The Seduction of Sebastian St. James (House of Renwick #2)(57)

“You mean, you don’t know?”

“No?”

“Are you asking or telling?”

“Emma, stop confusing me, I have no idea what you were doing in the cabin, just that it was assumed you met John there to ruin yourself.”

Laughter seemed to escape Emma again. “You married me based on your enemy’s word that I wasn’t ruined?”

Sebastian paused. “I love you. Of course I did.”

Sighing, Emma kissed him across his bare chest. “I was dancing.”

The air crackled with excitement. “Dancing?”

“Mmm, dancing – like a gypsy.”

“Oh, saints above. Do you still know…”

Moving her hips ever so slightly, she giggled and then raised her hands. Though she was lying down, she was convinced he fully understood the answer to that question.

“Oh, Sebastian?” Breathlessly she waited for his response as he peeled the blankets from her warm body, exposing her flesh to his eyes as well as the cold of the night.

“Mmm…what is it?” Distracted man.

“Your grandmother suggested I seduce you.”

“And that should shock me because?” he asked, now apparently fascinated with the way her arm curved around his neck as he kissed her shoulder.

“Because I tried.”

He stilled. “I’m sorry. You tried to drive me mad with lust?”

Guiltily she nodded.

“This wouldn’t by any chance have anything to do with the visit you paid to my room, would it?”

Emma looked away.

“Well.” Sebastian pulled the blankets entirely from her body. “I think it goes without saying that you should be punished.”

“And how, pray tell, are you going to punish me?”

Wicked intent gleamed in his eyes. “You have the rest of the night to find out, my sweet.”

And she did. Oh how she did.

****

Odd the feeling one gets when he’s married. Sebastian couldn’t wipe the smug grin off his face if he tried. Pride had a little to do with it, sure. He was proud to have Emma as a wife, and proud he had spent most the night pleasuring his wife all the while trying to figure out why he hadn’t married her sooner.

Emma had snorted and said because most men are idiots.

Considering the circumstances, he had to agree, though he would never admit it to anyone.

Their carriage came to a halt in front of Renwick House. Sebastian was more than excited to bring Emma inside. She was in desperate need of her belongings as well as a new dress, and well, he was in desperate need of Emma. But somehow the thought of him and his wife christening any of the rooms underneath Nicholas’s ownership felt slightly wrong. So he managed to arrange for Emma to move her things into his townhome as soon as possible. His sister and her two friends would most likely still be in attendance, but this time he wasn’t a lone bachelor under the roof with three green girls. He was with his wife. The new Duchess of Tempest.

Oh how he longed for the season to be over so he could take her to his estate in Somerset. Groves Castle would be a fairy tale to Emma.

He helped Emma out of the carriage, smiling as her eyes scanned his body appreciatively. Yes, marriage was good.

Feeling the sudden urge to hum, he hooked her arm within his and walked along beside her, nearly skipping as they knocked on the door.

Naturally they were ushered in immediately.

The salon was empty. Sebastian used the opportunity to kiss Emma on the mouth. How was it she always tasted so good?

And then he heard a throat clear.

Turning, he bit back a curse as Nicholas stood at the door, arms crossed. “Found her, did you?”

Sebastian’s brain worked slowly, how exactly did one explain anything to Nicholas? All brooding and dark at the doorway. Sebastian had a half a mind to wait until Sara entered before telling his friend he had, in fact, married Emma sooner rather than later.

“Oh, Emma!” Sara burst into the room and pulled Emma into a hug.

Samuel was close behind. “Your grace, your grace!” The chubby little fellow ran at Sebastian full speed. Wondering if he should brace for impact, he readied his body as much as possible as Samuel clamped onto his leg in a fierce hug. “And Miss Emma!” He hugged her leg too, then stood between the two of them hands on hips. “Your grace?”

“Yes, Samuel?” Sebastian took a knee.

“Emma’s not sad anymore. What did you do to make her not sad anymore?”

Emma gasped then started choking with laughter while Sebastian met the steely eyes of Nicholas Renwick. Samuel, innocent chap he was, stood there awaiting an answer.

“I—I love her, Samuel. That makes Emma happy.”

He shrugged then looked perplexed as if love had never occurred to him. “Oh,” he said, then exited the room.

The minute Samuel left, Nicholas closed the doors. “If you compromised her before we had a chance to announce your marriage or get you married. If you ruined her, Seb, I’ll—”

“We’re married!” Emma announced, throwing her arms around Sara’s neck.

Nicholas’s eyes darted to Sebastian’s. “Is that true? You married her? You—oh, I need to sit.” Nicholas sat on the nearby chair. “You, the Good Duke of Tempest, eloped to Gretna Green?”