Nicole cocked her head to the side. “What are you talking about, Daffin?”
Daffin pushed aside his papers and regarded Nicole down the length of his nose. “His mother’s side of the family. They live right here in London… when they’re not at their estates.”
“Estates?” Surely the runner was mistaken. “What in the world are you saying?”
Daffin dropped his quill and looked at her. His expression changed to surprise when he read her features. “Surely you aren’t telling me that you don’t know that Grim’s family on his mother’s side is the Duke of Colchester and his lot.”
“The Duke of what?” She jumped from her seat and braced her palms on the desk, staring at Daffin in shock.
Daffin winced. “Damn. I never thought he wouldn’t have told you. I probably shouldn’t have said anything. You must promise me not to tell him that you know.”
“Why wouldn’t he have told me himself?” A thousand thoughts flew through her mind. It definitely explained why her mother and grandmother were fine with the match. Why hadn’ttheytold her either?
“How exactly is he related to them?” she demanded.
“The duke is his mother’s brother. The former duke was his grandfather. The Marquess of Coleford is his cousin.”
Later, Nicole had asked her mother why she hadn’t said anything. “Oh, darling, Corporal Grimaldi clearly didn’t want anyone to know who his family was. We weren’t about to be the ones to tell you. Frankly, we thought part of the reason you liked him was because he was a nobody. We feared if you knew you were marrying the grandson of a duke you might cry off.”
“Did you always know?” Nicole asked, still baffled.
“No, darling. At first we thought he was a nobody too, but when you seemed so attached to him, your grandmama hired a man to do some investigating.”
“Youspiedon him?” Nicole couldn’t breathe.
Her mother waved a hand in the air. “I wouldn’t call it spying, dear. We simply needed to know who you were falling in love with. We weren’t about to allow you to marry just anyone, regardless of your affection for him.”
Nicole had been forced to let that go. It bothered her that her mother and grandmother had been manipulative, but it would be silly to argue the point when she was madly in love with Mark and longed to become his wife. So she proceeded to the wedding without mentioning a word to her husband about his family, hoping he might tell her himself. He never did. She made a fateful choice by not telling him that she knew.
Mark was obviously pleased she’d kept the wedding small. Nicole’s mother and grandmother were there, of course. The Duke of Colchester and his wife had sneakedinto the back of the church. They’d quietly left before the ceremony ended. Nicole pretended she hadn’t seen them. Mark pretended too. He hadn’t said a word to them or her. She could not understand why her husband didn’t want her to know. He married her with no other family present. Her heart had ached for him, but she would be his family now. She and the children they made together.
If there was one thing she’d been looking forward to, it was the method of producing children. Her heart raced each time she considered making love for the first time that night. Her mother had sat her down for an awkward conversation during which she told her the basics of what would happen. Nicole suffered through it with a blank look on her face, nodding at the correct parts and asking a question here and there. She wasn’t frightened. She was eager. She and Mark had barely been able to keep their hands off each other during their engagement. She couldn’t wait to share her body with him.
That night, after dinner at her grandmother’s house Mark had taken her back to his flat. They’d walked together, silently, up the stairs to the small set of rooms. The place was sparse but clean and smelled like him, his delicious cologne. He gave her a tour of the small parlor, the tiny kitchen, the… bedchamber. She hovered in the doorway while he lit a lamp on the table next to the bed before coming back to take her hand and lead her into the room.
He faced her and clasped his hands over her shoulders, his thumbs drawing circles over them to help her relax. “Are you frightened?”
“Not at all.” She shook her head. “I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks.” She gave him a bright, saucy smile.
Mark laughed and pulled her into his arms. When his mouth found hers, all traces of laughter vanished. His fingers worked their way into her hair, where he began greedily sliding the pins from their places. Those clever fingers moved down to the buttons on the back of her wedding gown. She’d chosen a simple silhouette of white satin. She’d adored wearing it all day but now was eager to be out of it.
While Mark popped open button after button along her back, Nicole’s hands moved to his cravat and ripped at the fabric. Untying the bow and knot, she pulled it from his neck and tossed it to the floor before moving her hands down to work on the buttons of his waistcoat. They ripped at each other’s clothing in a frenzy.
She paused in their kissing to help him pull her gown over her head. Then he divested himself of his shirt. Their mouths locked together again, her fingers traced the outline of his muscled abdomen while he reached behind her and pulled hastily on the laces to her stays. When that contraption finally hit the floor, she leaned down and pulled her shift over her head, tossing it aside to stand completely naked in front of him, save for her stockings.
“Now you,” she breathed, staring at the fall to his breeches. He moved quickly to the bed, shucked his boots, and lay back while she climbed atop him to help him remove his breeches.
Her fingers worked on the buttons to the fall while she leaned down and kissed him, her tongue exploringevery part of his mouth. Once the buttons were undone, he sat up and she moved to the side while he pulled off his breeches. Then he turned and, smiling, tackled her to the bed, his chest coming down hard atop her, her legs parting of their own volition beneath him. He felt like silk and steel and she breathed in the heady scent of him, her head nuzzled in the crook of his neck while his mouth found the delicate spot beneath her ear. “You’re gorgeous, Nicole,” he breathed.
“It’s funny,” she gasped against him as he sucked her earlobe into his mouth. “I think the same about you.”
He pushed himself away from her to gaze admiringly down her body while she did the same to him. Her eyes fastened on his large member jutting from between his legs, nestled in a thatch of dark, curly hair. She leaned down and grasped it in her fist, squeezing it out of instinct and the desire to feel every inch of it. Mark groaned and shuddered.
She smiled a catlike smile against his shoulder. “Do you like that?” she asked in a breathy voice.
“Very much.” He nuzzled his way down her neck until his mouth hovered just above one of her breasts. She’d been forced to let go of him when he moved lower, but was temporarily distracted by his admiration of her breasts. “These are magnificent,” he breathed, staring at them in obvious fascination.
He bent his dark head and took a nipple into his mouth. Nicole cried out and arched her back. Oh God. Her body hummed with desire, as if a cord had been drawn between her breast and the aching space between her legs, which was quickly becoming wetter and wetter.She’d known that would happen. It happened every time Mark kissed her and it happened even more when she’d laid in bed, thinking about him night after night. Having him touch her, his rough hands gliding over her body, his teeth gently tugging at her nipple, made her wetter than she’d ever been. His hand moved down between her legs. His finger searched through the triangle of hair there. It found the bud of pleasure nestled in the center of her wet warmth. He stroked it with his thumb and she cried out again, grasping his dark head to her breast and shuddering with pleasure.
