Seven Years to Sin(65)

As she neared, he stirred, one sleekly muscled arm reaching toward her side of the bed. His head lifted from the pillow when he felt her gone. When he found her, he gifted her with a slow and sleepy smile. A soft tremor flowed through her. Tousled and naked, his golden masculine beauty was undeniable. An angel’s face hiding the demons that ruled him.

He rolled to his back and pushed up to recline against the carved wooden headboard. The sheet pooled around his hips, leaving the breathtaking expanse of his chest and stomach bared. “I can hear you thinking from here,” he murmured. “What thoughts have you so occupied?”

“I have something to tell you.”

He slid his legs off the side of the bed and stood, shamelessly and gloriously naked. “You shall have my undivided attention … in just a moment.”

He kissed her cheek on his way to the chamber pot and screen in the corner.

When he appeared again, she spoke. “I’m increasing.”

He came to a halt so abruptly, he stumbled. Wide eyed, he paled. “Hester. My God …”

She couldn’t say what reaction she had been expecting, but his terrible stillness wasn’t it. “I hope you’re pleased.”

He breathed roughly. “Of course I am. Forgive me, I’m a bit startled. I had come to think you might be barren, like your sister.”

“Is that partly why you become so angry with me?” How much angrier would he become if he learned how she’d worked to prevent conception these past few years … ? The thought alone terrified her.

“Angry—?” He flushed. “Do not start a row. Not today.”

“I never start rows,” she said neutrally. “I abhor discord, as you know. I had quite enough of it in my childhood to last me a lifetime.”

His blue eyes glittered dangerously. “If I didn’t know your gentle nature so well, I would wonder if you were deliberately attempting to provoke me.”

“By speaking the truth?” Fear made her heart race, but she refused to give in to it. “We are simply having a discussion, Edward.”

“You don’t seem happy to be breeding.”

“I will be, once I know the baby is safe.”

“What’s wrong?” He jerked into motion then, striding to the chaise where he’d discarded his robe the night before. “Have you called for the doctor?”

“I have morning sickness, which is quite normal. I’m told that everything is progressing nicely so far.” She fought against the urge to lift her chin, knowing the silent challenge would only aggravate Regmont further. “However, I must take care of myself and a-avoid injury.”

A warning muscle in his jaw ticked. “Of course.”

“And I need to eat more.”

“I tell you so all the time.”

“Yes, but it’s difficult to eat when one is in pain.” His lips whitened, a warning sign she forced herself to ignore. “With that in mind, I should like to retire to the country early. You can join me when the Season ends.”

“You are my wife,” he bit out, yanking the belt of his robe into a knot. “Your place is by my side.”

“I understand. But we have to think of the babe.”

“I dislike your tone, and your intimation that I am somehow a danger to my own child!”

“Not you.” A necessary lie. “The spirits you drink.”

“I won’t be drinking.” His arms crossed. “In case you hadn’t taken note of it, I have not had a drink in nearly three weeks.”

He’d abstained for longer stretches, but something always tipped him into his cups again. “Can any precaution be excessive when it concerns our child?”

“You’ll stay here,” he bit out, heading toward the connecting door to his rooms. “And I will not listen to any further nonsense about you leaving.”

“Edward. Please—”

The slam of the door ended the conversation.





“How dashing you look!” Elspeth praised as she descended the stairs to the visitor’s foyer. “Which fortunate debutante will be enjoying your call today?”

Michael ceased fiddling with his immaculate cravat and met his mother’s gaze in the mirror’s reflection before him. “Good afternoon, Mother.”

Her brow arched when he collected his hat from the console and said nothing further. The afternoon sunlight slanted onto the marble floor through the arched window above the double front doors. The indirect illumination flattered his mother, whose floral gown made her appear far younger than she was.

Her mouth curved. “Lady Regmont helped me put the list of debutantes together. She’s very perceptive, well connected, and most eager to see you wed.”

He stiffened. The perfectly tailored fit of his blue coat was suddenly overly tight. “I’m pleased to hear you two are rubbing along well. I thought you might.”

“Yes, we suit better than I expected. The poor dear has been without a mother for many years, and with Jessica gone, I can dote on Hester as I would a daughter.”

He wished they could have been mother and daughter in truth, through marriage. But fate had other designs.

“And now that she’s increasing,” Elspeth went on in a breezy tone, “I can experience that joy as well. Preparation for your wife, whoever she may be.”