Page 54 of Marrying the Wrong Earl (Lords and Ladies in Love 2)

She had behaved the wanton. Now that she was coming back to her senses, she squirmed a bit with the memory. For goodness’ sake, they were in a moving carriage! Had the driver heard them?

Nash moved his hand up and slowly massaged her head. “Do not fret, sweetheart.”

She shifted and looked over at him. He gazed at her, a slight crooked smile on his lips. His swollen lips. Had she done that?

“You are beginning to experience some sort of remorse or guilt.”

“How do you know that?” Lord, her voice still sounded raspy. Had she screamed her release?

“Your body stiffened. You began to shift around, and now as I study you, a lovely red flush is climbing up your body.”

She pushed back, resting her hands on his sweat-slicked shoulders. “We are in our carriage.”

“I know.” He grinned.

The wicked man.

“The driver probably knows what we did.”

He shook his head and pushed back the hair from her face. “No. Believe me, sweetheart, with the horses’ hooves clopping along, and the wagon wheels creaking, he heard nothing.”

“I’m getting chilly.”

“Yes, I imagine you are.” He reached to the floor and pulled up a mass of entangled garments. “We’ll need to get this all sorted out. We don’t want you entering the house in my cravat, and me in your gown.”

She burst out laughing at the image, needing the release of tension.

Nash held up her stays. “This I would like to burn.” He ran his hands over her breasts. “I like you much better this way.”

“No respectable wo

man goes without her stays.”

He grinned. “Who says I want a respectable woman?”

“Pardon me? Is not that what you have been chastising me about since we met?” She grabbed his cravat and wrapped it around his neck, as if to strangle him.

He covered her hand with his. “Yes, I want a respectable countess in my home, at social affairs, and everywhere in public. On the other hand, I want a wanton trollop in my bed.” He winked.

Lord, if her face grew any hotter she would burst into flames. Taking a deep breath to bring up the subject troubling her, she twisted a strand of her hair and asked, “Nash, is Lady Walthrop your mistress?”

Nash reared back and sucked in a huge breath of air, then began to cough until Arabella had to pound him on the back. “Whatever made you ask that?”

Arabella drew circles on his chest. “Lady Humphries told me tonight that all men keep mistresses. Since you saved the supper waltz for Lady Walthrop, I wondered…”

He groaned and dropped his chin onto his chest. After a few moments, he looked up, staring in her eyes. “Hear this, Wife.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I can’t believe I’m even speaking with you about this.”

Her muscles tensed while she waited for his answer, and she pulled back. He wrapped his hands around her upper back and drew her forward until they were practically nose-to-nose. “When I was a single man, I maintained a mistress, as most men do. However, once we announced our betrothal, I dismissed her. I have no intention of breaking my marriage vows.

“As to your other supposition, Lady Walthrop spends a great deal of time inviting men into her bed. Even if I were in the market for a liaison, I can assure you, it would never be her. The reason we had the supper waltz was because when she handed me her card and insisted I fill it out, I wrote my name, not looking at it. I just wanted to be rid of her.”

Arabella felt as though a huge boulder had been lifted from her shoulders. Not because she was jealous, she assured herself. She did not love Nash, had no intention of ever doing so, but she would have found it hard to face Society if her husband’s mistress was present at these events.

“I would like to add one thing.” Nash cupped her chin and kissed her softly. “I expect the same loyalty from you. If I know Lady Humphries as well as I think I do, I am sure she advised you to produce an heir and a spare and then take your own lover.”

She nodded.

He shook his head. “No. That will never happen.”