The Wounded Nobleman (The Regimental Heroes) (5 page)

Chapter 6

A week passed and Ellis came to Callie’s bedchamber every night leaving her after a soft caress and a kiss. When he departed, she found the need to have him lie with her stronger than ever.

At the beginning of their second week of marriage Ellis announced, “I have a surprise for you.”

They just finished breakfast in the sunroom after his father joined them. She smeared a little more orange marmalade on her toast and eyed the two men. By the mischievous smile on both their faces, his father seemed to be in on Ellis’s plan.

“What is it?” she asked.

“If I told you it wouldn’t be a surprise.” Ellis grinned. It made his dark eyes sparkle. He looked so much like his father
- they were like a mirror image of the other. “Meet me out front in say…” Ellis tapped his finger to his chin, “fifteen minutes.” He jumped up and ran from the room
, not giving her a chance to ask additional questions.

Most of the women of the house staff giggled and whispered behind their hand
s.

“Does everyone know what is going on but me?” Callie asked Lord Garrison.

He just grinned and slurped up the last of his fruit compote.

As the clock over the mantle struck a quarter past the hour, Ellis met her at the front door. Dressed in an open-necked white shirt, knee boots and waistcoat he looked so incredibly handsome… and out of breath.
Good gracious, what in the world had he been doing?
At the nape of his
neck, his dark hair was pulled back and his breathing was audible. Sweat glistened on his forehead.

“Are we going for a ride?” Callie asked and raised an eyebrow.

“I think I just did that
. No more questions.” He stepped behind her and placed his hands over her eyes. “Trust me. It’s only a few steps outside.”

She let him lead her until they stopped before lifting his hands
from her eyes.

In front of them was one of Garrison’s finest carriages. It was glossy, jet-black and had the family crest emblazoned in gold on the door.

One of the four horses of the team was Liber. He stomped a foot as if he recognized her and whinnied.

“I rode him over myself
.” Ellis moved closer to rub Liber’s flank. The horse flicked its ears. “He will be one of our finest carriage horses,” he said with an air of pride. “He’s ready.”

Ellis offered his hand to her and smiled. One of the men opened the door to the carriage, and Ellis helped her step in.

When he sat beside her, she asked, “Where are we going?”

“To finish the picnic we never had.”

When the carriage came to a stop, Ellis pulled a large wicker basket from the back and after a look toward the blue skies informed the drivers they
needn’t to wait. They would walk back. The horses galloped away with the empty carriage bouncing behind.

“To see Liber with the team was an amazing surprise,” she exclaimed.

“And to see him behave.” Ellis chuckled as he flipped the wool blanket onto
a large patch of grass. I think he likes his new friends, and wants to fit in. I would never have been able to show him the patience you have.”

“I do not believe that for a second. You have shown me this last week that you are the most patient man on earth.” She was so happy, she couldn’t seem to stop herself. She wrapped her arms
around his neck, pulled him down, and kissed him. Without permission, and without warning. For one of the first times in her life she did what felt right and did not think first.

Callie needed to reclaim so many things from her lost year, starting with showing her husband how much she cared for him.

“I love you, Ellis,” she whispered against his mouth. Callie kissed him hard, demanding a response and rejoicing when, after a moment’s hesitation, he gave in.

He cupped her derriere and pulled her close. He plundered her mouth, his desire evident. It didn’t frighten her. She needed him more than her next breath. They breathed together trading the cool air between them back and forth.

Callie’s hand fisted in his hair and she pulled him in for another intense kiss that went on and on.

Suddenly, Ellis grabbed her by the wrist and stepped back, his
breath ragged. “You said I am the most patient man in the world, but I am afraid patience and restraint are two different things. I want you too much to stop myself if we go any further, because I want all of you.”

“I love you, husband,” she repeated. Bracketing his face in her hands, she deepened the kiss letting all she wanted to show him pour forth. “Make me your wife.”

****

Ellis tossed his gloves aside and Callie shivered. The anticipation of touching her sent a shiver down his spine, but she had to make the first move. “I want
you
to touch
me
. No fear and no regrets.”

She bit her lip, as her wide-eyed gaze settled on the buttons of his waistcoat. Running her hand up his chest, he straightened his arms and his coat slid off to the ground. She tugged the starched linen of his cravat loose and dropped it to lie on top
of the coat.

Callie freed his shirt from his trousers and stretched on tiptoes to help him pull it over his head. He could feel the hesitation in her touch, which made it even sweeter. The trace of her nails up his arms made him groan. If she only knew how rock hard the whispered contact of her fingertips made him; he throbbed against his trousers.

“Please,” the plea in his own voice surprised him. “Can I touch you?” With skilled hands, he slipped the dress off her body. He would die if he waited another second and the gap in her camisole was not wide enough. His mouth found her hardened nipple and fastened on her.

Callie gasped.

He stopped.

“No,” she protested. “Don’t stop. It feels…
good
.” She seemed surprised.

That was all the encouragement he needed. He scooped her into his arms, strode the few steps and gently placed her on the blanket on the ground. She watched him as he undid the buttons on his trousers and pushed them free. She looked away for only a second, but then fixed him with a heated gaze that made his blood boil. His body burned with need.

She sat on her haunches and traced the ragged scar up the side of his leg to his hip with her fingertip.

He didn’t want pity. “I am what I am. Wounded. I cannot
change that.” Would she still desire him? Accept him? “Not the boy I once was.”

Callie rose to stand. “I wouldn’t want that boy. I waited for you as a man. A man who I feel loves me completely, with all of his heart.”

“
Callie…
” he whispered her name, emotions choking him.

“My husband.” First she pressed her palm over his heart then dropped it to wrap her small hand around the heat of his member. He nearly lost himself. Gone were his plans for control. In its place was a man who needed a woman, who needed
her
.

Spencer had been right,
this
was what he had lived for.

Somehow, between kisses, they ended up back on the blanket, the rest of her clothes discarded.

Half drunk with need he parted her damp curls and touched her. He caught her low moan in his mouth, as he shifted to lie between her legs and replaced his finger with his shaft. Ellis eased in an inch at a time until he hit her barrier. He gritted his back teeth against the urge to thrust in all at once and forced himself to go slow
ly.

But she was hot, wet and tight. Nothing in his memory had ever felt better.

“I don’t want to hurt you,”

A smile touched her lips and she looked up at him with love in her eyes. “You never will.”

When he plunged forward, she moaned. Ellis never took
a woman’s maidenhood and prayed that was the worst of it. He stilled for a second and touched her cheek, a little overwhelmed. “You are so beautiful.”

Callie raised her hips and took him deep, rising in time to his thrusts. The blood roared in his ears until he couldn’t think of anything but the feel of her around him.

He teetered on the edge but held back. Ellis set the slow pace until she clenched around him and cried his name. Finally, he allowed himself to experience the power of complete pleasure and poured into her.

For the next few minutes, Ellis could do nothing but lie on top of her. His heart threatened to beat out the front of his chest. Finally, he rolled to the side and pulled her close. He tucked a blonde strand
of damp hair behind her ear.

“I never imagined making love could be so…
delightful
,” she said, her voice shaky.

He kissed the top of her head. “Because that is what it is, making love. It would not have mattered to me if you were chaste. But no one’s first experience should be one born of violence.” He trailed a finger across her bare breast, and then kissed her and touched her, finding her earlobes were extremely sensitive. He’d remember, she liked that.

She looked around. “We can’t stay out here… like this.” High color stained her cheeks.

“Why not?” Ellis sat up, his cock already standing to life. “It’s my family’s land.
Our
land. If I want to be naked under a tree all day with my bride, why can’t it be?”

“Well… we just…” she paused. A cute frown furrowed her brow. “I’m not sure.”

“Fine then,” he retorted. “And after I make love to you again, we are going to eat this bloody picnic… and then I will probably make love to you…
again
.” He rolled on top of her.

Callie looked up through long lashes and hooked her hands around the back of his neck. “I thought men had to… I was told… you know, wait awhile between…” Her blush deepened.

He kissed the tip of one rosy nipple. “Sometimes that’s true.” He let out a deep chuckle. “Let’s just say, I’ve saved up for quite awhile. I love you, Callie.”

“I love you too.”

Epilogue

Four years later….

Ellis motioned for his brother to lift his son into his waiting arms. He took the squirming little boy and sat him on the saddle in front of him. “Hold still or I shall drop you.”

Thomas complained. “Stop, Daddy. I want to ride with Katie!”

“The two of you can play as soon as we get to the stables.”

He waited until Clarke mounted his horse. Adeline handed Katherine to her father. Katherine was six months older, but both children were almost the same in size and height.

Callie seemed apprehensive as she laid a hand on Ellis’s leg. “Are you sure about this? I’m not sure about learning to ride at such a young age?”

Ellis drew his large wool coat around the boy and slipped the buttons closed until all that peered out was the boy’s little face. Thomas looked up at him; his eyes were as blue as the sky. As blue as the eyes of his beautiful mother, Callie.

“Let’s go Daddy. Don’t listen to Mummy. I want to see our ponies.”

“You heard the boy.” A rumble of laughter shook his chest. “He’s a Garrison. You will not be able to keep him off horses, so you best give up your attempts now.” He cupped her cheek with his gloved hand.

“They are so young,” she repeated.

“And you worry too much,” he said.

“Look at both children.” Clarke motioned to Katherine in his coat and then to Thomas in Ellis’s. “They are trussed up like turkeys for a Christmas feast. There is nowhere for them to fall.” He slid back and forth on the saddle to demonstrate his point. Katherine squealed with delight.

“Fine.” Callie stepped back. “I will give you an hour alone with your son. Then I am coming to make sure neither you nor the boy have broken your heads open.”

“I appreciate your concern for our well-being
and I
want
you to come to the stables in an hour.” He leaned down and said quietly, “Then I will send Clarke home with
both
children and assign tasks to the stable hands. We can have the place to ourselves. Fresh hay has just been delivered and it will make a fine bed whereas
to make love to you.”

She slapped the leather of his riding boot. “You are incorrigible.”

“You would have me no other way.” He grabbed her hand and kissed the palm.

As they rode off, he noticed his brother smiling. “What are you so happy about?” he asked.

Clarke reined in his horse to a halt. “Funny. That is exactly what I am. After the war, I could never have imagined this day. You and I married… let alone with children. But here we are.”

“Spencer was right. The war changed us, but maybe those changes were our destiny. Father has passed, have you reconsidered taking your rightful place as Earl of Garrison?”

“And deal with horses day in and day out? Good God, no.” Clarke faked a shiver. “I will stay in the shipping trade, thank you very much.”

“I would never force you into anything you hate so thoroughly as ‘
dealing
’ with our prized horses. Speaking of horses, after Callie’s work with Liber, he has turned into our top carriage horse and stud. I guess there is hope for all of us that are broken.”

“There is always hope,” Clarke agreed. He looked out over the field. “How about we race to the stable?”

“Yes, Daddy. A race!” Katherine exclaimed.

“We won’t tell our wives,” Clarke said with a devilish grin. “But what about the children? They will talk the second they see their mothers.”

“No we won’t Daddy. I swear. Let’s race.” Thomas said bouncing against him.

“I have sweets. Can I bribe you to stay quiet?”

His son nodded enthusiastically.

Ellis tightened his ar around Thomas and whispered, “Ready?”

“Ready,” the little boy whispered back.

Ellis clicked his tongue and tapped the horse in the side with his boot. His horse took off in a run.

Clarke cried out, “Wait! No fair, I am not ready.”

He looked back over his shoulder at his brother. The wind whipped Thomas’s blonde hair tickling the skin of his neck. He grinned hearing the untamed laughter erupt from the little boy in his arms.

Ellis no longer just
imagined
what happiness was; he lived it.

Every day
. Here and now.