The Wicked Governess (Blackhaven Brides Book 6)(74)
And in the midst of that, the sound of Javan’s ecstatic release powered through her and made her weep with love.
At some point after he collapsed upon her and they lay in a tangle of tingling limbs and soft, linen sheets, his lips found the wetness on her cheeks.
“Oh, my darling,” he whispered, stricken, “what have I done?”
She clung to him. “Made me the happiest woman who ever lived. I never dreamed you would be so gentle… Will it always be like this?”
His relief turned quickly into something much more sensual and predatory. “Never exactly like this. I have much to show you, and much I hope you will show me.”
“Oh my,” she said weakly.
He moved, laying his head on her breasts. She stroked his hair languidly, lost in sheer feeling.
“Javan?”
“Mmm.” He nuzzled her softly.
“Do you know,” she said, a trifle breathless all over again, “I think we have made this a happy house.”
“I hope so.”
“I think we can make it happier yet,” she said confidently.
And they did.
Please enjoy an excerpt from The Wicked Marquis.
Chapter One
Lady Serena waltzed into the schoolroom. Finding herself in a beam of bright sunshine, she halted and winked at her younger sisters. For their entertainment, she created bird-shapes with her hands that reflected on the opposite wall. Maria grinned, Alice chortled, and Helen actually sprang to her feet in instant desire to make shapes of her own.
Miss Grey swung around on Serena, clearly irritated.
“I know, I know,” Serena exclaimed, throwing up her hands in submission. “I’m sorry, I’ll go,”
She was sorry, too, for she rather liked Miss Grey, who was quite young with twinkling eyes, and not at all like the governesses she and her older sister Frances had endured. Hastily, she left the room, ignoring Helen’s pout of disappointment. Clearly, she’d made Miss Grey’s job just a little harder today.
Sighing, she walked restlessly from the schoolroom along the passage to the long gallery and from there, into the large drawing room, where she opened the lid of the pianoforte and spread her fingers on the keys.
Without making a sound, she let her hands slide off into her lap. She didn’t really want to play. She wanted to run.
In truth, she still felt aggrieved. She was being punished for the faithlessness of Sir Arthur Maynard, to whom she’d been engaged until very recently, when after several weeks of sulking and petulance, he finally insisted she break off the engagement. The ending of the betrothal everyone had been so proud of had actually come as a surprising relief to Serena.
Until her mother and brother united in anger and sent her home to Braithwaite Castle in disgrace—with the children and their governess, to add insult to injury. Not that it wasn’t fun spending more time than usual with her younger sisters, but they had plans and lessons and routines. Serena didn’t. And she was bored.
Her eyes strayed to the window. She didn’t normally see the castle grounds in the autumn, and the rich reds and golds were rather beautiful, especially in the afternoon sunshine.
Wishing she could take a walk outside, she rose, just as a figure in the garden below caught her attention. She thought, at first, he must be a new gardener, for he wore a long, disreputable old coat and carried a satchel over his shoulder as well as something large under his arm. But on closer inspection, his burdens didn’t look much like tools of any kind. Still, he must have had some purpose here, for he didn’t appear remotely furtive as he strolled along the path toward the main part of the castle. In fact, he was whistling. She could hear the faint strains of his merry tune drifting upward and see the purse of his lips as he raised his head and looked about.
Serena’s heartbeat quickened with interest, not so much at his undeniable good looks, but because he had one of the most fascinating faces she had ever seen. Framed by too-long, wild black hair, his features were dramatic—a long, slightly hooked nose, thick eyebrows, full lips—and his expression somehow at once unworldly and sardonic.
He spun around and stopped whistling. When she next glimpsed his face, it seemed vaguely dissatisfied, though with what she couldn’t tell. In any case, he strode on again, veering off the path to the side door and heading toward the orchard instead.
Intrigued, Serena seized her shawl from the back of an armchair and made her way outside. She had always known she would never keep to her mother’s strictures not to step out of doors, even in the castle grounds, without company. Especially when the company was restricted to her sisters, Miss Grey, or Mrs. Gaskell the housekeeper. No old friends from Blackhaven were permitted. It was a ridiculous requirement, and bad for her health, as even the countess her mother would agree once she had stopped being so angry.
In fact, it would be bad for everyone else, too, for being so trapped was already making Serena crazy and disruptive. So, she would go and disrupt this new employee instead, whoever he was and whatever he did. That would pass ten minutes or so. More, if he proved to be as interesting as he looked.
She passed a maid in the passageway that led to the orchard-facing side door. The girl only curtseyed. So at least the servants weren’t aware of her humiliating restrictions.
Fresh air hit her with a bolt of joy. After a week of being cooped up in a travelling coach, and more than half of another spent inside the castle, it was wonderful to be outside, reveling in the sharpness of the air and the warmth of the sunshine on her face.