Page 27 of Raising the Duke’s Unexpected Twins

“Excellent!” her mother kissed her on the cheek. “That is all I ask. Now, let’s get you into that gown.”

CHAPTER 10

“You look like a nervous idiot.” Nicholas’s cousin, Leonard, said to him as they stood at the front of the church.

“Good God, serves me right for asking you to be a groomsman. And I’m not nervous,” he told him, but he was glad for the distraction for his statement wasn’t true. He was far more nervous than he would ever admit, and this was the last thing he thought he’d be doing at this age. If ever.

His parents’ marriage had only ended in death and sorrow. And he wasn’t built for it. Yet, here he was, about to pledge his troth before a bloody minister. Not only that, but there were two children already in the mix.

He couldn’t think about that, not when thoughts of his cold father’s face came to mind, and a childhood full of fear and grief was all he had to show for it. No, he could be no true husband or true father.

Marriage had never truly appealed to him, nor had children, at least not now, not when there was so much else to entertain in the world, and he had a business to run. He faced forward, towards the altar where the old minister stood, desperate to think of something calm and docile or even boring to rid himself of thoughts of Cordelia. Purposefully, he had kept himself away from her in the last week, fearful that she would try to go pinning honorable on him again and fearful that after that kiss, if he saw her again, he would simply kiss her senseless and drag her willing to his bedroom until they both cried out from pleasure.

He had promised her a white marriage to ease her fears. That did not mean he could not tempt her, however. If she one day decided she wanted more than a marriage in name only, he intended for that decision to be entirely hers… He would never break his word. He simply hoped to make keeping it increasingly difficult for them both.

Until she changed her mind, he was to marry the most beautiful woman he knew and endure a celibate, lonely life with a wife who practically hated him.

“She will approve of that, I think. Far better for her to marry an idiot than a rake in her mind,” he whispered to Darren.

Darren chuckled, and then the music began, and he straightened. Nicholas too straightened, facing forward still, thinking of how his friend David should have been there to be his groomsman. That David would now miss everything in his life, even his own children growing up.

You bastard, David. You always were distracted. And you couldn’t even make it to my wedding. For shame.

When he heard the soft gasps of the crowd and the footsteps of his bride, he slowly turned to face her, and then he paused, his lips parting. He had of course expected her to be beautiful, for she was always and endlessly beautiful. But this was something entirely different. When he saw her, it pulled the breath from his chest so that for a few moments, he wasn’t sure if he was actually alive. He was simply a bystander, watching as she walked toward him on another man’s arm. She looked as if she was an angel coming to pull him out of life’s mire.

Something stiffened in him that he wanted to push aside. More than one something, if he was being honest, and his usual devil-may-care demeanor took over. Best to focus only on one thing and one thing only. He would have her; that was the long and the short of it. He would find a way to make her see that giving in to him was the best option available. When she neared, her eyes wide and her soft lips parted, Nicholas was certain that he could get her to beg for him.

A bet is made. I will have my wife begging for my touch within a fortnight.

It was a bold claim, but he was a bold man, and he loved a challenge. And there was no doubt in his mind that what they could do in the bedroom would be like flint to tinderbox.

“Fancy meeting you here,” she said under her breath as she finally reached him at the end of the aisle, attempting to look stiff and unfriendly, although fresh color was in her cheeks.

“Yes, I was rather busy, but I was able to fit this into my schedule.”

Rolling her eyes, she reluctantly took his proffered hands, and he couldn’t help grinning. Really, it was too perfect. Helen and David might have been mad about the idea of them marrying, but Miss Cordelia Debrett was a firebrand, and what was even better, she did not even seem to realize just how lovely she was.

Before the crowd sat down, he asked, “How have the children been? Are they safe?”

“Yes, of course,” she whispered, smiling at him, a surprised look in her eyes. “Safe and well.”

“No bruises or cuts?”

“No.” She shook her head, her brows knit but then they smoothed as she understood his meaning. He tensed at the thought of that blackguard Wexford hurting a hair on their heads. “Good.”

Once, the crowd sat down and quieted, and he couldn’t help but make one more jibe. “You do know that baby’s breath makes me sneeze?”

“How perfect for keeping you away from my bedroom door,” she whispered, and he bit his lip to keep from laughing aloud.

He shook his head, tsking under his breath as he leaned slightly closer. “It is not I who will come to you, love, but you who will come to me. The temptation will be far too great for you, I think.”

Cordelia blushed from under her veil, but she crooked a dubious brow. “Even in a church, you are dastardly. No shame whatsoever.”

This time, her words had little heat to them, and he thought he could spy the corners of her mouth turning upward. Facing the minister, they kept their teasing to themselves as the old man began droning on about duties and chastity and the gifts of the Lord. When the time came for the kiss, he turned to her with a self-satisfied grin even as his heart beat just a little bit faster. Their first kiss was still burned in his memory and at the prospect of another, his blood heated anew.

Slowly, he lifted the lace veil from her face, and he watched her nervously swallow, all the while keeping her deep brown eyes on him. His hands moved to her waist, and she let out a little gasp, which seemed to be meant for only him.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.