A Husband for Mary Read online

  Tearing at their clothes in their eagerness to touch each other, now they could not be seen by others, disapproving or applauding, they slammed the door shut, leaving them in near darkness.

  A quick glance revealed they’d stumbled into a bedchamber. Mary backed toward the bed, legs a little weak, beckoning her handsome centurion to follow with her fingers. His grin grew as he dropped his costume from his broad shoulders right at the door.

  Mary did not bother to hide her sigh of appreciation. Her centurion was indeed handsome and well formed from head to toe. She admired his body, allowing her eyes to rest on his manhood as it thickened and rose. She blinked at his increasing proportions and then licked her lips, discovering now the last piece of her questions had been answered. This is what made men and women different. This was how men and women made children. That was how they came together in bed. “Oh my!”

  “Do I please you, Devi?”

  “Yes,” she said breathlessly. She slipped her gown off one shoulder as her breasts grew heavy yet again. Her nipples had become so sensitive they tingled. She had a feeling this man would know how to fix that.

  The centurion caught the end of her garment and Mary gracefully unwound the abnormally long length from her body by turning slowly around until she was naked. Her costume left no room for chemise or stays, so she stood nervously until her centurion’s grin grew wide. “Exactly my thought about you. Your skin, your body, is beyond compare.” He cupped her jaw, and his fingers found the fastening of her veil. “I would grant your heart’s desire in an instant should you confess it is me.”

  His words made her brave, to ask for what they’d been rushing toward since she’d met him. “Make love to me.”

  “Gladly, Devi.” His fingers teased softly around her neck as he brought his lips close to hers. She shivered, but not from the cold when he whispered, “My love. Forever.”

  He crushed her mouth under his, teasing his tongue into her mouth with delicate and deliberate sweeps, the like of which she’d never expected but instinctively craved more of. Desire awakened her yearning as he caressed her bare skin, skimming so gently down her back that she never wanted him to stop touching her. She backed toward the bed, drawing her masked lover with her.

  When the bed touched the back of her thighs, he lifted her up and sat her upon the coverlet to remove her slippers. “You won’t be needing these for a while.”

  He kissed her toes, toyed with the bells fastened to her ankles, then struggled out of his own laced sandals before following her onto the bed.

  He rested his body over hers without crushing her, but there was no escape from the fact she was in bed with a man she did not know but wanted with all her heart and soul. She was spellbound by his warmth and the tantalizing brush of his skin and erection against her body.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a deep kiss. She couldn’t contemplate stopping. Not when she felt like this. He was everything she wanted and more. Tonight she would experience passion and hope it would be enough.

  He fondled her breasts, and she pushed up her chest into the erotic sensation. He had lovely large hands and seemed to like her body as much as she liked his. His mouth settled over one peak, and he sucked and kissed them, groaning a little. “Perfect.”

  “Yes,” she held him close. “Perfect.”

  “There’s plenty of time for everything, but…” he whispered as he took her hand and pressed it against his arousal.

  Mary sighed. Last question answered. She felt him, explored him and knew she would like being this man’s wife very much if his intentions were honorable.

  Mary’s hair covering caught beneath her and she tugged off the hair piece at precisely the same moment as he removed his helmet.

  Chapter 4

  Ellis Worth focused on the spill of red hair across the pillow and then broadened his attention to the rest of the writhing naked woman he’d been making love to. Her hair was a shade he’d seen on a vexing creature earlier that day. “Mary?”

  Her breath caught and then her eyes widened. “You!”

  Stunned, he blinked several times because he could not believe. “Mary Vine?”

  “Ellis Worth,” she whispered in return, covering her lips.

  They stared at each other, Mary’s bare chest heaving, her breasts doing lovely things underneath his clutching fingers. Her hips jerked hard against his and all of a sudden her sex cradled the tip of his erection.

  Time slowed, but his ardor cooled a little more with each tortured breath he took.

  He’d been about to…

  They’d been about to…

  He was right there, ready to plunge into bliss, to claim his own goddess. His own sweet love forevermore, never knowing he was kissing his best friend’s little sister.

  Mary scrambled back at the same moment he made the same decision to retreat. “How could you?” Mary exclaimed, tugging at the coverlet beneath them in a bid to cover her beautiful, lush body.

  He gaped, but didn’t move to aid her. “How could I what? How could you? I certainly did not imagine the wild and wanton woman who dragged me up here could be my best friend’s sister. What kind of game are you playing to torment me so?”

  “My game? I think not.” Still trapped by his proximity, Mary stretched for the pieces of her costume, which were strewn about the bed they’d just (almost) made love on. She held the fine cloth over her breasts tightly, an action that revealed their loveliness as she pushed them up higher. His breath caught but he fought his desire. “You knew it was me. You knew I would attend. How cruel of you to trick me.”

  “Trick you? I believed you would keep your word and stay at home.” He sat back on his heels in consternation. Ruining Mary had not been his plan, but then again, he’d barely enjoyed a rational thought from the moment their eyes had met in the ballroom downstairs. He’d felt an instant connection to her and undeniable attraction. She’d flirted with him. Mary had pursued him! “You knew I was invited tonight and I think you must have known it was me all along and this is your revenge. I’m not that different in the dark.”

  One delicately arched dark eyebrow rose high. “You were pleasant to me. You encouraged me to like you.”

  He spluttered out a curse that would likely burn her ears, but under the circumstances, he could not summon up the least bit of guilt over it. He felt utterly betrayed and exposed. He glanced around, fearing he was about to be set up to compromise Mary and be forced to marry her. He would one day be wealthy and titled. However, he couldn’t marry Mary. Not when she disliked him so much. “Please remember it was not me who kissed first. You, Mary Vine, all but threw yourself at me tonight.”

  “And you accepted without even knowing my name,” she whispered with a horrified glance at his bare body. “You are the rake everyone claims you to be, after all.”

  He crawled forward, furious, and hovered over her, determined there should be no misunderstandings between them now. “You put your lips to mine first and all but dragged me off a dance floor and up to this room so we could make love. I’m only guilty of being a willing participant in your debauchery, swept away by your passion, and nothing more devious than that. I never planned this. I would not do such a low deed. You are my best friend’s sister. I never once dreamed your kisses would taste so sweet and that I would be smitten. I never imagined I could desire…you.”

  “Smitten?” She blinked, and did not deny her culpability in the matter. But she did push him back, her tiny hands torture on his oversensitive skin. “I would not have kissed you if I’d known who you really were,” she confessed. “I don’t trust you, and I’d hardly want a man that behaved as you do.”

  Despite the insult leveled against him, he breathed a little easier, feeling almost certain he wasn’t about to fall victim to a parson’s trap.

  “I’m sure I would not have kissed you either. What was it you said to me, half a day ago it must have been? Let me see. Ladies of sense do not want a rake as a suitor,�
�� he bit out, quoting her slight of earlier that day back at her. “How dare you label me a rake and then seduce me yourself! Douglas told you about me. You speak so proudly of your own propriety but act just like everyone else.”

  “Of course he told me all about you. You’re a rake, and I wasn’t going to fall into your arms for no good reason.”

  He laughed at his own naivety. “You most definitely flirted with me. I should have suspected even you’d be willing to get into my trousers now.”

  Her lips pursed in an expression he knew well. She was winding up for a good argument. “I most certainly did not,” she said insisted. “You were not wearing trousers in the first place!”

  He drew back, surprised by the humor of her words, but still bitterly disappointed. How sad that they could get along well but only when they didn’t recognize each other. Mary would never think kindly of him after this debacle. He should hardly expect her understanding for going along with a seduction with a woman he’d never bothered to learn the real name of.

  However, it might be a near miss for her virtue, but thankfully no real damage was done to her innocence. Mary would quickly forget his hands peeling her out of her clothes in a day or two, or how he’d caressed her fair, delicate skin tenderly, skimming heaven in preparation for an explosive passion of the like he’d never once imagined existed.

  Ellis, however, would have trouble purging from his mind how heatedly they’d come together with so little provocation. He’d thought he’d met his goddess tonight and had eyes for no one else since. They’d gotten quite carried away with their flirtation without a clue as to their real identities. He hadn’t recognized her voice over the noise of the crowd. But he’d seen her instant lust and willingness while they’d danced, and responded to her honestly with his own.

  He regarded her warily, confused by her as feelings of protectiveness rose up even now. She should not be here. Outside were any number of rascals who would not have stopped short of satisfying themselves with her. She was lucky she’d picked him out of the crowd to seduce. At least he had honor enough to do the right thing and stop, now that their disguises were off. “You must go home.”

  Still clutching the costume to her breasts, she fumbled with the ends, flashing him a glimpse of her nipple, the curve of her waist. She stared at herself and then hugged the garment tightly to her chest. “I can’t.”

  “For God’s sake, Mary, do you want to be found like this? You can’t possibly remain without a chaperone.”

  She dropped her chin. “I know that too.”

  She buried her face in her hands and sobbed quite pitifully.

  Ellis ground his teeth and cautiously approached. He hated it when women resorted to tears to make a man feel bad about a situation. He never knew what to do, and he wasn’t the only one to blame, or be upset about it. Mary had been so very intent on having him that it never crossed his mind to refuse her advances or question her real identity first.

  She cried softly, bitterly, and he sank down beside her on the edge of the bed. Guilt was the harshest master for a gentleman of honor, and he set one hand on her knee to gain her attention. “I’m sorry that you ended up like this with me.”

  She smacked his hand away. “I’m not crying over you, you horrible man. I cannot dress in this contraption without help. As soon as I call for a maid, everyone will know how stupid I was tonight. I will be found out no matter what I do next.”

  He pursed his lips and then nodded when the only logical solution that would prevent scandal came to him. “Since I got you out of the costume, perhaps you’d permit me to redress you.”

  She scowled at him, her tears instantly replaced by irritation. They stared at each other, and heat burned between them. But not just anger. Beneath it all, lust remained. He felt it as surely as if they were touching. And he wasn’t the only one suffering the malady of disappointment either. Mary licked her lips, her attention sweeping across his chest too. He ached to lean forward to claim her lips again. They parted, and Mary’s languid gaze drew him in. Ellis was almost upon her, almost kissing her, when her tiny hand slapped over his heart. “Don’t you dare kiss me, Ellis Worth!”

  “You didn’t mind earlier,” he pointed out but drew back as asked. “You shouldn’t look at me like you want to eat me if you don’t expect me to think about doing the same to you.”

  She turned her face away and closed her eyes. “Scoundrel.”

  “Guilty earlier tonight. Now, I will behave because you want me to. Let me help us both escape this mistake with as much dignity as possible. I promise I will resist your come-hither looks in future and keep my unreasonable desire for you under control, since you dislike me so very much.”

  He tugged the garment from her soft hands, ignoring her frowning face, and shook it out briskly. It was badly wrinkled but whole. In his haste to reach the bed, he was glad to see he’d not utterly destroyed her costume.

  He did have a good recollection of its twists and turns from undressing her, which of course made him recall what he’d found beneath. Mary Vine was such a contradiction he couldn’t yet reconcile the two sides of her. One moment more passionate than he deserved, the next cutting and hostile. He much preferred the former attributes. She fair took his breath away with her passions. He’d love to kiss her again one day, press his mouth to her crisp red curls between her legs and make her scream out in pleasure.

  His breath caught, his pulse hammered through his veins, and desire affected his manhood yet again. Kissing Mary had been intoxicating. Touching her, bliss. He swallowed hard, wishing tonight could have ended in an entirely different manner and turned away. They’d been so close. He’d even briefly believed he’d found his true love at last. “In case I never get the opportunity to speak frankly again, you are a breathtaking and passionate woman. You will make some gentleman a very lucky bastard when you marry him.”

  There was silence behind him a long moment. “Thank you, I think.”

  Ellis ran his hands through his hair, cursing his poor luck and expecting more to come. He’d have to escort Mary home to ensure she was protected from further unwanted advances. He could not in good conscience allow her to travel London’s streets alone. But what would happen if her family discovered them together at his hour?

  Douglas would demand a marriage. He’d be pleased that Mary would become a duchess one day. Mary might hate him for taking away her chance of happiness, but Ellis would offer her his name. It was the least he could do under the circumstances. Ellis was too much of a gentleman to abandon her to face scandal alone. If there were no other way to salvage her reputation, he would do the honorable thing and marry her immediately, even if it meant he’d be miserable right alongside her too for the rest of their lives.

  He turned, offered a wry smile, hoping there was a way to salvage the situation and not end up the bitterest of almost bedfellows. She might not like him right now, but he’d always thought her clever and very much a lady worthy of respect for all her impulsive ways.

  He waited patiently for her to stand. However, Mary Vine remained wrapped up in the coverlet, regarding him with her head tipped slightly to the side and her lips parted. She appeared dazed again.

  “You’ll have to come out of there for me to be of any help,” he reminded her.

  She remained still. Staring at Ellis, so he returned her scrutiny, admiring how lovely she looked in a passion-tossed bed, red hair wild across her pale shoulders. She would be utterly naked when she came out of there, and he suddenly covered his groin with his hands as his cock pulsed with arousal.

  He was naked now and on display…with a rampant erection bobbing between them, reminding her of what they’d been about to do together.

  His cock thickened further, despite any attempt to explain to it that the woman, a virgin with her eyes wide open now, did not want anything to do with him unless it was to further her ambition to marry well.

  He turned away, grabbed his Roman costume, and tossed one scrap of fabric aroun
d his hips. There hadn’t been much to his costume. Sadly, evidence of his arousal remained, jutting out beneath the flimsy garb.

  “My apologies,” he muttered, realizing that his nakedness might have stunned her into immobility. Tonight was probably the first time she’d ever seen a man without clothes, let alone an aroused one. When they’d walked the ballroom below, she has been so fascinated by the hair on his arms that she’d actually stroked him. Her touch had been heavenly. Given the way she continued to stare now, her fascination with the male form had not ended with the revelation of his identity.

  But whether it was to his benefit or detriment, he couldn’t say.

  Once he was more or less properly attired, Mary stretched one slender leg from beneath the comforter and stood. The coverlet fell away slowly, revealing her breasts, generous hips, and the bright patch of curls hiding her sex. Gods, he’d nestled the head of his cock right there before sanity had returned.

  He swallowed hard, shoving away his remaining lust, as she bravely stepped toward him without a stitch of cloth hiding her charms, her arms rising to aid in her dressing, causing her breasts and bells to jiggle. Hell. She was more beautiful, more of a temptation than she could possibly know. His hands shook as he began to wind the fabric from her left hip and around and around. Her nipples had hardened by the time he looped the fabric up and over her shoulder. He could see them jutting out at him as they had before they’d come upstairs.

  Ellis still wanted to make love to Mary Vine.

  Surely the pleasure of kissing her senseless again could be worth the risk of an unhappy match. Mary had seemed to like him very much before, but he’d not imagined their attraction tonight. It might seem implausible that Mary had wanted to do wicked things with him, and their bodies clearly had their own agendas still.