He was vulnerable and Peyton’s heart ached for him. He needed comfort from her as badly as she needed his understanding, and she cursed herself for being so stubborntowards him. Of course she did not hate him; she probably never would, no matter what he said or did. Suddenly Alec Summerlin wasn’t as terrible as she had liked to imagine.
She couldn’t help herself; she leaned forward and kissed his smooth lips tenderly in a show of sympathy. Yet the small kiss immediately turned into something far more passionate and she gasped as Alec gathered her fiercely into his arms.
“No, Alec,” she whispered, speaking against his hungry lips. “No more. We must wait until….”
“I do not want to wait,” he growled. “Whether I take you tonight or on our wedding night, it makes no difference. I plan to take you every night for the rest of eternity.”
With her last shred of sanity, Peyton pulled from his probing lips and turned away from him, trying to twist from his iron grip. But he refused to let go and she ended up facing away from him while his hot lips devoured the tender flesh at the nape of her neck.
“Oh, God, Alec…,” she breathed, struggling fiercely to retain her senses. “Would you please stop? I cannot bear anymore of your attentions this night. My head is already spinning.”
“I shall make you forget your head,” he promised seductively. “I shall make you forget everything if you will allow me.”
She attempted to pull away from him but he held her firm. “Nay, I shall not allow it. We are not married yet and I refuse to allow you to sample your wedding gift early.”
He started to laugh against her neck and she could feel him shaking with mirth. A smile crept onto her lips as he held her tightly and continued to snicker. “Very well, then,” he snorted. “But we must be married by tomorrow night or I shall surely go insane. Do you suppose you will be ready by tomorrow?”
She yawned and snuggled against him; he was warm and comforting. “Nay. You will simply have to suffer.”
“Vixen,” he growled. “Ready or not, we will wed tomorrow. Understood?”
“Aye, my lord,” she grinned, then paused a moment in thought. The mention of one marriage made her think of a second prospective ceremony, and her smile faded as she was reminded of her harsh words with Ivy earlier. She suddenly felt a great need to apologize to her sister for their earlier argument. “When will Ali and Ivy be married? Will it be a double ceremony?”
Alec’s mirth faded. “I am afraid not,” he knew she would demand an explanation and he continued. “To the church, Ali is little more than a savage, which is why he is not a knight. The church considers him unworthy to bear the title, just as they consider him unworthy to be a member of their religion.”
Peyton’s brow furrowed, understanding why Ali had cut her off when she inquired about his knighthood. It only served to reinforce her suspicion that she and Ivy hadn’t been the only English to react negatively to his dark color. But with Ivy’s gradual acceptance of the man, Peyton found herself questioning her own reservations. She had trusted Ivy’s opinion before, more times that she could remember. She would trust her now, too.
Her silent ponderings gave way to a softly-spoken question. “Who made the decision regarding Ali’s knighthood?”
Alec’s eyes grew distant in remembrance. “King Henry himself, almost thirteen years ago. Ali stood by and watched all of the young men he had fostered with become knights. But he never let his bitterness show. He stood by the altar, dressed in his finest armor as his peers were inducted into the knighthood. He went through the motions, the readings, the prayers, as if they were meant for him. Never once did I see defeat in his eyes, but I knew differently. That night, we both became quite drunk and it was the only time I have ever seen him cry.”
Peyton’s expression was soft with pity. “How terrible for him. After training all of his life to be a knight, how horrible to have been denied the final rite.”
Alec nodded. “Even if by some miracle the church would allow him to marry within their law, I doubt he would do it. He holds a grudge against the white man’s religion.”
“Then who will perform the ceremony?”
“A barrister, most likely. They can be married within the boundaries of the laws of England, but the church will not recognize the union.”
Peyton turned to look at him. “Does Ivy know this?”
“Undoubtedly she does by now,” he replied, his lips a mere inch or so from her own and thinking heavily on kissing her again. “She has spent the entire evening with Ali and his parents and I am sure they have explained things.”
Peyton was not happy with the situation and turned away before Alec could kiss her again. But she leaned her head back against his great shoulder and sighed. “’Twill be a common-law marriage. As if they were not married at all.”
Alec was silent a moment. “’Twill be legal nonetheless, within the laws of England.”
Peyton did not reply. So Ivy’s marriage was to be common-law, unrecognizable by God. What of their children, their heirs and descendants? Would their father have allowed such a marriage to occur? Certainly not. Peyton wondered why Lord Brian was willing to allow a marginally acceptable marriage to take place, but she kept silent.
She suspected her protests would not be well met by Alec, especially in light of his defensive manner when it came to Ali. Alec would believe her protests were because of Ali’s color, which was far from the case. She had resigned herself to the man’s dark appearance. Her protests would have been the same for any suitor offering a common-law marriage.
Still, the trouble plagued her and she was hard pressed to remain silent on the matter.
Behind her, she heard Alec sigh softly, his breath hot against her neck. Her thoughts were diverted for the moment as delicious shivers danced down her spine, tingling her arms, heating her belly.
“You and Ivy did not want to be married, remember? I suspect a common-law marriage is better than none at all and considering the appearance you two put forth the day of your initial arrival, you are lucky to have any offer at all.”
There was a certain amount of humor to the statement and Peyton grinned slyly, turning to look at him. “I doubt a blind man would have been smitten with the image we presented.”
