The Wicked Game (A Wicked Game Novel) (11 page)

And for a moment Angela was speechless, but then the words of freedom came to her. “Well I am here now so you have no excuse…”

“Excuse for what?” Andrew responded slowly.

“You have no excuse not to have me.”

He shook his head in disbelief. She was giving him an open pass to make her his. He had dreamed about this since the day he first saw her and now it was happening but he couldn’t possibly take her up on it… could he?

In this moment all of his objections faded away and all he was able to care about was the way that she was looking at him. It made his body feel good but he had the feeling that her body felt even better. So he reached out and touched her and felt her relax as her body melted into his.

***

Up until this moment she had her doubts, but Angela was now certain that she was a new woman. In a flash of passion she had offered herself to Andrew and he had accepted. Without a hesitation he reached out and grasped her and his touch burned her skin.

He pulled her to him and gently brushed his lips across hers. It wasn’t a kiss, not really, and yet her body relaxed and went numb. He looked her in the eyes and then he waited. And waited. And waited. A mischievous smile spread over his lips and he whispered, “I like making you wait.”

She wasn’t sure how she managed to get the words out but she said, “Just do it,” and so he did. Urgently he pressed his lips to hers and Angela trembled. Andrew felt her weakness as she softly purred. As if by instinct she opened her mouth and accepted the invitation as his tongue slid fiercely in. He pulled her tighter to his body and wrapped her into him. His hands began exploring and Angela found herself asking him to keep going. He held her tighter, as if that was even possible, and his excitement as he pressed against her became apparent.

“Andrew!” she gasped. “What—”

But he just pulled her more deeply into the kiss.

“But—” Again he pressed his lips into hers and she found herself responding. She moved her hands down his body and gently swept them across him. Now he was the one trembling and it gave Angela a new found satisfaction. In an instant his tremble became urgency so he picked her up and sped to her bed. He didn’t set her down, he threw her, and then he covered her body with his own.

Angela wasn’t really sure what was going to happen, but she knew she did not want it to stop. She carefully released herself from Andrews grasp, and while breathing heavily she locked her eyes with his. Without breaking the connection he reached for the neckline of her dress and slowly pulled it down. Now he moved his eyes and a smile spread across his face. He reached out his hand and slowly caressed her before gently placing his lips upon her nipples. Angela’s body ached with a sudden pleasure and she moaned with desire. Now he grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled it up to her waist. Energy pulsed in her skin as his fingers brushed against it while he worked on the ties of her drawers.

And then she was fully exposed to him. She should have felt vulnerable but instead she felt more comfortable than she ever had before. She went into the moment and concentrated on the line of his lips and they went from her breasts to her belly button and he began to kiss her there. She quivered and dug her hands into his hair and then slowly, he began to kiss lower and lower until he had found the essence of her womanhood. She pulled his hair and pushed him into her now and this time instead of moaning she actually screamed.

“Please don’t stop! Please!”

She felt all of the muscles in her body contracting and she knew that she was on the verge of something special happening. Just a bit longer. Just a little more.

And then Angela heard another scream and her worst nightmare had come to life. She pulled away from Andrew, leapt out of the bed, and wrapped herself in a sheet. Standing there in the door way of her room was her family and many of the guests from her party, who upon seeing her hasty exit had apparently assumed it was a party game and followed after her.

Angela could see that Mary was laughing but no one else was jovial. She was sure that her mother and her Aunt were on the verge of fainting while her father was poised for the kill. And Lady Sutherland was beaming with pleasure at this juicy piece of gossip.

In a sudden fit of rage Lord Cheston grabbed Andrew by the throat and pinned him up against the wall. “What have you done to my daughter, you bastard?”

Without thinking Angela threw herself in between them and screamed out, “It’s not his fault! I—I tricked him!”

Lord Cheston slowly released his grip on Andrew and turned to his daughter in disgust. “
You wanted this?
”

She looked him square in the eyes and shook her head. “Yes.”

“Then you are nothing but a harlot! You shame your family!”

Angela’s face turned to stone and then Andrew began to speak.

“Sir, I am prepared to do my duty and marry her to preserve her honor. Your family’s honor.”

“Honor?” Lord Cheston cackled. “Apparently she has no honor! And as for you marrying her, that would just bring us shame! You are a servant. You are nothing! Nothing, you hear me? No, I will take care of this myself.”

Lord Cheston grabbed Angela’s shoulders and began to shake her. “Now you listen to me, you are dead! You hear that? Dead to me and to this family. I will see you married off in order to preserve the honor of our family but there is nothing to be done for your honor.” He paused a moment. “I will contact the Duke. I am sure that he will still marry you, even after you have declared yourself a harlot. Now go! Pack your things and get out of my house! You will leave tonight with your Aunt until I have the marriage contract worked out. I will send a letter when it is all set. And as for you,” Lord Cheston now turned his gaze to Andrew. “You will leave my house as well. I should have you killed but you’re not worth my time. Rather you live and be shamed!”

With that Lord Cheston turned and left Angela’s life forever while the women reluctantly followed him. Andrew took one last long look at Angela and then he left the room himself to figure out his new life.

***

Before leaving, Angela had managed to sneak several glasses of wine, and it was for this reason that she was able to pass the entire carriage ride away in sleep. They arrived early the next morning and even though she had slept for nearly the entire trip there, Angela soon found herself sound asleep in her new room. Again time passed her by, and for the second time in a day she found herself unaware of just how rapidly hours were moving past.

Angela did not know how long she had slept, it could have been mere hours but at the same time a matter of days, but when she finally opened her eyes it was dark outside and Mary was sitting in a chair by her bed.

“So,” Mary began without skipping a beat. “What was it like?”

Angela groaned and rolled over. “What was
what
like?”

“Making love!”

Angela furrowed her brow and seeing the confusion Mary chose a more straightforward word. “Sex! What was it like?”

“Mary! Exactly what do you know about sex?” Angela whispered.

Mary gave her cousin a smug look. “Obviously not as much as you do!”

This got Angela’s attention and she sat up and stretched as she retorted, “We did not ‘make love’!” Well, I don’t think we did anyway but I don’t exactly know what it was.”

Suddenly Mary seemed less interested and she leaned back to a more relaxed stance in the chair. “Oh. So what we saw. That was all was it?”

Angela blushed. “Umm, well, yes.”

The look of fading interest became disappointment as Mary responded. “Well then no. You did not ‘make love.’”

Angela did not say a word but as usual Mary knew exactly what her best friend was thinking. “Greg told me. Who else? Anyway, what you were doing was most definitely not it!” She paused for a moment as if unsure whether to continue but decided to do so anyway. “Sooooo how was that? Whatever you were doing. You sure looked like you were enjoying it!”

“I—it was…nice!”

“Nice?” Mary let out a sharp chuckle. “It sure looked like more than ‘nice’ to me!”

In a sudden urgency, Angela let her feelings spill out. “Oh Mary it was! It was so much more than nice! I don’t think I even know a word to describe what it was. It—it was simply the best feeling I have ever had in my entire life!” She threw herself back down on the bed. “Oh Mary! If only you knew!”

With a wink, Mary responded, “I never said I didn’t…. I just said I didn’t know what it was called.”

And the friends were sent into a laughing fit.

When Mary was finally able to calm her body she hugged her friend and assured her that all would turn out well in the end. It was then that she left Angela alone…or so it seemed. Restlessly, Angela walked over to the window seat and sat down staring absently into the night sky. It was only hours before that she had been so sure of her path in life. She had been free, finally, and her future was her own to create. But then in an instant it had all come crashing down and as before, the world and its treasures were closed off to her. Her path, for now, was unclear and she cursed herself at the realization. Freedom had been hers, she had felt it in a way that she had never been able to comprehend before but now her world had fallen and her life was changed forever. She did not know where to go from here or what her next move should be. She was shackled and lost all at the same time. And then she saw something, or rather someone riding towards the house on a horse.

Her horse.

The rider looked up at the windows of the house and scanned them intently until in sudden disbelief his eyes rested upon her. It was in this moment that she realized that the rider was Andrew and she suddenly felt lightheaded. What was he
doing
here? Without a second thought she threw open the window and leaned out but before she could say anything he was already speaking.

“Your father sent word for the Duke of Corning this morning. He is set to arrive within a few days to discuss your situation. Your father was very determined to have this matter taken care of as quickly as possible… He may soon have a contract drawn up.”

“And what exactly do you suggest I do about it?”

Andrew gazed at her intently. “Marry me.”

“But I can’t! I would never be allowed!” She wanted to laugh out loud at the absurdity of his request but instead it was Andrew who did the laughing.

“Are you telling me that after what happened you care about what you are ‘allowed’ to do? That woman from last night didn’t seem to care about what anyone told her…”

She took in one long breath as she tried to reconcile herself with the events of the past day. “I can’t marry you…. I just can’t!”

Angela was surprised to see a shadow of pain in his eyes but he didn’t push the issue, and before turning to ride away he just responded, “Suit yourself. I’ll be back in one hour if you change your mind…. This is the last chance you know. Contract or not, I doubt anyone will really care to follow if we leave now…”

And then suddenly Angela was running. It was an instantaneous decision with very little reason but for some reason she had chosen it. Her feet (or was it her heart?) were leading her now and nothing in the world mattered now but that she reach her destination. But where was her destination exactly? Was it with Andrew, or just anywhere that would take her away from the Duke? She did not know exactly but the end result was the same and so she pushed herself forward all the same. She was at the front door before she knew it and as she threw it open she heard her own voice call, “Wait,” and then, in the next instant she was sitting in front of Andrew on the horse, his arms around her waist to stabilize her.

This was the most insane thing she had ever done in her life but at the same time it made the most sense. For one, as she had already established, she would not have to marry the Duke. Even if a marriage contract had been drawn up, and she was sure that it had been, it would be too late by the time anyone found them. By then she would already be married to Andrew and so contract or not, there was nothing that anyone would be able to do about it. And then, on the other hand, there was the happiness factor. Now that her mind was more settled she knew that she did not love Andrew and that she never would. But he had saved her life, more than once, and in more ways than one. For that she would be happy with him.

And that was enough for her.

The universal questions of the world: Who am I and what am I doing here?

At some point in every person’s life these questions filter through the mind. Who is this person standing here making these decisions? This is not me. I do not recognize who I see in the mirror. How did my life come to this? What did I do? What
didn’t
I do? Why?

Why?

For Angela this moment was now. Here she was, the daughter of a Baron, standing next to a servant in a small Gretna church about to say her wedding vows. How the hell had she ended up here?

Well of course she knew the facts of the situation. She had gotten drunk, groped the Duke, declared her independence, nearly had sex with Andrew, gotten caught, and then run away with him to avoid marriage to the Duke. Wow. That was really quite a story. If it had happened to someone else she wouldn’t have believed it, but it
had
happened to her and so here she was about to marry Andrew.

Yes, she knew the facts but she didn’t know the bigger picture. The way she had acted was not her. She had never done anything like this in her entire life before but she had done it now and her life was changed forever. Now she was even more confused about her “divine” purpose as
the
Bennett woman. Who was she really and what was she doing here really? Not the facts but the deep down and gritty, intimate, philosophical answer. But she didn’t have time to finish her thoughts. It was her turn now.

She took a deep breath and said the words, “I will.”

***

There had been many times in his life when Andrew should have been scared. He had been a bond servant most of his life. He had lived on the streets. He had worked odd jobs and lived day to day. He had lied and he had stolen to stay alive and there had been a few times he had come close to taking a life. Of course there had also been the time when he had been caught in bed with a Baron’s daughter and now he had just run away and eloped with her, but none of that had really gotten to him. He had lived a hard life and so he had a tough skin. In all honesty he had never truly been scared until right now.