh with his teeth, and she arched into his mouth with another gasp. “So…that’s…why…”

“Do you want more?”

He licked at her lightly. Though she blushed, she grasped his head and pressed it toward her cunny. He needed no more invitation to suck at her swollen bud, then thrust his tongue inside her.

The scent of her musk drove him mad, made him want to please her all the more. He reveled in how she writhed beneath him, uttering soft little cries that spurred him on. He’d give her this at least, this pleasure to remember after she discovered all his lies.

The more frenzied she grew, the more his cock stiffened until he thought he’d explode before she found her release under his mouth. But just as he feared he’d embarrass himself at any minute, her release hit her, making her shudder and convulse beneath him.

He gave her no time to come down. He couldn’t—he wanted her too badly. Raising himself over her, he parted her thighs wide and drove into her damp warmth, sheathing himself inside her hot welcome with one deep thrust.

She caught at his shoulders with a cry. “Yes…like that…yes—”

Her long legs wrapped about his waist, sucking him deeper in, and he groaned. “By God, sweetheart…you’re…incredible…”

“And you’re definitely…Alexander the Great…”

A laugh tore out of him even as he pounded into her, losing himself, striving to conquer her so thoroughly she would never regret choosing him. And when his release neared, he held it ruthlessly back until he felt her shudder beneath him again, her body straining against him as she cried his name.

Only then did he let himself come, spilling himself inside her, fiercely determined to bind her to him for life, sure they could make a future together despite all his deceptions.

But as he collapsed atop her, drained and sated yet still wanting her, she whispered, “I love you, Alec.”

And he knew he couldn’t lie to her anymore.