Kane, Samantha - Brothers In Arms 4 (21 page)

breathless and had to break the kiss. She was panting but there was no embarrassment at her arousal. What she felt with Wolf was elemental, as if she had been stripped down to the bare essentials and there was only breathing and wanting and the touch of his flesh on hers, the beat of his heart against hers.

He broke the kiss slowly. “You are so wonderful, Very. Do you know how precious you are to me?” he whispered and then he kissed her again tenderly.

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“Wolf, oh God, Wolf,” she said, suddenly on the verge of tears. She’d never

bothered to really see him before, accepting his presence as necessary if she were to have Michael with her. How long had he felt this way about her? Had she hurt him with her indifference? She was such a blind fool. Today had been eye-opening for her in so many ways. She was dizzy with the emotional highs and lows.

“How could you?” Michael’s voice whipped out of the dark. “What are you doing

to her, making her?”

Wolf sighed and rested his forehead against Very’s temple. She ran her hand softly through his hair.

“I want to give my woman pleasure, Michael. I am not the kind of man who will

tease her and leave her wanting out of some misplaced sense of offended moral

righteousness.” Wolf’s voice was as angry as Michael’s.

“No matter what she says, she is still a child, Wolf. She doesn’t understand what you’ll demand of her.” Michael’s voice was filled with accusation.

“I will force her to do nothing.” Wolf angrily pushed to his feet, the mood clearly ruined. “But I will not deny her what she wants either.” He reached down and pulled Very to her feet. She was still a bit unsteady and clung to him. “And do not attempt to place the blame on me. I have never forced anything on you, either.”

“Stop talking about me as if I’m not here,” she said, annoyed. She pointed at

Michael. “And stop talking about me as if I’m an idiot. I know very well what I’m getting myself into.”

“Do you?” Michael asked bitterly. “Do you really know what Wolf and I are to each other?”

Very busied herself with straightening her clothing. There was a slight tear in the fabric of her bodice that she was afraid couldn’t be fixed. She sighed. She hadn’t exactly wanted to have this conversation tonight, but she was not one to run from a challenge.

“Of course. You’re lovers. Look, I said it and didn’t run shrieking into the night.” She didn’t even try to keep the sarcasm from her voice. Wolf chuckled beside her and she smiled up at him.

“And do you understand what that means?” Michael wouldn’t let the subject drop.

“Have you considered that?”

Very shifted uncomfortably. Oh, she had considered it all right. Just about every night in her lonely bed she thought about exactly what that meant. “It means that you will both come to my bed, at the same time.” She was rather proud of how steady she sounded.

Michael snorted. “Yes. But it also means that we fuck each other, Very. It means that when Wolf looks at me the way he looked at you tonight—and yes, he does look at me like that—I can’t pull my pants down and bend over fast enough. That cock that is even now hard for you, Very,” Michael pointed crudely at Wolf’s erection, “is buried in my ass at every opportunity, and I’m not above returning the favor just as often. Is that what you want?”

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“Stop it, Michael,” Wolf ground out.

Very felt herself blanch at his crudity. She’d had a vague idea about how men made love to one another, but thanks to Michael her education on the subject was now complete. She straightened her shoulders. “No, it’s all right, Wolf.” She looked at Michael. “If that is what you want, then yes, I want it too.”

Michael growled in frustration and pulled at his hair as he spun away from her.

“What must I do to save you from yourself, Very? You throw yourself into trouble at every turn, and I am the catalyst! This…” he made a motion between the three of them,

“this is unnatural, do you understand? Whether your aunt enjoys the same relationship or not, it is not natural nor is it accepted.” He paced away. “You are young and you have the chance to live a normal life.” He shook his head. “But not with me. Not with us.” He walked quickly to the door.

Wolf took two steps toward him. “Don’t, Michael. Don’t run again.”

Michael stopped but didn’t turn around. “Goodbye, Wolf. Goodbye, Very. I—” He

broke off and opened the door. “Goodbye.” He left, pulling the door closed behind him.

Very huffed and stalked over to the couch. She threw herself down on it in disgust.

“Why does Michael have to turn everything into the great drama? I don’t understand why he refuses to accept that I am a fully grown woman who knows exactly what I want.” She crossed her arms stubbornly. “He can just stay away this time until he’s ready to apologize. I shan’t forgive him easily this time.” It took a minute for Wolf to turn back to her. His smile was bittersweet.

“Well, he’s right.”

“What?” Very was shocked at Wolf’s admission.

The handsome man smiled at her, but she was disconcerted by the aloofness of his expression. “You are young, Very. And we wouldn’t have a normal, accepted

relationship, the three of us, as much as we might wish otherwise.” He sighed and walked over. He held out his hand to her and she automatically took it and let him help her to her feet. “Let’s not discuss this now, all right? Come on, I’ve got to sneak you upstairs and into bed.”

Very couldn’t stop the flirtatious little smile that crooked her lips. That definitely sounded like a lovely plan. Wolf saw her smile and shook his head with a little laugh.

“Michael is right, you have a habit of throwing yourself in front of trouble. I meant go to bed to sleep, alone. But don’t think I’m not tempted.” When they got to the door, Wolf turned to her and tried to straighten her clothes but gave up when he found the tear in her bodice. “I’m going to have to speak to Jason and Tony about keeping a closer eye on you,” he mumbled.

“You wouldn’t,” Very breathed, horrified.

“No,” Wolf admitted, “I won’t, because I don’t want to lose the chance of getting you alone again.” He put his hands on his hips and looked at the floor for a moment, shaking his head and laughing self-deprecatingly. He peered up at Very through his 104

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eyelashes. “Which only, of course, reinforces that I am a very bad man and you should stay far away from me.”

Very opened the study door cautiously and peered up and down the hall to see if anyone was there. When the coast was clear she stepped out lightly, motioning Wolf to follow her. She stopped suddenly and Wolf bumped into her, grabbing her arms and hauling her close to keep them both from falling. Very grinned wickedly over her shoulder at him. “I can’t help it if I’m attracted to trouble, Wolf. And the best trouble is to be found with very bad men.” She winked at his amused smile and slipped out of his grasp to run down the hall and up the stairs.

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After their groundbreaking emotional confidences in the nursery, Ian and Sophie had gone to their rooms to change out of their wedding attire. Ian was going to see about a late supper but was informed by his valet that one awaited him and his new bride in her rooms. Less than an hour after he left her, Ian found himself knocking on her door.

“Come in,” Sophie called pleasantly, and Ian opened the door. Sophie was sitting at her dressing table brushing her hair.

“Oh, Mary, I’m so glad you’re back. Would you please ask Mr. Witherspoon to join me in a few minutes for supper?”

Ian froze, not sure what to do. Sophie obviously didn’t realize it was him. She was
en dishabille
, wearing nothing but a light dressing gown over her chemise. The gown was open and parted as she raised her arms to try to pin up her hair. He could see the outline of her breasts, the shadow of her nipples. He felt like a voyeur as his cock stirred. This was the first time Ian had seen her hair down and it was a glorious spill of copper fire down her back in the light. It was heavy and thick, the ends curling. As he watched her try to put it up he couldn’t stop his protest.

“Please leave it down.”

Sophie shrieked and leapt to her feet. Her response was so out of proportion to Ian’s softly voiced protest that he jumped as well.

“Ian! What are you doing here?” Sophie gasped, grabbing the edges of her dressing gown and holding them together.

“For God’s sake, Sophie!” Ian clutched his chest and leaned against the wall. “You nearly gave me a seizure! What the devil did you scream for?” He saw Sophie relax slightly at his overly dramatic reply. She smiled in embarrassment.

“You frightened me. I was expecting my new maid and instead a man’s voice

answered. I’m sorry.” She shook her head and laughed ruefully. “It’s going to take me some time to get used to being here, and the way things are here.”

“Sophie—” She trampled over his sympathy with her nervous babble.

“I was going to send Mary, my new maid, to get you for supper. Isn’t it nice?” She gestured to the simply set table across the room in the sitting area by the fireplace. “But, oh!” She looked down at herself in horror. “I’m not dressed!” She spun around, giving Ian her very shapely back, lovingly outlined by the thin material of her dressing gown which was pulled tight by her grasping hands in front. “Don’t look! I must look a fright.

I meant to be more presentable before you came. I’m so sorry! Oh, this isn’t going at all as I had planned.” She looked up and suddenly realized that Ian could see her front in 106

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her dressing table mirror and reacted almost like a child, slapping her hand over her eyes as if blocking Ian from her sight would block her from his.

Ian couldn’t help it, he laughed. Sophie peeped out at him from between two

spread fingers.

“Are you laughing at me?” she asked suspiciously.

Ian shook his head. “Yes. I mean no. I’m just laughing at the whole thing.” He

casually walked over and fell into one of the chairs arranged around the table. “And honestly, it feels very good. I’m not sure I’ve laughed at all today. Thank you.”

Sophie sniffed, still suspicious. “Well, all right then. I can live with that.” She began edging toward the screen in the corner. “I’ll just dress and then we can eat.” She was fussing with her hair again as she turned and took two quick steps before Ian’s voice stopped her.

“Please, Sophie, don’t get dressed on my account.” Ian was hardly dressed himself, having donned only pants and a shirt. “I’m not very presentable myself.” Sophie looked over her shoulder at him and he held up one bare foot. “I just wanted to be

comfortable.”

Sophie chewed her bottom lip a moment and then nodded as if coming to a

decision. She fumbled with the rather elaborate ties on her dressing gown and then turned back to him. “You’re right, it does feel nice to be comfortable for a change.” She looked down and Ian followed her gaze to her bare feet. She wiggled her toes. “I don’t think I’ve dined barefoot since I was in leading strings, however. Don’t you dare tell anyone.”

Ian laughed again and Sophie came over and sat down opposite him. Ian didn’t

have the heart to tell her her hair was pinned up partially on one side, giving her a lopsided appearance. He wanted to reach over and pull the offending pins out, freeing her beautiful hair. Had he really thought it a boring brown when he’d met her two weeks ago?

“Shall we send for Derek, do you think?” Sophie asked innocently, and Ian

promptly dropped his fork against his plate with a clang.

“I…no, I don’t think so. Not tonight.” Ian picked up his wayward fork and served Sophie a slice of cold ham. Without looking at her, he continued. “How did you know who Derek was today, during the ceremony?”

Sophie sighed as she took some more food from the serving dishes on the table. “I saw him sneaking out of your room this morning.”

Ian was beyond surprise at this point. He could only shake his head in wonder.

“After the ceremony, in the drawing room, you seemed very concerned that I go to him.

Why?”

Sophie put down her own fork and fussed with the napkin in her lap, avoiding

looking at Ian. “I don’t wish to be a wedge between you, Ian. I understand how Derek must feel. I think he’s very scared of losing you. I only want to reassure him that I have 107

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no intention of driving him away.” She picked her fork back up and deliberately took a bite.

Ian sat back in his chair staring at Sophie, trying to decipher her. “Why? You must admit not many new brides would be so understanding.”

Sophie still refused to look at him. “I don’t ever want you to feel that you

can’t…can’t be with Derek whenever you want.”

And just like that, Ian understood. “You think that with Derek here I won’t want to make love to you, is that it, Sophie?”

Her telltale blush answered for her. Ian sighed. “Sophie, you are my wife and I want to have a normal marriage. I wish for us to share a bed often. I hope we will be blessed with many children.” He studiously avoided mentioning that if he had his way, some of those children might be Derek’s.

Sophie noticeably flinched. “Yes, I assumed you wanted children. That could have been the only possible reason for marrying me.”

“No, it couldn’t. I wanted to marry you. I like you and I desire you. If we are very lucky, we will have children. But once I got to know you…I would have married you even if I knew you couldn’t have children, Sophie.”

Sophie didn’t bother to pretend she was interested in eating anymore. “But initially, before you knew me, you were spurred by a desire for children.”

Ian leaned his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his raised, entwined fists.

“Yes, I won’t lie to you, that is what prompted me to finally write to your father.”

“What about Derek?” The question was asked in a small, quiet voice as Sophie

looked down at her hands in her lap.