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“Not the love of two people who are working toward the same end.The same ambitions.”
“Good Lord, you think having a child with you, one who is not mine but will have my name, isn’t working toward the same end?”
“Matthew, you are an intelligent man who is operating under the assumption that his wife is an ambitious, easily distracted, impressionable woman.”
“I don’t necessarily think that.”
“Of course you do.Madame DuPuis was to find an indebted simpleton for me.One who would trade one burden for another.She found you.The man she was to find was supposed to be in great debt to her and would feel the necessity to marry and be free of his entanglement.A tit-for-tat, as it were.Except you are not in debt.You flaunt your money.”
“I don’t flaunt my money.”
“You flaunt your money, and it seems impossible you would be the man she would catch.Your lack of title not withstanding, you were unsuitable in most ways.
“After the first few days, I found myself askingwhy you?Was it something else?Were you caught in an indiscretion?Is there some other blackmail she is holding over your head?Don’t you see why love seems unlikely in our situation?There is much that you are not telling me.While I greatly enjoy our time together, my mind has wandered, has imagined extremes that are likely untrue, but that give me doubts.So, let us not talk of love yet.Not until these odd things are put behind us,” she finished.
What was oddest of all, Matthew thought, was that he hadn’t an inkling Rose had spotted some holes in his scheme.How was he ever going to tell her he’d purchased her for his own ends?
“Don’t worry yourself overmuch, Mr.Hardy.I may have carried a heavy emotional burden into Madame DuPuis’ that night, but I can still smell a scheme a mile away.It just so happened whatever your scheme was or is, it works to my benefit.”
* * * * *
Rose had worked herselfinto a dither on the carriage ride back to Islington.What had Mrs.Beecham forgotten?What would be nearly impossible to complete in the time they had left?How hostile would Constance be when Rose strode in to set things right?
And had she been wrong to dissuade Matthew with his hints of love?Of possibilities?
They’d arrived home late, and Rose had washed and pulled her hair back into a long braid.She’d tapped on Matthew’s door and waited for him to bid her entrance.
Yet, another question to add to her growing list of Mathew Hardy eccentricities?Why had Matthew taken in the young Isaac?And why was he allowed to be a valet?
Matthew opened the door.The interior of his room was mostly dark, and he wore nothing but his trousers—a fashion she found quite desirable on her husband.His feet were bare.His appearance made her think of their first night of shared passion.
“Rose, it’s late.Aren’t you in need of sleep?”
She dropped her robe at his door and walked into his arms.They’d had plenty of furtive couplings while they traveled but she’d tired of sneaking away, of controlling her reactions, of not giving and getting all that she wanted.
Rose wrapped her arms about his neck.He lifted her, his arms around her waist, and she wrapped her legs around him.“Mmm,” she said.“What is that word you use?Fucking?”she asked.“That’s what I want.Fucking, and don’t stop until I can’t move.”
Matthew said nothing, only carried her to his bed and dropped her in the middle.He shed his trousers, displaying the fine length of a solid erection.
“I’m already wet.Don’t wait,” she said.
She was wound tight with need and only Matthew could satisfy her.He gripped her knees and pushed her legs apart, leaving her legs up and open.Exposed.Thrilling.Knowing he looked and wanted.His nostrils flared, and his cock bobbed against his belly.
He braced his knees against the bed, propped one hand near her shoulders and grabbed the root of his cock before rubbing it a few times between the wet folds of her body.Let him see her desire.
“I want it.I want you,” she said.
“Beg.”
“Oh, God, Matthew.Not tonight.No begging.Only doing.”
“Beg.”
“I want you and I will give you anything.Please.I want you in me now.Now!”She dug her fingernails into his ass, trying to draw him closer.“Tell me what you want me to say?”
Matthew sighed, leaning into her and going deep.Rose closed her eyes and moaned.“Yes,” she said.She kept her legs pressed against his sides, then peeked up at him.
In the shadows, she admired the subtle movements of the muscles in his arms.The strength of his body and the way he moved.There was more than one way to love a man, and she loved this part of him.This sinful, carnal, delicious idol she could set on an altar and worship with kisses.
