Chapter Thirty

Edmund felt Abby’s exhaled breath glaze across his chest. She reached over him to click on a soft bedside lamp before presenting a question of her own. “How long have you known?”

“I had my suspicions. You confirmed it when you locked yourself in the bathroom for an ungodly amount of time.”

He felt her body stiffen next to him. “I didn’t lock myself in the bathroom.”

“Then what the bloody hell…what the hell were you doing in there?” He smiled.

Her black lashes blinked once. “Rehearsing.”

He wanted to chuckle, but swallowed the urge, admiring the peach tint of her cheeks as she stared at him.

“Rehearsing what?”

“How I was going to tell you.”

“Reflections are damnable things, aren’t they?”

Not understanding his meaning, she shoved away from him, offended. However, he was much faster and pinned her down, bringing her hands above her head. With both of them still naked, he wished he’d thought more on maneuvering her in this position.

She bucked at him, and he smiled down at her. “Careful, love. I’m quite ready, but it is too soon for you to have another go.”

She huffed at him. “Where? To hell for mocking me?”

He feigned surprise. “I’m doing no such thing. It’s simply that I’m entirely amused by you.”

“Well, that’s a different way of putting it,” she said with a sarcastic tone.

He let go of her wrists, and eased off her. “Come,” he said, offering her his hand. “We can talk after we’ve cleaned up a bit.”

Besides making love to Abby, he’d never known any greater enjoyment than using a loofah sponge to clean every silken part of her. She possessed the most perfectly curved hips, her body a haven of promised pleasures he couldn’t wait to spend a lifetime discovering.

For now, he had questions. He’d managed to get half-dressed when another inquiry left his mouth. Now that he realized her sleeping with men had nothing to do with her having sex with them, he had his own questions for her.

“I want you tell me who you’ve slept with, Abby?”

She had been in the middle of pulling on a pair of silk panties when his words made her stumble forward. She lifted up and blinked at him. He stalked toward her, slow and cautious. “I have a right to know.”

She tilted her chin to an intimidating level. “Will you tell me who you’ve slept with, all twenty-something of them?” she said, her chin lifted to intimate him.

A smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. “No.”

She pressed her lips together and exhaled loud through her nose. When her eyes shifted toward the stairs, he lunged forward and grasped her wrist, hauling her back onto the bed. She bucked in protest and he grunted from both pain and pleasure. “Careful,” he warned.

She settled down, but his body was tensing, the blood rushing into places, surging in others.

“Did anyone ever tell you that you ask too many questions?” she fired up at him.

He bent to kiss her nose before pulling away. “No.”

She sighed and relaxed. “Fine, but you will let me finish what I have to say before drawing any sort of conclusions.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her. It should not be any of his business, but he wanted to know everything about her, every aspect of her life now that he’d managed to tangle his world in hers.

“Well,” she began, “going backward, there was you.”

“Me?”

She shrugged. “When I was sick, and you stayed after I’d fallen asleep.”

“How extraordinary,” he said, before sobering to ask her another question. “Who’s the other?”

“Hush,” she warned. Then she bent her head, her gaze avoiding his, until the answer hit him square in the face.

“Will?”

Her hands flew to her hips. “You were supposed to let me finish. It’s really not what you think.”

At this point, Edmund didn’t know what to think. A cold wave of fury washed over him. “Did…did he…touch you?” he murmured as he closed his eyes, unable to watch her tussle with her answers.

“He tried. We were working on the paper one night,” she rushed to say, her voice drawing closer. “It was late, and we just fell asleep. When we woke up, he…sort of took advantage of the situation.”

Edmund’s eyelids flew open. “I’m going to kill him,” he said, fury replacing the blood rushing through his veins. He started to stalk toward the stairs, fully intent on hauling Will back to her apartment so Abby could witness him punching the son of a bitch in the mouth.

That was until Abby rushed at him, still half-naked. “Edmund, please just listen.” She begged with her eyes, their glistening pools reflective of the moment. “I couldn’t believe his asinine attempt either, so I grabbed my alarm clock and smacked him across the eye with it.”

Edmund’s rigid body suddenly relaxed, remembering the scar Will had sported since they’d known each other. He’d imagined the man had been in a bar fight, not cold-cocked by a woman half his size. Impressed, he reached out to smooth the lines of worry that had gathered over Abby’s eyebrows. “You assaulted him?”

She smiled. “Yes, and then I rushed him to the emergency room where he needed about five stitches.”

“Five,” Edmund repeated.

She shrugged. “I tried to talk the doctor into giving him ten.” She smiled, seeming to enjoy the memory. However, her rapturous mouth turned downward upon taking one glance at him. He had no doubt his features exposed his confounded thoughts.

“You’re angry.”

“No. I’m just not used to feeling so possessive over someone. It’s a bit overwhelming.”

She grinned, shifting close enough to lay a kiss on his bare chest. However, questions remained. He tried asking one as her mouth trailed around to a sensitive part of his neck. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth, and not the exaggerated one?”

She stopped, her voice quiet and thoughtful. “Because you said you had no use for virgins, we were…too high maintenance. I think those were the words you used.”

He laughed and then cleared his throat. “I was joking…somewhat. I wanted to rile you, and I must admit you are one of the easiest people to incite.”

She opened her mouth to refute his claim. He hushed her with an index finger to her lips. “I had my suspicions at that moment, Abby. However, knowing if you were or weren’t didn’t change the fact that I was already so captivated by you.” He paused. “I am curious, though, how you stayed a virgin so long.”

She sighed deep. “Are you asking if I was saving myself for ‘the one’?”

He smiled at her ridiculous question. “Something like that.”

She shrugged. “No, it was nothing that romantic. I was so occupied with getting decent grades, helping my dad, and trying to keep Kendra from becoming my stepmother that I didn’t notice anyone until Derek swept me off my feet. You know, the charming and rich type?”

She sent him a nervous smile. His hands remained fisted, hating the idea of her with anyone but him. Then she snuggled closer, her hand coming up to rest on his chest. “I became obsessed with him. I fell hard and I fell fast. I didn’t even realize we weren’t exclusive until…well, you know the rest. I guess you could say I was cured of ever wanting to go through that again.”

Edmund placed his index finger under Abby’s chin. “You never have to,” he said before he realized the implications of his words. She then became very quiet.

“What is it, Abby?”

“Tuesday, when Holly hands you the name of the woman the audience thinks you should marry…”

He nodded, trying to get her to finish her question. “Yes?”

“What…what if that person is not me, Edmund?”

As the consequence of his monstrous decision began to sink deep into his gut, he lifted his hands to her face, and she shifted upward to make the caress more intimate. He realized he was about to offer her his life, though he hoped it was still worth a title and a few scatterings of property. The damn Duke of Dangleon had to exist somewhere in time.

“I do have the last say, Abby. Besides, do you think you would like being bound to me? Do you think if something was to happen, and I had nothing to give you, that you’d be happy with me?”

Abby drew back, her eyes narrowing in nervous suspicion. “What are you trying to say?”

This was it. This is where he offered himself and what was left of his life. He waited for his heart to squeeze in his chest or his mind to scream him back into reason. When his heart gave a blissful beat and his mind thought of a few dozen different ways to make love to her again, he smiled. “I am not the most romantic of men, nor the most cooperative. But, I assure you, I will try and give you everything I have, whatever that may be.”

“Does everything include you, Edmund?”

He didn’t hesitate to answer. “Yes.”

****

The warm sun from a side window kissed Abby’s face and neck. She shifted awake on her futon bed, her body wondrously sore from spending an exhaustive night with Edmund.

Then her eyes opened, remembering what Blaire and Delphine had warned her about. She turned slowly, finding Edmund propped upon his elbow, his jaw resting in his hands. The imperial blue sheet draped over his hip, exposing the contours of his chest. She smiled and lifted her gaze, finding his intensely on her. He was so silent, she started to squirm.

“What?” she asked.

He reached out his hand and smoothed his thumb across her cheek. “You’re even more beautiful now than you were yesterday. I didn’t think that was possible.”

Heat rose in her cheeks. She thought, perhaps now, after sharing such an intimate time with him, the sensation would not come so easily to her. Still, she stretched a timid hand toward his bare chest, pressing her palm against his warm skin. Before she could think of something to say, he shifted so he lay half on top of her, his deft fingers gliding over her waist and sliding at a slow pace under her panties. She caught her breath, and her eyes closed anticipating his caressing touch. With the pad of his thumb, he separated her folds, stroking, teasing and tormenting her at the same time.

When she turned her head, he lowered his mouth to her ear. “Turn back to me and open your eyes. I want to see you.”

She did as he wished, her eyes fluttering open, her hips lifting and twisting under his gentle prowess. Her breath hitched, every nerve flooding with glorious sensations, her body reaching, grasping for the shattering release.

So close, she arched her back into Edmund’s touch, the shift causing a sob to tear from her throat and her world to spin.

“Look at me,” she heard Edmund say, his voice throaty and commanding, and his breath hot and ragged. She blinked at him, his stormy ocean green and blue eyes ablaze with fiery passion. As she tumbled over the edge into a wave of shuddering pleasure, he crushed his mouth to hers, silencing her sobs, drinking in her breathless whimpers. He gathered her into his arms, both their hearts pounding.

“You thought I’d left you?” he said, his voice so deep, she shivered.

She was amazed by his ability to read her so well. She puffed out her cheeks and admitted the truth. “Your reputation for escaping spans over two continents.”

“Ah, escaping, good word.” He paused to move her into a more fitting position, grunting when her legs opened readily for him. “But, I assure you, fleeing…is the last thing on my mind at the moment.”

He drew her against him, his kisses drugging her, his touch branding her. She remained in a state of euphoric bliss with him until she asked the inevitable question. “How do you think today will play out?”

He didn’t smile to indicate there was a simple and painless answer. Instead, his features grew unreadable and rigid. A shadow of apprehension descended upon her, leaving her vulnerable to his reply.

“Do you mean, do I present you a ring and ask you to be my wife?”

The fact that he’d answered a question with a question meant he didn’t have a clue what to tell her. What happened to the beautiful man who declared he’d give her everything, whatever that was, and made love to her until they both lay unable to move? Perhaps, he did find a way to escape after all.

“Abby, there’s something I must—”

His sentence was cut short as a car’s squealing brakes startled them apart.

“Will,” they said at the same time.

A few seconds later, the man’s frantic voice popped through the intercom. “I know you’re up there, so let me in.”

“God, he sort of sounds like the big bad wolf, doesn’t he?” Edmund joked.

“That’s not funny.”

Edmund cleared his throat and Abby pushed the button to open the door downstairs. In a matter of moments, it sounded like an army ascending her staircase. She had a few seconds to slip on Edmund’s shirt before Will, Joe, Holly, and her son rounded the corner into her small space.

“Ah ha! You thought you could escape, but you can’t, Edmund,” Will said, unaware of the conversation she’d had with Edmund a few minutes before. She supposed Edmund read her thoughts and sliced a resolute gaze in her direction.

“Zella called and said you abandoned her at the resort to be with Abby. May I remind you, why you’re doing this in the first place?”

Abby thought she saw Edmund grow two more inches taller. “No, you may not remind me.” Edmund shifted closer, the two men staring at each other like two boxers about to pound the hell out of each other.

“Edmund?” Abby whispered. He didn’t hear her and neither did Will.

“I don’t care. I really don’t,” Will said, his eyes drooping with mental exhaustion. “We just need to get a video shoot before the last taping this morning.”

The man’s gaze swept over both of them before settling straight on Edmund. “You might want to grab a few more clothes, though.”

Abby stood back, watching Edmund plow a frustrated hand through his hair. She noticed how he avoided glancing at her, his features so severe, she had to look away. After a few silent moments, she heard him call her name. She twisted toward him. His stormy eyes had softened, but his jaw remained locked, the muscle jumping with every heartbeat. “I’m so sorry.”

Before she could ask him what for, Will started shouting commands.

“Joe, get a good panorama of the room and then set up next to the tub. And Holly,” Will said, then hesitated, his head turning to the young child who stood, blinking with his thumb in his mouth and a blanket tucked between his small palm and other four fingers. The other hand held his book, well-worn and faded, the spine rubbed white and the corners bent.

“And what the hell is he still doing here?”

Holly lifted the boy into her arms. “My babysitter’s sick, Will, so if you want to fire me, fire me, but I have something to say first. You are the biggest ass I’ve ever met. You snap your fingers and scream orders and expect everyone to do what you want them to do.”

She paused to shift Sam to her other hip. “And the only reason I’ve stayed this long is because I thought Edmund might punch you hard enough to make the hell you’ve put me through worth it!”

Everyone remained quiet until Sam touched his mother’s face with his hand and said, “You told me ass is a bad word, mama.”

“Yes, honey, and you only say it to people who are very, very bad.” She then placed her son down on the floor and took his hand, hauling him back toward the stairs.

“Hols…Holly, wait,” Will called, the woman stopping short of descending the first step.

Edmund came to take Sam from his mother, settling him in his lap on one of the chairs in the kitchen. The boy didn’t say anything, but lifted the book up to Edmund. Like before, Sam snuggled against Edmund’s chest, his blanket held tight in his arms and a thumb secure in his mouth. This time, the boy fell asleep.

Moments later, Holly returned with Will, Edmund standing to transfer Sam into his mother’s arms.

“He’ll probably remember you reading to him the rest of his life,” Abby whispered close to Edmund.

He nodded. “I was about Sam’s age when my father started to read to me. He would say, ‘Go get a book, my boy,’ and I’d bring back Charles Dickens and he’d read to me for an hour, sometimes more.”

Abby listened, afraid to move.

“I’d sit on his lap,” Edmund continued, his voice low and reflective, “dreading the moment when he’d shut the pages.” Edmund paused to clear his throat. “Looking back, I should have relished the moments he had them open. God, I’ve been so angry with him about what he didn’t do, I’ve disregarded all the things he did do.”

Abby placed her hand inside Edmund’s and then brought it to her lips. “I love you,” she said, giving him her heart.

The scene with him took forty-five minutes, thankfully without any directions from Will. She laid upon her bed, her head on Edmund’s chest, listening to him talk about anything and everything. For whatever reason, he could make giving the directions on changing a light bulb sound riveting.

They kissed several more times, his lips warm and possessive, his touch tender and rousing. At last, Will whooped his satisfaction and gave them an order to arrive at the studio in an hour to start taping the live final show. “Just make sure to arrive separate. Think of it as a real wedding where you can’t see the bride before the big moment,” he said, patting Edmund on the shoulder.

Edmund and the motley crew soon left, leaving Abby to discern his unreadable features. Somehow, she knew, all the questions she’d asked, and he’d avoided answering, would soon come to light.