“Oh no, sir!” The valet laughed. “I have no wish to disturb a newly married couple as they travel to their wedding night. I’ll be content seated outside.”
With that, he closed the door and the carriage tilted sideways as he climbed aboard. Then, with the crack of a whip, they set off. Olivia leaned toward the window to see her brother and sister-in-law arm in arm, waving her off with their love and good wishes. Then the carriage turned a corner, and they disappeared from view, leaving her alone, for the first time, with the beast of a man who’d been forced into marrying her against his will.
Chapter Sixteen
“Don’t forget, Devereaux,if you want the other ten thousand, you must consummate the marriage tonight.”
Whitcombe’s instruction, delivered through gritted teeth, might as well have been an executioner’s threat—as if, in addition to ten thousand, the reward for Charles fucking his new wife tonight was to keep his head.
My new wife.
He glanced at the young woman sitting opposite. She was a diminutive thing at the best of times—as most women were, compared to his bulky frame—but in the cramped space of the carriage she looked like a tiny, shrunken field mouse.
And as terrified.
Devil’s breeches, what was a beast such as him going to do with her?
It was fortunate that she’d already been ruined. At least she knew what to expect tonight, and she was hardly a brittle Society lady who’d faint at the sight of his cock.
To be honest, whether or not she carried another man’s child mattered not. It might even be preferable. His family bloodline had hardly produced men of honor or good character. Goodness was supposed to skip a generation, but for the Devereaux family it had never existed.
He lowered his gaze to her belly. No evidence of a child. She didn’t even cradle it as women were supposed to. Had she loved the father?Perhaps not, given the shimmer of hope in her eyes when she’d anticipated his kiss in the chapel.
Bloody hell, when she’d offered those sweet, soft lips of hers, a powerful lust had gripped his body, tightening his breeches and obliterating his reason. It was all he could do to stop himself from pulling her to him, parting her thighs and rutting her against the chapel wall.
Ha!That stiff matriarch smothered in black lace in the front pew, face like a smacked arse on a frosty morning, would havelovedthat.
He heard a sigh and glanced up to see Olivia looking at him, apprehension in her honey-colored eyes.
Are you well?
She glanced at his hands, then shook her head. “F-forgive me, I don’t understand…”
She broke off and cringed as he let out a sharp sigh. Curse bloody John for abandoning him!
Then he cursed himself. He had less to fear from her than she from him.
A spark of something unfamiliar threaded through his blood—the need to drive that look of fear from her eyes and to see it replaced by trust.
But a girl like her would never bring herself to trust a man such as I.
She drew her shawl around her shoulders. “I-I was wondering how far away your home is…how long it will take to get there today.”
Charles shook his head.
“W-will you not tell me?”
We’ll be staying at an inn tonight.
She stared at his hands, frowning, then shook her head. “I-I’m sorry.”
He let out a sigh and made a dismissive gesture, and she leaned forward and took his hand.
He caught his breath as a fizz of need tightened his skin and swelled his cock.
Devil be damned, if she continued to touch him like that, they wouldn’t have to wait until tonight to consummate the marriage.
He inhaled then started to withdraw, but she tightened her hold, curling her little fingers around his.
