“You are a generoushusband.” At the word, his blue eyes darkened to midnight, and his arousal became apparent.
She had discovered the power of that single utterance the first day after their wedding, especially if she dropped her voice to a sultry whisper.
“Let me show you our bedroom,” Adam said. “We’ll meet the rest of the staff later. By then, Mr. Lewis will have told them all of your arrival, your name, and your beauty.”
Adam’s master bedroom was as attractive and nicely furnished as the rest of his home. He must have felt as though he were living in abject squalor at Stonely Grange. Moreover, his room smelled like his cologne, which he’d run out of while living away from London.
She stood in the middle of the spacious chamber, with the four-poster bed at one end with its dark blue and silver brocade canopy, and hugged herself. The blue curtains were silk, the patterned wool carpet was thick and soft under her shoes, and the mahogany high boy wardrobe and low chest of drawers were polished to a clear shine.
“How did I get here?” she wondered.
His low chuckle made her skin rise in goosebumps. A sizzle of fiery wanting darted through her when his arms came around her from behind.
“Now?” she asked, pretending not to be as filled with desire as he was. “We are dusty from the road, not to mention tired.”
“All the more reason to strip off these clothes and lay down in my big comfortable bed.”
“I thought we would have a small bed the rest of our lives.”
“I did say that, didn’t I?” He began undressing her while nuzzling her neck the way she loved. “We’ll try this one out. If you don’t find it entirely to your liking, we’ll drag it out in the back and burn it. Then we’ll send for your little doll’s bed.”
She laughed at the thought of such antics. But as soon as the cool air brushed her bare skin, she grew serious, helping him out of his traveling clothes with equal swiftness.
And then they slowed down. They had all the time they wanted with no one to interrupt. Adam took an eternity to touch and kiss every part of her body until Alice thought he was trying to drive her mad.
When he finally slid inside her, she grasped hold of his back and was soaring within a few strokes of his thick arousal. He answered with a quick and powerful release.
Relaxing together afterward, her pale hair on the pillow beside his dark mop, he brushed lazy fingers across her bare shoulder.
“I cannot wait to show off the prize I have brought back from Bath.”
Alice gasped. It was the last thing she wanted to hear.
“You have gone positively rigid, sweet lady,” he said. “Tell me why.”
“Recall you said I could stay in my den for a year if I wished.” She did not want to go into society, not in Mayfair. She would berecognized. People would talk, and Adam would know what kind of woman he had married.
“I don’t care in the least that you are a widow or previously married. And if anyone comes from Fairclough’s estate seeking debt money, I shall take care of it.”
“You won’t pay a single penny,” she vowed.
“I shall not. The law is the law, and I don’t believeyouowe a penny, either. But let us enjoy life and face whatever comes together.”
She took in a long breath. He was correct. She couldn’t hide now that she was the newest Lady Diamond.
Thus, a week later, Alice was at a dinner party at his parents’ home on Piccadilly, being feted as the new Diamond bride. His parents were as welcoming as he’d said they would be. And his sisters spoke to her as if she were one of them. No one gave her a sideways glance nor chastised Adam for having a quiet, private wedding.
“Not Gretna Green, at least,” his father said, and his mother laughed.
“There was nothing wrong with our anvil wedding, was there, my love?”
“Nothing at all,” the earl agreed.
And whether they were disappointed in their son’s choice of a bride, she couldn’t tell. They seemed to be genuinely happy for them both.
Nearly as soon as she’d met his mother, the lovely red-headed countess had declared, “We must have a large celebration to let everyone know our son has taken an ideal bride.”
When it was brought up again by his eldest sister, Clarity — “Everyone loves a party, especially with newlyweds” — Alice reminded Adam on the way home that she was no longer equipped with a suitable wardrobe for her new life. She had even worn the same dress to meet the Diamonds that Lady Beasley had given her, as it was her finest.
