Page 87 of The Dangerous Lord

She paused at the top of the stairs to wait for him, eyes flashing. Perversely, he slowed his steps and let his gaze drink her in. He liked looking at her in that gown. Her mother’s. That bespoke a sentimental attachment for him, did it not?

Surely once they settled into married life, she’d forget all about his secrets. It would be easy sailing, provided he sired an heir soon. There was no reason to think he wouldn’t, now that he was sure she couldn’t resist his seductions. His father had been one of two sons, and she was the only girl out of five children. Yes, he’d have his heir. Maybe even before Martinmas. Maybe by Michaelmas.

He took her arm when he reached the top. “How long must we stay to satisfy your need for sustenance? I doubt the Worthings can offer me anything to satisfy mine.”

“That’s because your appetite is jaded,” she said tartly.

“Not jaded ... carnal. And satisfying those appetites here would shock my friends.” He leaned close to whisper, “Though I believe it would please my wife.”

“You overestimate your powers of seduction,” she hissed under her breath as the door opened before them.

“And you, your powers of resistance.”

Then the servants descended to take her cloak and his coat. But her heightened color told him she knew his will and wasn’t as certain of her own. It was enough to assure him of satisfaction later, enough to make him inordinately pleased with himself.

As soon as they reached the dining room, his friends surrounded them, but even that didn’t dent his good humor. The women carried Felicity off, clamoring for details about the sudden wedding. He wondered what she was telling them. The truth? He doubted it.

Whatever it was, she’d barely started before it was cut off when the double doors opened at one end of the room and the Taylor Terrors raced toward her at a full gallop. She knelt to gather the triplets to her, and her hips strained against the blue silk. In a flash of memory he saw himself kissing the shapely globes, then turning her over to part her thighs and ...

His recalcitrant member came to instant attention inside his tight-fitting breeches. Damn, he would never make it until tonight.

Jordan came up and handed him a glass of champagne. Since Ian couldn’t tear his eyes from Felicity and the damned thing in his breeches was as fixed on her as a compass pointing north, Ian shifted his position until a chair blocked the view of his lower body.

Clearly noting Ian’s none-too-subtle maneuver, Jordan grinned. “Congratulations, my friend. You’ve got yourself quite a wife. Though it looks as if she came with a great deal of baggage. You’re the only man I know who’d take on such a large and boisterous family for a woman.”

“She’s worth it,” he heard himself saying, realizing he meant it.

“I daresay she is.” Jordan sipped his own champagne. “You know, Emily told me something odd. She claims your wife is the famous Lord X.”

Felicity’s laughter floated on the air, making Ian’s gut tighten instantly. He gulped some champagne. “She is. So watch what you say around her. I doubt she has any intention of retiring from her profession simply because she married me.”

“And all her columns about you⁠—”

“Were a peculiar form of courtship, you could say.” Ian watched as she stood and began speaking to the boys with an earnest expression. “Other people send gifts—Felicity and I proffer rumors about each other.”

A sudden outcry came from one of the triplets. The boy hurtled across the room toward Ian and grabbed him around the legs, sobbing into one of Ian’s knees.

Startled, Ian tousled the boy’s hair and said soothingly, “There now, what’s wrong?”

When the boy lifted a tear-streaked face to him, he recognized William by his missing tooth. “Lissy says that y-you’re taking her away to l-live with you!” William stammered between sobs. “A-And we’re to st-stay here without her!”

Felicity approached, her gaze on Ian. “I’m sorry ... I didn’t tell them until now. I knew they’d be so disappointed.”

“Please don’t take away our s-sister—we need Lissy!”

Kneeling on one knee, Ian cupped William’s damp cheeks. “I need her, too. And you’ve got Mrs. Box to take care of you. But who have I got? No one. Besides, it won’t be long, only a week. On New Year’s Day, we’ll be back to fetch you all. Then you’ll come out to my estate to live with me and your sister. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“But Christmas will be over by then!” William wailed. “We can’t have Christmas without Lissy!”

The cry tortured him. Christmas. Of course. It had been years since he’d celebrated Christmas in more than a cursory fashion, so although he’d vaguely noted that Lissy and the boys would be separated for the holiday, he hadn’t worried about it. He’d sent a selection of playthings to Taylor Hall sufficient to please any child and had considered himself done with the problem.

He was a bloody idiot. The woman was the nearest thing to their mother, and now he was whisking her away at Christmas. What an oversight. What was wrong with him these days? The Ian Lennard who’d spied for His Majesty would have recognized the importance of the boys having Felicity around for Christmas. The Ian besotted by his wife, however, had thought only of getting her off to himself as soon as possible.

His gaze flew to Felicity, who was watching William with misty eyes. Damn. He stood and touched her arm. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Glancing away, she stammered, “A-About what?”

“You want to be here for Christmas, too, don’t you? I’m sorry, I didn’t—” He broke off with a groan. “I’m not so callous as to wrench you from your family during their holiday.”