Duke of Disrepute (Dukes of Distinction #3) - Alexa Aston Page 0,80

again and lowered them.

“Yes. Yes, Weston,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Yes, I love you. Yes, I want to be your wife. You are my everything, now and always.”

He cradled her face and kissed her tenderly. It was their first kiss after confessing their love for one another. It would be one of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Millions.

Breaking it, he swept her off her feet. Her arms went around his neck and they stared at one another a lingering moment. He kissed her once more and then marched from the stunned ballroom. As they moved through the parting crowd, the stunned silence turned into loud applause. He grinned shamelessly at his fiancée.

“I have a special license,” he confessed.

“You do?” Joy filled her face. “When can we wed?”

“Tomorrow will do if you want a small wedding. If you desire a large one, you better give it a week or more and turn the planning over to Sam.”

“I want what you want,” she said breathlessly.

As he crossed the foyer and a footman quickly opened the door, he stepped into the night and said, “What I want now, more than anything, is to have our wedding night tonight.”

“Now?” she squeaked.

“Now. You know I will marry you, Elise. I proclaimed my intentions in front of all of Polite Society. What I need now is time for just the two of us.”

They reached his waiting carriage. “What do you say?”

She kissed him. “I say yes. To now—and always.”

“Home,” he told the coachman and carried her up the steps the footman had placed beside the open carriage door.

Inside the vehicle, he sat, keeping her on his lap. They kissed the entire way home, long, drugging kisses that branded her as his. When the carriage came to a halt, he said, “We’re home.”

Weston slid Elise from his lap and threw open the door, bounding from the carriage. He held his hands out to her. She moved toward him and he captured her waist, swinging her to the ground.

“What will your servants say?” she asked. “Will they be shocked?”

“They will say their master is in love,” he replied. “And they will be shocked because I have never had a woman in my own bed.”

Surprise filled her face and he swept her into his arms again, heading into the house.

“Oh, yes. George and I had quite a few rules during our heyday as Charm and Disrepute.”

Her fingers toyed with the hair at the back of his neck. “And what might some of those rules be?”

He started up the staircase. “One, never bed a woman and then fall asleep. Waking up next to her makes her more possessive. We will sleep together every night, however.”

“I won’t have my own rooms?” she asked playfully.

“You will. They’ll be for your extensive wardrobe that I will lavish upon you. But you will be in my bed—our bed—every night. Waking up with you will be the best way to start my day.”

“Any other rules?”

“George and I specified age limits, both on young and old ends. You fall nicely into that range. I also only engaged in intercourse with a woman once before moving on. We’ll make love repeatedly, several times a day, for decade upon decade.”

“I like the sound of that. Any more rules?”

“Bathing after being with a woman was imperative. I had to rid myself of her smell. You, on the other hand, will linger on my skin as a reminder of how much I adore being with you.”

He reached his bedchamber and opened the door, taking her inside and closing it. Lowering her to her feet, he captured her hands in his and nudged her backward against the door, raising her hands above her head and pinning her wrists together with one hand. His other hand caressed her cheek.

“Finally, no lover was to ever grace my bed. It was to be my sanctuary.” He kissed her. “Now, it will be our sanctuary. I plan to spend hours—days—in it. With you.”

“Your Grace, that sounds . . . most interesting.”

Weston kissed her thoroughly as his free hand roamed her body. He found her breast and kneaded it, tweaking the nipple as she squirmed. His lips caressed her throat as his hand hoisted her skirts, his fingers gliding up the satin skin. He reached her nest of curls and teased the seam of her sex as she moaned.

“Have you ever been touched here, Elise?” he asked hoarsely.

“No. Not like this.”

He pushed a finger into her and she groaned. Stroking her with it, he