What A Rogue Wants (46 page)

“
I do forgive you.” She
kissed his cheek and then his hands. “And I need to ask forgiveness
of you.”

His eyebrows furrowed together. “For
what?”

“
For refusing to be a
dutiful daughter. For putting strife between you and Mother when
there was already so much tension between you. I cannot change that
I took her from you.” Madelaine’s throat clenched on admitting
aloud her greatest shame.

“
You didn’t take
her.”

“
Your last fight was over
me, was it not?”

“
No, my dear, it was not.
Our last fight was over my own flaws and desires.”

“
I think I may know
something of what you speak,” Madelaine said.

Her father’s eyes rounded in surprise.
“If you do, then surely you understand now why your mother was
angry so often. It was anger toward me. Not you. Unfortunately, she
took it out on you. But she did love you. And she would have wanted
you to be happy. You are sure Lord Grey will make you
happy?”

“
I’m sure.”

“
Do you really know
him?”

Madelaine met her father’s seeking
gaze. “He’s told me everything. I know about the
circle.”

Her father’s lips parted in surprise
before curling in a faint smile. “Lord Grey is wise, indeed. I wish
I’d only been so sage.”

“
He’s also impatient,”
Madelaine gently said, aware they’d been standing here for several
long minutes.

“
Yes, yes. Come. Let us
get you married.”

She took the elbow her father
proffered and walked into the main chapel. Her eyes widened at the
beauty of the room. Candlelight fluttered everywhere, illuminating
the tall oak choir stalls, ornately carved with fretted canopies
over them. When the music commenced, Madelaine took a deep breath
and walked slowly down the aisle.

A short, rotund priest stood in front
of the altar with Grey and Ashford to his left. Grey turned fully
toward her. She missed a step and would have tripped, but her
father gripped her arm and kept her upright. Grey looked
devastatingly handsome and slightly dangerous, dressed head to toe
in black, except for his snowy white linen shirt and
cravat.

His breeches clung indecently to his
legs and conjured memories of his hard body pressed against hers. A
slight smile pulled at his lips, causing a lovely crinkle around
his eyes. She trembled in response.

At the altar, her father released her
and she took Grey’s hand.

“
Enchanting,” he
whispered.

“
So are you.” She tried to
concentrate as the priest spoke, but her heart drummed against her
ribs, and each time Grey rubbed his thumb over the back of her
hand, she forgot to listen. Disbelieving she was actually about to
be married to the man who had her whole heart, she kept looking at
him until the priest cleared his throat with a pointed look at
her.

As Grey repeated his vows, she
listened to the words of commitment, honor and trust, understanding
with a deep instinct he would never break a single oath. He slid a
heavy gold band on her finger and pledged his love.

At the end of her vows, Madelaine
placed Grey’s wedding band on his finger before the priest
pronounced them husband and wife. Grey enfolded her in his arms and
he gave her a passionate kiss that ended only when cheering and
clapping broke out around them. A blush heated her cheeks and neck,
but she didn’t care. She no longer cared about anything but loving
Grey.

Madelaine was shocked to see the queen
stand from the pews, all the ladies-in-waiting rising behind her.
When the queen and Grace smiled at Madelaine at the same time, all
she could do was stare in wonder. Grey pressed his lips close to
her ear. “Aunt Helen spoke with the queen and was able to convince
her of the error of her ways in her treatment of you. And as you
know, the ladies-in-waiting follow the queen’s lead.”

Madelaine didn’t have time to do more
than nod at the astonishing revelations before the queen was before
her. “Congratulations.” She extended her hand for Madelaine and
Grey to kiss. “I would like to offer you a wedding gift. I had one
of my personal chambers made into a wedding chamber for
you.”

That was likely as close to an apology
as Madelaine would ever receive. “Thank you, Your Majesty. I hope
we can return such a generous offer someday.”

“
There is no need.” The
queen beamed. “Go and enjoy being young, healthy and in love. I
took it upon myself to have all your belongings transferred into
the bedchamber. So off with you both.” The queen waved them
away.

“
Slow down.” Madelaine
giggled as Grey nearly ran with her down the aisle and scooped her
up to deposit her into the carriage. He clambered in and gave a
clipped order to go.

She looked out the window with a grin
at the frowning guests filing out of the chapel with rice bags in
hand, and then she turned her gaze to her husband. “That was
unpardonably rude of us.”

He yanked off his cravat with one hand
while he grasped her arm with his other and pulled her nearer to
him. His powerful thigh brushed her, and his masculine scent
surrounded her. He licked his lips, his eyes sparkling. “I’ll tell
the coachman to turn around and head back to the chapel, if you
wish it.”

“
Don’t you dare.” She
pressed her hand against his chest then slid it down to rest on his
leg near the top of his thigh. His muscles jerked under her touch.
“All I want,” she said, kissing his neck and then lower at his open
collar where hair peeked from his shirt, “is to have you take me in
your arms and love me forever.”

“
Oh, I’ll take you,” he
promised, nipping at her ear until she moaned. “And I’ll love you
forever and beyond.”

GREY STUDIED MADELAINE’S FACE AS they
entered the bedchamber and she took in the rich red and gold silk
of the heavy bedding with the mounds of soft inviting pillows. For
him it invoked images of the two of them intertwined and naked. Was
it the same for her? “What do you think?”

A smile curved the corners of her
mouth, and her eyes grew slumberous. “It’s too wicked to say, so I
shall say this―I think the king should use your aunt in future
negotiations. She obviously has a talent for convincing people of
things that would have never entered their mind.”

He chuckled as he slid his arms around
Madelaine’s waist and closed the door with the toe of his shoe. “I
would have liked to have seen how Helen persuaded the queen she’d
been wrong while somehow managing not to rile the queen’s
temper.”

“
Me too.” Madelaine leaned
her head back against his chest. “That particular talent would be
helpful when it comes to you.”

He inhaled the scent of fresh flowers
that wafted from her hair and tightened his grip around the soft
curve of her waist. “I’ll tell you a secret.” He swept her hair off
her neck and kissed the long, elegant slope. His blood went
straight to his groin.

Her answer was a moan followed by a
ragged, “What?”

He trailed his fingers over her
collarbone, then slid them lower to rub gently over one hard nipple
that strained against the material of her wedding dress before
lavishing the same attention on the other. She twisted to face him,
her face flushed pink with desire. When she licked her lips, his
blood strummed in his ears to join the throbbing in his
groin.

“
What’s your secret?” Her
husky question made him want to forget talking, rip off all her
clothes, and show her how weak with need she made him just by
simply being near.

He slid his hands around her back to
the exquisite curve of her delectable bottom and squeezed the
inviting flesh. Her eyes rounded, but she did not lean away as he
pulled her against his hard groin. “If ever you want to convince me
of something, just appear naked, and I vow my temper will not be
roused, no matter the request.”

She cocked her head to the side, her
pink tongue darting out to wet her lips once more. “That’s good to
know, but that may spark some interesting talk among our household
staff.”

“
True.” He massaged her
bottom while enjoying watching her pupils dilate. The ache in his
groin had grown painful, but he would take things slow with her
tonight. He’d promised himself tonight was about pleasing her,
giving all to her. “I suppose if you want to convince me of
something without my temper coming to play then make sure to do it
in the bedroom.”

“
Or lock the door of the
room we’re in.” She grinned wickedly. “I believe I would start like
this.” Her hand slid down his chest, leaving gooseflesh in its
wake, coming to rest on his shaft. She squeezed with slight
pressure that tore a ragged groan from his throat.

“
God, I crave you.” He
swooped one arm beneath her legs and picked her up. A growl escaped
his lips as her soft body pushed harder against his aching staff.
When she touched his face with her fingertips, a shudder coursed
through him.

She pressed a velvet kiss against his
lips. “I crave you too.”

That was all the invitation he needed.
His mouth came down upon hers, the fierceness of his need to be
inside his wife stunning him. She met each stroke of his tongue
with her own as her hands slid up to his neck and delved into his
hair. When her nails raked over his scalp, desire shot from his
head, down his body and propelled him toward the bed. He set her on
the edge and kneeled in front of her. His hands shook with need as
he attempted to undue the rows of buttons that fastened her dress.
“Damnation,” he swore, frustrated with all the
fasteners.

“
Let me.” Her strained
voice revealed the urgency she felt.

Coming to her knees, she unhooked her
dress, and as she worked, he kissed her neck, massaging the tender
skin with his lips until she moaned low. The shimmering material
slid off her shoulders, down her arms and fell at her knees. He
laid her back gently and ran his fingers up the smooth skin of her
legs before bringing his hands back down again and slipping the
dress off her feet to deposit it in a heap on the floor.

With nothing covering her but her
stays, which thrust her breasts upward, she lay before him.
“Beautiful temptress.” He glided a finger down her taut belly, her
sharp intake of breath music to fuel his desire. “You’re flawless.
Amazing.”

“
You’re rather amazing
yourself, but entirely too clothed,” she said with
breathiness.

“
Let me remedy that
immediately.” He shed his clothes and came down to trail kisses on
her creamy flesh. Her body strained toward his mouth, and when he
pressed his lips to her chest her heart pounded against his lips.
“You’re mine,” he vowed, unlacing the stays, which bound her
breasts. When they thrust forward with the release of the garment,
he brought his mouth over her inviting, rosy nipple and suckled for
a moment before flicking his tongue back and forth.

Desire struck him like a merciless
wave, but he refused to give in to his own need before he had
brought her pleasure. She moaned then clenched his hair in her
fists. He wanted nothing more than to part her milky thighs and
thrust himself into her repeatedly, but he clenched his teeth and
bent to slowly remove her silk stockings and ribbon garters. He
rolled the material of her stockings down her long legs then
trailed his tongue over her skin. “You have the most beautiful
legs.”

“
And you have the most
beautiful mouth.”

He slipped his hands onto her thighs,
spread them wide, and lowered himself between them. “Let me show
you exactly what I can do with my mouth.”

“
Hmm?” was her dazed
reply.

In answer, he touched his tongue to
the most sensitive part of her body and licked, slowly and
deliberately.

MADELAINE’S EYES FLEW WIDE OPEN, and
even as jolts of unspeakable pleasure vibrated from her center to
every part of her body, her hands tugged at Grey’s hair in a
desperate attempt to get him to raise his head. When he finally
relented in his mind-numbing assault of her flesh, he rose up and
met her gaze.

“
This cannot be decent.”
She attempted to scoot back from him, but his fingers under her
bottom held her in place.

“
Probably not.” He lowered
his mouth to the soft flesh between her thighs again.

A thousand sparks arched her entire
body as his tongue circled her flesh repeatedly. Heat jolted
through her. She no longer cared if it was decent. All she cared
about was drawing his mouth closer to her. With that thought, she
thrust her hips upward, toward his tongue which moved faster,
circling relentlessly until a sharp yearning pulsated within her.
“Oh, my God,” she moaned and dug her nails into his back.
“Please.”

His tongue flicked, and sucked, pulled
and circled. She bucked, consumed by fiery heat and desire. Her
belly clenched, then deep within her all her muscles clenched as
she rode with the spasms and drowned in the waves of pleasure that
followed.

Yet, even then, her desire was not
sated. “Take me now,” she demanded, not caring how she
sounded.